Overall Rating	Gold
Overall Score	71.75
Liaison	Jauna Vitale
Submission Date	Feb. 14, 2025

STARS v2.2

New York University
OP-21: Water Use

Status

Score

Responsible Party

5.85 / 6.00

Jauna Vitale
Assistant Director, Sustainability
NYU Office of Sustainability

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Level of ”Physical Risk Quantity” for the institution’s main campus as indicated by the World Resources Institute Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas:

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	484,033,118 Gallons	575,629,010 Gallons

Potable water use:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use	484,033,118 Gallons	575,629,010 Gallons

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

	Start Date	End Date
Performance Period	Jan. 1, 2023	Dec. 31, 2023
Baseline Period	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:

The baseline year was chosen because this is the baseline year from NYU's 2011 STARS Report.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users":

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	11,351	11,106
Number of employees resident on-site	1,450	1,000
Number of other individuals resident on-site	1,943	1,526
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	56,805	33,919
Full-time equivalent of employees	11,711	8,739
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	1,689	84
Weighted campus users	55,263.50	36,483

Potable water use per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per weighted campus user	8,758.64 Gallons	15,778.01 Gallons

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

44.49

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	15,549,344 Gross square feet	13,349,946 Gross square feet

Potable water use per unit of floor area:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per unit of floor area	31.13 Gallons per square foot	43.12 Gallons per square foot

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

27.81

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

Area of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds	11 Acres	6 Acres

Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds	44,003,010.73 Gallons per acre	95,938,168.33 Gallons per acre

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

54.13

Optional Fields

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

The University issued a Campus Advisory that was emailed to all students, faculty, and staff in New York on the drought warning issued by the Governor. It provided a list of individual efforts to conserve water.

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

The University has had water conservation efforts in place as part of its sustainability planning long prior to the current situation. These have reduced the University’s irrigation water use by over 50% and potable water use by over 40%.

Due to the drought, NYU facilities personnel have ceased using water for sidewalk cleaning (other than in instances where there is a heavy soiling), and there will be no further washing of NYU vehicles.

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

The University has a preference for Energy Star appliances and seeks to install WaterSense plumbing fixtures wherever possible. As a part of the University's policy of pursuing LEED Silver certification on all major renovations and new construction, all applicable projects must achieve Indoor Water Use Reduction Prerequisite, which requires the space to reduce water consumption by 20% compared to baseline.

The University is also focused on installing low flow showerheads and aerators in both student and faculty apartments and has replaced thousands of showerheads and aerators with low flow versions.

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:

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