Overall Rating	Gold - expired
Overall Score	66.71
Liaison	Julie Cahillane
Submission Date	March 6, 2020

STARS v2.2

Northwestern University
OP-21: Water Use

Status

Score

Responsible Party

4.00 / 4.00

Sarah Tulga
Sustainability Program Coordinator
Facilities

"---" 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 to Medium

Part 1. Reduction in potable water use per person

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

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal	2,134,799.25 Gallons	4,016,633.37 Gallons

Potable water use:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use	2,134,799.25 Gallons	4,016,633.37 Gallons

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

	Start Date	End Date
Performance Period	Sept. 1, 2018	Aug. 31, 2019
Baseline Period	Sept. 1, 2012	Aug. 31, 2013

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:

We only have information regarding reused water going back to our FY 2013

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users":

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	5,057	5,490
Number of employees resident on-site	15	10
Number of other individuals resident on-site	0	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	19,207	16,916
Full-time equivalent of employees	10,195	9,345
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	405	312
Weighted campus users	23,015.75	20,836.75

Potable water use per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per weighted campus user	92.75 Gallons	192.77 Gallons

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

51.88

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	15,049,308 Gross square feet	13,621,749.45 Gross square feet

Potable water use per unit of floor area:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per unit of floor area	0.14 Gallons per square foot	0.29 Gallons per square foot

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

51.89

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

Area of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds	122 Acres	125 Acres

Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds	17,498.35 Gallons per acre	32,133.07 Gallons per acre

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

45.54

Optional Fields

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

sustainNU encourages behavior changes which save water through the Live Sustainably resources and staff, faculty, and student education efforts. Throughout a variety of online publications, websites and articles, sustainNU promoted changing laundry habits, reporting leaky faucets and leaks, and installing efficient fixtures. In the Green Office Program, offices are encouraged to educate and encourage staff to conserve water through changing hand washing and reporting leaks. In the Green Cup competition, students compete to reduce energy and water use. The goal of Green Cup is to encourage behavior change and show that small, everyday choices – like turning off the tap while you brush your teeth – can have a big impact on resource use. Student change their habits for a month and are encouraged to maintain these environmentally friendly practices post the competition.

See the below websites for examples of these behavior change communications and programs:

https://www.northwestern.edu/sustainability/take-action/live-sustainably/save-water.html

https://www.northwestern.edu/sustainability/docs/green-office-docs/green-office-guide_final.pdf

https://www.northwestern.edu/sustainability/news/2017/2017-12-Green-Cup.html

https://www.northwestern.edu/sustainability/news/2019/ten-tips-for-sustainable-living-at-northwestern.html

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

At select sites on campus the University has invested in building rainwater recovery systems such as cisterns and drainage field water for irrigation purpose. At the School of Music a green-water storage system is used for irrigation and flushing of toilets. No potable water is used for flushing

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

NU irrigation systems utilize “smart technology” along with water efficient strategies in terms of design and material specification.

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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