Overall Rating	Gold - expired
Overall Score	77.06
Liaison	Laura Bain
Submission Date	June 22, 2021

STARS v2.2

Furman University
OP-21: Water Use

Status

Score

Responsible Party

4.53 / 5.00

Laura Bain
Associate Director of Sustainability Assessment
David E. Shi Center for Sustainability

"---" 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:

Medium to 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	392,233.98 Cubic meters	535,241.83 Cubic meters

Potable water use:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use	262,104.11 Cubic meters	434,761.91 Cubic meters

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, 2004	June 30, 2005

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:

2018 Note: Updated baseline data. After an extensive review of current and historical water use, it was decided that our previously reported baseline numbers were not reflective of total campus water use (likely did not include non-potable irrigation from the main lake and non-potable irrigation from the Golf Course lake). Using historical water bills for potable water use and records from our pump house readings for non-potable lake irrigation, we have meticulously recalculated the baseline year (Fiscal year July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005) and have reported these more accurate numbers with this submission. We used the same method to calculate current performance year numbers and will continue this practice moving forward.

2021 Note: We made the decision to exclude the golf course from our STARS report as we don't consider it a part of "main campus. It was also excluded in the institutional boundary (PRE-3). Therefore, the baseline water withdrawals were updated again, subtracting a 5 year average for golf course irrigation. Based on this change, our 2005 Baseline gallons went from 156,644,000 to 141,396,000 total withdrawal; and 115,100,000 to 114,852,000 potable withdrawal.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users":

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	2,388	2,361
Number of employees resident on-site	3	0
Number of other individuals resident on-site	2	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	2,728	2,971
Full-time equivalent of employees	940	841
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	0	0
Weighted campus users	3,350.75	3,449.25

Potable water use per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per weighted campus user	78.22 Cubic meters	126.05 Cubic meters

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

37.94

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	208,867.78 Gross square meters	143,836.61 Gross square meters

Potable water use per unit of floor area:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per unit of floor area	1.25 Cubic meters per square meter	3.02 Cubic meters per square meter

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

58.48

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

Area of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds	158.88 Hectares	169.97 Hectares

Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds	2,468.75 Cubic meters per hectare	3,149.08 Cubic meters per hectare

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

21.60

Optional Fields

A brief description of the institution's water-related behavior change initiatives:

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A brief description of the institution's water recovery and reuse initiatives:

One of our biggest projects is the closed-loop solar/aquatic waste water treatment system in the Charles Townes Science Center. The living machine uses natural processes in a series of artificial tidal pools to clean up to 5,000 gal/day of the building’s waste water. It is then re-circulated into the building as grey water, which can be used for non-potable water demands like flushing toilets.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace plumbing fixtures, fittings, appliances, equipment, and systems with water-efficient alternatives:

We continue to use Furman Lake to supplement irrigation on campus, reducing our potable water irrigation to 40%.

Website URL where information about the institution’s water conservation and efficiency efforts is available:

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Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Original Baseline vegetated grounds (745 acres) is referencing the entire main campus acreage and is an overestimate for vegetated grounds. A more accurate estimate is 420 acres of vegetated grounds, assuming that some amount of acreage has been developed since 2005.

Current vegetated grounds includes: main campus managed grounds and forests.

The FY2020 data is likely highly impacted by COVID-19 reduced campus operation from mid March 2020 - June, 30 2020. Therefore, FY 2019 water withdrawal data is reported.