Home Contact Sitemap login Checkout

[email protected] 1.855.485.0920   

2025 Maverick Awards Winners Announced!

Built Green Canada
  • Home
  • About Built Green
    • About Built Green
    • Future Proof Your Homes
    • Guiding Principles
    • Homeowner Benefits
    • Mortgage Rebates
      • Mortgage Rebates
      • Mortgage Rebate Calculator
    • Board of Directors
    • Business Case for Built Green
    • Built Green & National Building Code 2020
  • Programs & Training
    • Programs & Training
    • Training
    • Single Family
      • Single Family
      • 5 Cost-effective ways to build a BUILT GREEN® home
      • Checklist Change Request Form
      • Request for Interpretation Form
    • Net Zero Energy+
    • Renovations
    • High Density
      • High Density
      • BUILT GREEN® High Density Verifiers
      • Checklist Change Request Form: High Density
      • Request for Interpretation Form: High Density
    • Communities
    • Restorations
    • Water Efficiency Rating Score
    • Incentives & Rebates
    • Rewarding Innovation
    • Technical Standards Committee
  • Product Catalogue
    • Product Catalogue
    • Energy & Envelope
    • Materials & Methods
    • Indoor Air Quality
    • Ventilation
    • Waste Management
    • Water Conservation
    • Occupant Wellness
    • Business Practices
    • Apply for a Product Catalogue Listing
  • Maverick Awards
    • Maverick Awards
    • 2025 Winners & Videos
    • 2024 Winners & Videos
    • How to Enter
    • Maverick Judges
  • News & Info
  • Find a Builder
    • Find a Builder
    • Alberta
    • British Columbia
    • Saskatchewan
    • Manitoba
    • Ontario
    • Find a Supporting Member
  • Members
    • Members
    • Become a Member
      • Become a Member
      • Membership Renewal
    • Membership Benefits
    • Builder Benefits
      • Builder Benefits
      • What Builders Are Saying
    • BUILT GREEN® Metal Plaques
Water Efficiency Rating Score
  • Training
  • Single Family
  • Net Zero Energy+
  • Renovations
  • High Density
  • Communities
  • Restorations
  • Water Efficiency Rating Score
  • Incentives & Rebates
  • Rewarding Innovation
  • Technical Standards Committee
Home/Programs & Training/Water Efficiency Rating Score Print This Page

Water Efficiency Rating Score                              Water Efficiency Rating Score

WERS® through BUILT GREEN® Programs


The BUILT GREEN® certification programs take a holistic approach that includes energy efficiency as a key focus and goes on to other critical aspects of sustainable building—including water conservation. Our builders are making green building choices that go beyond energy, and we provide ways to verify their great work and guide them through their sustainability goals.


Partnering with Green Builder® Coalition, we integrated the Water Efficiency Rating Score (WERS®) assessment tool into our single family program, as an optional compliance pathway to achieve points in section 6: Water Conservation. This is the first performance-based water rating to come to Canada.


While energy efficiency is now addressed by building code, other key areas of green building are increasingly on the radar of industry, government, and consumers. And with global water shortages, exacerbated by climate change, water conservation has become a critical sustainability goal.


This tool is another innovative option through our programs, as we continue to progress affordable, sustainable building practices; improve and highlight water conservation; provide ways to preserve natural resources; and offer builders another competitive advantage, enabling them to show leadership and pass-along the associated benefits to their customers: like water system education, improved home efficiency, reduced energy costs, and more.

About WERS®

Available through the BUILT GREEN® Single Family new construction and renovation programs, the Water Efficiency Rating Score (WERS®) assessment tool calculates indoor and outdoor water usage and is based on measurable parameters, with a scoring scale of zero to 100, zero being the most desirable.


Indoor water use considers plumbing fixtures of toilets, showers, lavatory and kitchen sinks, clothes washers, and structural waste; those who run the shower before getting hot water are familiar with structural waste: it refers to the amount of water wasted before usable hot water arrives at the furthest fixture. 


Outdoor water fixtures are also included in the score, as well as reuse via rainwater, greywater, and blackwater catchment—and, if applicable, irrigation systems, permeable materials, and landscaping. Depending on the verified filtration methods for rainwater and greywater, they can be used to offset indoor water use. Additionally, any remaining unused rainwater, greywater and / or blackwater (if applicable) can be credited to potential outdoor use. Learn more.

WERS Can Help

Measure and improve your build’s water efficiency—and your homebuyer’s utility bills.

  • Improve home efficiency: water & energy
  • Homebuyers understand & reduce usage
  • Verify performance to customers & the municipality you build within
  • Show environmental leadership in water conservation 
  • Get ahead of the curve

WERS Verifiers

To use the WERS® assessment tool, builders work with a BUILT GREEN® WERS Verifier, who:

  • Calculates indoor & outdoor water usage
  • Guides builders & homeowners toward better water conservation practices
  • Provides home water efficiency score (0 – 100) & certification label 

Please contact Built Green for more information.


As a homeowner, what can I do to contribute to water conservation?


  • Ask your builder / renovator for a BUILT GREEN® certified home / renovation. Built Green's programs take a holistic approach to sustainable building that addresses energy efficiency, integrating Natural Resources Canada’s EnerGuide, and then go beyond to include materials and methods, indoor air quality, ventilation, waste management, water conservation, occupant wellness, and business practices. WERS is an option to choose from, as part of the water conservation portion of Built Green's third-party certification programs.


  • WERS works similarly along the same lines as EnerGuide (water performance vs. energy performance) and takes into consideration water usage and waste, addressing flow rates—both inside and outside—examining features like faucets, shower heads, water devices, a recirculating line if applicable, irrigation systems, permeable materials, and landscaping. While some of this is based on the builder, there are things the homeowner can do. For example, xeriscaping: landscaping or gardening that reduces or eliminates the need for supplemental water from irrigation. And, if a faucet replacement is required, replace with low-flow! Plus your builder / renovator and their WERS Verifier will have more options for your consideration.


The organization offers programs for Single Family (including Net Zero Energy+), Single Family Renovations, High Density (including multi-storey, residential tower, and mixed-use), High Density Renovations, Communities, and Restorations with Small Commercial in pilot. 


Board of Directors

Technical Standards Committee

Our Builders

Supporting Members

Product Catalogue

Our Programs


1.855.485.0920

[email protected]

Join us on Facebook

 Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on Instagram

Follow us on LinkedIn

© 2019 Built by Mediashaker on ShoutCMS.