Overall Rating	Gold
Overall Score	68.45
Liaison	Keisha Payson
Submission Date	May 8, 2024

STARS v2.2

Bowdoin College
OP-21: Water Use

Status

Score

Responsible Party

1.70 / 4.00

Keisha Payson
Sustainability Director
Sustainable Bowdoin

"---" 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:

Low

Part 1. Reduction in potable water use per person

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

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal	48,663,187 Gallons	49,669,725 Gallons

Potable water use:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use	48,663,187 Gallons	49,669,725 Gallons

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):

	Start Date	End Date
Performance Period	June 13, 2022	June 13, 2023
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:

To be consistent with Bowdoin's previous STARS submissions, which used 7/1/2004-6/30/2005.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users":

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	1,915	1,581
Number of employees resident on-site	31	22
Number of other individuals resident on-site	27	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	1,911	1,677
Full-time equivalent of employees	953	704
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	0	0
Weighted campus users	2,661.50	2,186.50

Potable water use per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per weighted campus user	18,284.12 Gallons	22,716.54 Gallons

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

19.51

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	2,248,369 Gross square feet	1,968,654 Gross square feet

Potable water use per unit of floor area:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per unit of floor area	21.64 Gallons per square foot	25.23 Gallons per square foot

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

14.22

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

Area of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds	280 Acres	272.62 Acres

Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds	173,797.10 Gallons per acre	182,193.99 Gallons per acre

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

4.61

Optional Fields

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

Bowdoin's eco reps have installed educational signs in residence hall bathrooms with statistics about water usage and tips for reducing it.

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

Bowdoin utilizes a rainwater-capture system on the roof of two dorms and an academic building for toilet flushing in those buildings. The College landscapes with indigenous plants that do not require irrigation. Additionally, surfaces are designed to direct rainwater runoff toward plants to help maintain plant health. Bowdoin has several stormwater retention ponds, vegetative swales, infiltration galleries, under-drained soil filters, and under-drained bio-retention cells. The Building Design Standards for Renovation Projects has a section devoted to reduction of stormwater runoff.

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

The College experimented with waterless urinals for several years, but they were not well-received due to blow-back pressure issues that housekeeping staff experienced during filter changes — ultimately the units were removed. In recent years, the college has specified minimal-flush urinals (0.125 gallons per flush) for all new building projects. Since 2009, the College has adopted design strategies and systems to reduce building water use to exceed the requirements of the Energy Policy Act (EPACT) of 1992. The college has since then adopted use of infrared faucet sensors and delayed-action shut-off or automatic shut-off valves, low flow toilets, metering faucets at 0.25 gallons per cycle, low-flow kitchen faucets, low-flow shower heads, domestic dishwashers that use 10 gallons per cycle or less, and front loading clothes washers that meet EPA ENERGY STAR ® requirements. As mentioned above, Bowdoin utilizes a rainwater-capture system on the roof of two LEED silver-certified residence halls and a LEED platinum-certified academic building for toilet flushing in those buildings.

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

https://www.bowdoin.edu/facilities/campus-construction/completed-projects/index.html

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Bowdoin specifies low-flow fixtures in all building projects.