Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 54.34
Liaison Samuel Crowl
Submission Date March 11, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Ohio University
OP-26: Water Use

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.00 / 3.00 Elaine Goetz
Director of Energy Management
Facilities Management & Safety
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Level of water risk for the institution’s main campus:
Low to Medium

Total water use (potable and non-potable combined)::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total water use 251,795,000 Gallons 245,515,000 Gallons

Potable water use::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Potable water use 242,717,000 Gallons 236,645,000 Gallons

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users"::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of residential students 7,581 7,495
Number of residential employees 20 20
Number of in-patient hospital beds 0 0
Full-time equivalent enrollment 23,700 23,859
Full-time equivalent of employees 3,460 3,239
Full-time equivalent of distance education students 3,062 2,259

Gross floor area of building space::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross floor area 8,164,105 Square feet 7,963,155 Square feet

Area of vegetated grounds::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds 1,337 Acres 1,344 Acres

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year July 1, 2013 June 30, 2014
Baseline Year July 1, 2011 June 30, 2012

A brief description of when and why the water use baseline was adopted:

FY12 was the oldest readily available data for total water use.


Water recycled/reused on campus, performance year:
9,078,000 Gallons

Recycled/reused water withdrawn from off-campus sources, performance year:
0 Gallons

A brief description of any water recovery and reuse systems employed by the institution:

When the university golf course was renovated in 2002, a pond was constructed on the golf course for irrigation purposes. This pond is the primary source of irrigation water for all Ohio University athletic fields. A well beneath the pond is used as a back-up source of water.


A brief description of any water metering and management systems employed by the institution:

The City of Athens provides almost all of the potable water for campus. The City of Athens has water meters on almost all campus buildings, and meters are read regularly by city employees for billing purposes. The meter readings are sent to Ohio University along with the monthly water and sewage bills.


A brief description of any building retrofit practices employed by the institution, e.g. to install high efficiency plumbing fixtures and fittings:

All building renovations must conform to Ohio Plumbing Code standards, section 401.3 (Water conservation), which dictate low consumption plumbing fixtures and fittings. All building renovations above $1 million must also conform to LEED silver requirements which have a prerequisite to employ strategies that in aggregate use 20% less water than the water use baseline.


A brief description of any policies or programs employed by the institution to replace appliances, equipment and systems with water-efficient alternatives:
---

A brief description of any water-efficient landscape design practices employed by the institution (e.g. xeriscaping):

The grounds department strives to install low maintenance plants which do not require supplemental water.


A brief description of any weather-informed irrigation technologies employed by the institution:
---

A brief description of other water conservation and efficiency strategies employed by the institution:

Our sustainability plan prohibits the installation of permanent irrigation systems that rely on potable water. This prohibition has resulted in a change in unwritten procedures for plantings and irrigation as explained above. The minimum amount of irrigation possible is used on campus landscaping; some beds are never watered.


The website URL where information about the institution’s water conservation and efficiency initiatives is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Residential employee numbers are based on Residence Life staff estimates.


Residential employee numbers are based on Residence Life staff estimates.

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.