Green building certification is where sustainability meets the spreadsheet: every credit has a market value in rent, financing, and asset price. Rainwater management is one of the few credit areas you can still win late in design - even in renovation - because SmartFlow retrofits without touching the roof build-up.
LEED: Sustainable Sites - Rainwater Management (up to 3 points)
LEED v4/v4.1 awards up to three points for managing rainfall on-site, benchmarked against percentile storm events. The intent is to replicate natural hydrology - reduce runoff volume and peak discharge.
Where SmartFlow fits: the system captures roof runoff at the outlet and releases it in a controlled, delayed pattern. Forecast-based control means retention capacity is available when the design storm actually arrives - a stronger performance story than passive detention. Documentation comes built in: logged retention volumes per event support the water-balance calculations your LEED consultant submits.
BREEAM: Pol 03 - Flood and Surface Water Management (up to 5 credits)
BREEAM (and BREEAM-NL, relevant across the Dutch market) awards credits for limiting surface water run-off rate and volume, typically to pre-development (greenfield) levels, plus credits for flood-resilient siting and design.
Where SmartFlow fits: attenuating roof discharge directly reduces peak run-off rate - the core Pol 03 calculation. On constrained urban plots where ground-level attenuation (basins, crates, swales) doesn’t fit, the roof is often the only surface left. SmartFlow makes it count without the structural load of a full blue-green roof build-up.
The honest caveat (assessors appreciate it)
Both schemes were written with passive infrastructure in mind. Actively-controlled retention is newer, and individual assessors differ in how they credit forecast-based release. Two practical tips: involve your assessor early, and lean on the logged performance data - measured retention is harder to argue with than modeled retention. Our engineering team joins assessor calls; that’s part of the service.
Beyond the certificate
The same installation that earns the credits also: increases effective drainage capacity ~30%, reduces flood insurance exposure, and - in EU markets - feeds the stormwater reduction targets cities face under the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. One retrofit, three business cases.