Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 48.19
Liaison Veronica Johnson
Submission Date May 28, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Southwestern University
OP-26: Water Use

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.41 / 4.00 Joe LePage
Director of Physical Plant
Physical Plant
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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Level of water risk for the institution’s main campus:
Medium to High

Total water use (potable and non-potable combined)::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total water use 67,652,000 Gallons 74,582,000 Gallons

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Potable water use::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Potable water use 54,873,000 Gallons 31,727,000 Gallons

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Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users"::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of residential students 1,178 1,072
Number of residential employees 2 2
Number of in-patient hospital beds 0 0
Full-time equivalent enrollment 1,523 1,309
Full-time equivalent of employees 434 438
Full-time equivalent of distance education students 11 29

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Gross floor area of building space::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross floor area 1,048,729 Square feet 1,027,475 Square feet

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Area of vegetated grounds::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds 148 Acres 148 Acres

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Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year July 1, 2013 June 30, 2014
Baseline Year June 1, 2009 May 31, 2010

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A brief description of when and why the water use baseline was adopted:
Student Capstone projects led to the water use baseline in 2010

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Water recycled/reused on campus, performance year:
0 Gallons

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Recycled/reused water withdrawn from off-campus sources, performance year:
23,202,000 Gallons

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A brief description of any water recovery and reuse systems employed by the institution:
• A 15,000 gallon rain water collection system is used to irrigate the community garden • Effluent water is purchased from the City and used to irrigate our playing fields

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A brief description of any water metering and management systems employed by the institution:
• Every building’s water consumption is individually metered • All potable and non-potable irrigation is metered • Campus irrigation is controlled by a software based irrigation management system which employs a weather station that measures rainfall, wind speed and sunlight to adjust water applied based on evaporation transfer rates

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A brief description of any building retrofit practices employed by the institution, e.g. to install high efficiency plumbing fixtures and fittings:
Dual flush commodes and waterless urinals have been installed in the last three buildings constructed on campus

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A brief description of any policies or programs employed by the institution to replace appliances, equipment and systems with water-efficient alternatives:
• All new construction and major renovations follow LEED guidelines including water-efficient alternatives, such as lo flow faucets, shower heads, waterless urinals, drip irrigation and dual flush commodes • A Student led initiative led to replacing all shower heads in our apartments and resident halls with low flow heads

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A brief description of any water-efficient landscape design practices employed by the institution (e.g. xeriscaping):
We specify native and drought tolerant plants for all construction projects

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A brief description of any weather-informed irrigation technologies employed by the institution:
Campus irrigation is controlled by software that utilizes a weather station for control data

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A brief description of other water conservation and efficiency strategies employed by the institution:
• Wind switches installed on outdoor fountains to shut fountains off on windy days • Drip irrigation utilized in beds in lieu of spray nozzles to reduce water consumption • Water saver shower heads have been installed on all showers on campus

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The website URL where information about the institution’s water conservation and efficiency initiatives is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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