Table 3. Comprehensive synthesis of WE... | Emerald Publishing

Table 3.

Comprehensive synthesis of WE literature

Study	Region	Building type/scale	Primary focus	Key findings	Identified limitations
Rodrigues et al. (2020)	Portugal (EU)	Building scale	Water–energy nexus	Water reduction and building energy reduction; additional energy savings in urban water systems	Relies on voluntary audits; limited evidence of large-scale replication
Greer et al. (2019)	USA	Building a certification system	WE and EE credits in LEED	Large variability in avoided CO₂ per WE/EE credit; weak correlation between credits and actual environmental outcomes	Point-based certification poorly reflects real performance
Mohd Zaini, Kwong and Jack (2021)	Malaysia	Commercial buildings	Water efficiency retrofits	Water savings achievable via efficient fittings; acceptable payback periods	Case-study scope: outcomes dependent on building type and usage
Luo, Scofield and Qiu (2021)	USA (multi-city)	Commercial buildings	LEED water performance	No statistically significant difference in water use between LEED and non-LEED buildings	Certification does not account for operational and behavioural factors
Bint (2012)	New Zealand	Commercial buildings	Rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse	Systems are technically feasible; financial viability depends on volumetric water and wastewater charging; water quality risks are minimal	Network-level water savings are limited; outcomes are sensitive to tariff structures
Bint et al. (2019)	New Zealand	Urban scale	Water demand management	Improved metering and awareness of water use	Uneven adoption across councils; limited linkage to building-scale action
Challies, Fragaszy and Rouillard (2022)	New Zealand	National policy level	Freshwater governance	Water abundance framing obscures over-allocation and inefficiency	Efficiency is weakly prioritised within an allocation-focused regime

Study	Region	Building type/scale	Primary focus	Key findings	Identified limitations
Rodrigues et al. (2020)	Portugal (EU)	Building scale	Water–energy nexus	Water reduction and building energy reduction; additional energy savings in urban water systems	Relies on voluntary audits; limited evidence of large-scale replication
Greer et al. (2019)	USA	Building a certification system	WE and EE credits in LEED	Large variability in avoided CO₂ per WE/EE credit; weak correlation between credits and actual environmental outcomes	Point-based certification poorly reflects real performance
Mohd Zaini, Kwong and Jack (2021)	Malaysia	Commercial buildings	Water efficiency retrofits	Water savings achievable via efficient fittings; acceptable payback periods	Case-study scope: outcomes dependent on building type and usage
Luo, Scofield and Qiu (2021)	USA (multi-city)	Commercial buildings	LEED water performance	No statistically significant difference in water use between LEED and non-LEED buildings	Certification does not account for operational and behavioural factors
Bint (2012)	New Zealand	Commercial buildings	Rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse	Systems are technically feasible; financial viability depends on volumetric water and wastewater charging; water quality risks are minimal	Network-level water savings are limited; outcomes are sensitive to tariff structures
Bint et al. (2019)	New Zealand	Urban scale	Water demand management	Improved metering and awareness of water use	Uneven adoption across councils; limited linkage to building-scale action
Challies, Fragaszy and Rouillard (2022)	New Zealand	National policy level	Freshwater governance	Water abundance framing obscures over-allocation and inefficiency	Efficiency is weakly prioritised within an allocation-focused regime