Overall Rating Platinum - expired
Overall Score 87.10
Liaison Alex Davis
Submission Date March 5, 2020

STARS v2.2

Arizona State University
OP-21: Water Use

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 5.01 / 6.00 Alex Davis
Asst. Director
University Sustainability Practices
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Level of ”Physical Risk Quantity” for the institution’s main campus as indicated by the World Resources Institute Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas:
Extremely High

Part 1. Reduction in potable water use per person 

Total water withdrawal (potable and non-potable combined):
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal 1,044,286,769 Gallons 828,025,504 Gallons

Potable water use:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Potable water use 991,490,761 Gallons 799,521,036 Gallons

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Period July 1, 2018 June 30, 2019
Baseline Period July 1, 2006 June 30, 2007

If end date of the baseline year/period is 2004 or earlier, provide:

A brief description of when and why the water use baseline was adopted:
The baseline coincides with when Arizona State University completed its first formal Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users":
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site 16,712 6,100
Number of employees resident on-site 0 0
Number of other individuals resident on-site 0 0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 103,312 52,795
Full-time equivalent of employees 11,558 9,281
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 24,914 0
Weighted campus users 71,645 48,082

Potable water use per weighted campus user:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Potable water use per weighted campus user 13,838.94 Gallons 16,628.28 Gallons

Percentage reduction in potable water use per weighted campus user from baseline:
16.77

Part 2. Reduction in potable water use per unit of floor area

Gross floor area of building space:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross floor area 24,300,504 Gross square feet 14,033,632 Gross square feet

Potable water use per unit of floor area:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Potable water use per unit of floor area 40.80 Gallons per square foot 56.97 Gallons per square foot

Percentage reduction in potable water use per unit of floor area from baseline:
28.38

Part 3. Reduction in total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds 

Area of vegetated grounds:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds 563.25 Acres 243 Acres

Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds 1,854,037.76 Gallons per acre 3,407,512.36 Gallons per acre

Percentage reduction in total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds from baseline:
45.59

Optional Fields 

A brief description of the institution's water-related behavior change initiatives:
During the academic year 2018, ASU USP partnered with Campus Student Sustainability Initiatives (a student club), Kyl Center for Water Policy at Morrison Institute for Public Policy, and Decision Center for a Desert City (DCDC) focused efforts on a water theme to encourage ASU’s community to both understand Arizona’s water quantity issues, the importance of the Drought Contingency Plan being passed and the relationship to the Colorado River issues, and the role each of us can play in reducing water usage. This focus consisted of some panel events being held plus class projects/club events to highlight the importance and urgency of using water efficiently and effectively.

A brief description of the institution's water recovery and reuse initiatives:
There is a water capture project program at the Arizona State University Tempe campus Central Plant. The project captures previously wasted reverse osmosis reject water for reuse on mall power-washing and central plant cooling tower chillers. Grounds used about 75,000 gallons for power washing.

The Barrett Honors College Complex includes a greywater treatment and reuse system for buildings 7A and 7B. Greywater from building sinks, water fountains, and showers is treated to a reuse standard that is suitable as a water closet supply and/or an irrigation supply. The Greywater design flow is 10,000 gallons per day.

ASU captures 1000 gallons of rainwater for landscaping use.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace plumbing fixtures, fittings, appliances, equipment, and systems with water-efficient alternatives:
Arizona State University has reduced water consumption in many buildings around campus through the installation of low-flow water fixtures such as sinks, showers, toilets, and in some buildings, waterless urinals. ASU has committed $1.9M to retrofit 60 buildings on the Tempe campus with low-flow fixtures to save an estimated 26 million gallons per year. This work will be completed by spring 2020.

Website URL where information about the institution’s water conservation and efficiency efforts is available:
https://cfo.asu.edu/optimized-water

Additional documentation to support the submission:
ASU_Water_Use_Data_FY07_to_Present.xlsx

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Data for ASU's Polytechnic campus shows a notable decline in water use over the past decade. Exact information on why this decline occurred is not available. However, two factors may have contributed to the decline: a transition to predominantly low-water use landscaping and the closure of a large portion of the Desert Villages housing (single-family homes that originally served as base housing).

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.