LEED AP BD+C Practice Questions: Water Efficiency

Water Efficiency is worth 9 of the 85 scored questions on the LEED AP BD+C exam, and it falls from 10 on the Green Associate paper. There are 9 questions below, one for each scored question this domain carries. Enhanced Water Efficiency is strictly either/or. The percentage ladder and the alternative options are alternatives, never a total — and a team that documents both has not earned more, it has documented one route twice.

It covers Water Metering and Reporting, Minimum Water Efficiency, Water Metering and Leak Detection, and Enhanced Water Efficiency.

The calculations here are the most examinable thing in the domain, and the errors are always one of three: the wrong baseline, the wrong occupancy denominator, or the percentage run in the wrong direction.

9 Water Efficiency practice questions

Attempt all of them before checking the explanations. Write your answers down — deciding in your head and then reading the explanation is how a candidate convinces themselves they knew something they did not.

Take the quiz — get your scored results by email

Welcome to the LEED AP BD+C  practice quiz. Enter your details, then work through all 9 questions — we'll email you the score and a full explanation for every question.

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1. Under Water Metering and Reporting, how long must a project commit to sharing whole-project water use data with USGBC, and what brings that commitment to an end?

A.Annually for five years, with no provision for ending it early

B.Annually for five years, or until ownership or the lessee changes

C.Annually for three years, or until the project applies for recertification

D.Monthly for five years, starting on the date certification is awarded

None

2. Water Metering and Leak Detection can be earned by either of two routes. What coverage does each route require?

A.Submeters on at least 50% of indoor fixtures and fittings, or leak sensors on at least 80% of flush fixtures

B.Submeters on at least 80% of indoor fixtures and fittings, together with leak sensors on at least 50% of flush fixtures

C.Submeters on at least 80% of indoor fixtures and fittings, or leak sensors on at least 50% of flush fixtures

D.Submeters on at least 80% of flush fixtures, or leak sensors on at least 80% of indoor fixtures and fittings

None

3. A project's fixture and fitting calculation returns a baseline case of 1,250 gallons per day and a design case of 950 gallons per day. What aggregate reduction should the team report on the performance path of Minimum Water Efficiency?

A.32%

B.24%

C.76%

D.30%

None

4. An office has 100 full-time equivalent occupants, split evenly between male and female. Each male occupant is assumed to make one water closet use and two urinal uses per day; each female occupant makes three water closet uses per day. The project installs 1.28 gpf water closets and 0.125 gpf urinals. Using the prerequisite baseline flush volumes, what aggregate reduction does the project achieve for these two fixtures?

A.27%

B.56%

C.64%

D.36%

None

5. A residential project has 90 dwelling units: 60 are two-bedroom and 30 are one-bedroom. Occupancy is not otherwise known, and each resident is assumed to make five water closet uses per day. What is the baseline daily water closet volume for the fixture calculation?

A.1,920 gallons

B.1,200 gallons

C.1,536 gallons

D.960 gallons

None

6. A design team specifies every installed fixture and fitting at or below the prescriptive maximum flush and flow rates and concludes that Minimum Water Efficiency is satisfied. What is still outstanding?

A.The equipment and process requirements and one outdoor water option still apply

B.Nothing further — the prescriptive maximums on their own satisfy the prerequisite

C.A 20% aggregate reduction against the fixture baseline must still be demonstrated

D.Permanent submeters must be installed so the fixture reduction can be verified

None

7. A New Construction project models a 42% whole-project water use reduction under Option 1 of Enhanced Water Efficiency and also wants to document an on-site reuse system under the credit's water reuse option. How should the reviewer treat this?

A.The combination is acceptable provided no saving is counted under both options

B.The combination is acceptable, but the total is capped at the Option 1 maximum

C.Option 1 may not be combined with Options 2 through 6; the team must pick one route

D.Alternative water sources may never be counted in a whole-project reduction

None

8. A project is documenting the performance path of Minimum Water Efficiency. Which of these specifications adds nothing at all to the aggregate reduction?

A.A urinal at 0.50 gpf

B.A showerhead at 2.00 gpm

C.A kitchen faucet at 1.8 gpm

D.A public lavatory faucet at 0.50 gpm

None

9. A project with irrigation in its scope installs leak sensors serving 60% of its flush fixtures, gives the facility manager real-time access to the data, and prepares an action plan for remedying detected leaks. Does this satisfy the sensor route of Water Metering and Leak Detection?

A.No — the irrigation point of entry and each makeup water system must also be covered

B.Yes — 60% coverage exceeds the 50% flush fixture threshold, so the route is satisfied

C.No — sensors must serve each fixture individually rather than a whole restroom

D.No — flush fixture coverage must reach 80% where irrigation is within the project scope

None

Time's up

Recall, Application, Analysis — and why it matters here

The candidate handbook names three cognitive levels: Recall, Application and Analysis. It publishes no split between them, so nobody can tell you what share of your paper will be which. What we can tell you is that only the first is fixed by more reading. Past a point, re-reading the material stops helping and worked problems start.

Each answer in this set is tagged with the level it was written at, so you can see which kind you are losing. If your errors cluster in Recall, revise. If they cluster in Application and Analysis, do more questions — those are the only thing that moves them.

What these questions test

Where candidates lose marks in this domain

• Dividing the water saving by the design case. Reduction is calculated against the baseline.
• Using the prescriptive maximum as the performance-path baseline. These figures are not always the same.
• Using the wrong residential occupancy denominator. Occupancy assumptions directly change daily fixture-use totals.
• Assuming the prescriptive indoor fixture route completes Minimum Water Efficiency. Equipment, process water and outdoor water requirements still have to be checked.
• Joining the Water Metering and Leak Detection routes together. Submetering and leak detection are alternatives.
• Swapping the 80% and 50% thresholds. The higher percentage belongs to the indoor fixture submetering route.
• Checking only flush fixture sensor coverage. Irrigation and makeup-water systems may introduce additional requirements.
• Adding Enhanced Water Efficiency pathways together. Option 1 is not stacked with Options 2 through 6.
• Assuming every efficient-looking fixture contributes savings. If the design rate equals the performance baseline, the fixture contributes zero reduction.

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