Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 77.18
Liaison Daimon Eklund
Submission Date Oct. 12, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Washington, Seattle
OP-22: Water Use

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.33 / 5.00 Claudia Frere-Anderson
Director
UW 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’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas:
Medium to High

Part 1 

Total water use (potable and non-potable combined):
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total water use --- 1,899,164.92 Cubic meters

Potable water use:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Potable water use 1,889,341.24 Cubic meters 1,899,164.92 Cubic meters

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year July 1, 2017 June 30, 2017
Baseline Year Jan. 1, 2005 Dec. 31, 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:
---

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users":
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site 8,250 4,894
Number of employees resident on-site 15 10
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds 731 380
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 52,466 32,403
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty) 33,666 23,215
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 1,464 269
Weighted campus users 66,298.25 43,117.75

Potable water use per weighted campus user:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Potable water use per weighted campus user 28.50 Cubic meters 44.05 Cubic meters

Percentage reduction in potable water use per weighted campus user from baseline:
35.30

Part 2 

Gross floor area of building space:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross floor area 1,953,584.82 Gross square meters 1,265,183.71 Gross square meters

Potable water use per unit of floor area:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Potable water use per unit of floor area 0.97 Cubic meters per square meter 1.50 Cubic meters per square meter

Percentage reduction in potable water use per unit of floor area from baseline:
35.57

Part 3 

Does the institution wish to pursue Part 3 of this credit? (reductions in total water use per acre/hectare of vegetated grounds):
Yes

Area of vegetated grounds:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds 95.49 Hectares 98.38 Hectares

Total water use (potable + non-potable) per unit of vegetated grounds:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total water use per unit of vegetated grounds 0 Cubic meters per hectare 19,304.58 Cubic meters per hectare

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

Optional Fields 

A brief description of the institution's water-related behavior change initiatives, e.g. initiatives to shift individual attitudes and practices such as signage and competitions:
While UW has spent approximately $3 million on water conservation and significantly reduced water usage since 2001, we recognize there are still gains to be made. UW Sustainability will continue to encourage continued water conservation on campus through awareness and education. The Seattle area has experienced hot and dry summers in recent years so the City of Seattle has asked businesses and residents to voluntarily reduce water usage by 10 percent during periods of extreme hot and dry weather. The University of Washington supports this effort, and has called on the UW community to conserve water and be aware of its water usage. UW Facilities Services is working to make UW’s water usage more efficient by expanding the use of automatic irrigation systems and installing sub-meters (which can help identify leaks or faulty sprinkler heads). Facilities Services will continually monitor, maintain and repair our irrigation systems to avoid waste through leaks, and has also allowed lower visibility/priority lawn areas to go dormant during summers.

A brief description of the institution's water recovery and reuse initiatives:
The UW employs water recovery and reuse system as follows: - Merrill Hall Center for Urban Horticulture’s rainwater cistern captures roof runoff water that is used for landscape irrigation - Gould Hall’s rainwater cistern captures roof runoff water that is used to irrigate a moving green wall. The system includes freeze protection for winter operation, and a fertilizer injection system to support mostly hydroponically grown plants. This was installed by a student-sponsored Campus Sustainability Fund project. - Molecular Engineering roof runoff water is used to irrigate planted cells at grade - Community Design Center’s roof runoff water is used to irrigate planted cells at grade - Husky Union Building parking lot runoff water is used to irrigate a planted cell that also filters impurities - Mercer Hall’s rainwater cistern captures roof runoff water that is used for student laundry washing machines - BB-Tower’s reverse osmosis/deionized (RODI) reject water is captured for reuse as cooling tower makeup water. This was installed by a student-sponsored Campus Sustainability Fund project.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace plumbing fixtures, fittings, appliances, equipment, and systems with water-efficient alternatives (e.g. building retrofits):
The UW employs water-efficient building retrofit practices as follows: - most water closets have been replaced with 1.6 gallon-per-flush fixtures. Some 1.28 gpf fixtures and dual-flush fixtures have been installed during recent building renovations. - most urinals have been replaced with 0.5 gpf or 0.125 gpf fixtures - some lavatory and lab sink faucets have been retrofitted with low-flow restrictors - some showers have been retrofitted with low-flow showers in residence halls and the Intramural Activities building - sterilizers have been retrofitted with Water Mizers to eliminate tempered water consumption during non-sterilizing stages

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
https://facilities.uw.edu/services/categories/Sustainability-and-Education

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Although policies and initiatives are active across all three of our campuses, the data above reflects Seattle campus only.

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.