Overall Rating	Silver - expired
Overall Score	46.39
Liaison	Weston Dripps
Submission Date	March 1, 2019
Executive Letter	Download

STARS v2.1

Amherst College
OP-22: Water Use

Status

Score

Responsible Party

0.26 / 4.00

Laura Draucker
Director of Sustainability
Office of Environmental 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:

Low to Medium

Part 1

Total water use (potable and non-potable combined):

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water use	166,169 Cubic meters	172,129 Cubic meters

Potable water use:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use	166,169 Cubic meters	172,129 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, 2015	June 30, 2016
Baseline Year	July 1, 2013	June 30, 2014

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:

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Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users":

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	1,759	1,785
Number of employees resident on-site	13	34
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds	0	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	1,795	1,792
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty)	931	1,010
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	0	0
Weighted campus users	2,487.50	2,556.25

Potable water use per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per weighted campus user	166,169 Cubic meters	172,129 Cubic meters

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

0.79

Part 2

Gross floor area of building space:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Gross floor area	179,363 Gross square meters	176,363 Gross square meters

Potable water use per unit of floor area:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per unit of floor area	22.74 Cubic meters per square meter	23.95 Cubic meters per square meter

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

5.08

Part 3

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

Area of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds	388.90 Hectares	388.90 Hectares

Total water use (potable + non-potable) per unit of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water use per unit of vegetated grounds	45,678.67 Cubic meters per hectare	47,317.04 Cubic meters per hectare

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

3.46

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:

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

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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):

Low flow technology for showers and faucets as well as dual flush toilets are installed whenever the current fixtures need to be replaced or repaired. Beginning in 2005 Amherst College started its conversion from standard shower heads (4 gallons/minute) to low-flow aerating shower heads (1.5 gallons/minute) in the athletic facility and in some dormitories. The College supplies washing machines in each of the dormitory buildings throughout the campus. During the summer of 2005, all of the conventional washers were replaced with energy-saving/water-conserving front-loading washing machines.The new machines use 11 gallons less water per wash and use only 1/2 the amount of detergent while increasing the load capacity by 30%. In addition, the washers extract 33% more water from each load, thereby reducing drying time, which in turn saves energy. The new washers are estimated to save approximately 580,000 gallons of water per year throughout the campus.

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:

https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/greenamherst/conservation_water#Field%20Irrigation

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

We have begun reclaiming water in the greenway dorms and with the soon to finish science center - those will be added to the next report