State University of New York at New Paltz
OP-26: Water Use

This baseline was adopted because it was the earliest year with comprehensive water use data.

The college installed a rainwater cistern at LeFevre Hall for rainwater irrigation in the fall of 2014. The cistern was installed after the performance year for this calculation.

All buildings are metered for domestic water.

SUNY New Paltz Campus Design Standards for new construction and major renovation projects specify the following domestic water conservation measures: * Low flow faucets - Our standard faucet for bathrooms has a flow rate of 0.5 gallons per minute (gpm), well under the LEED maximum of 2 gpm for faucets. Our standard faucets are equipped with automatic hands free sensors, so water only flows when demanded, or are self-closing/metered, so they automatically shut off after the programmed duration. All faucets include water-saving aerators. * Low flow toilets - In public spaces such as academic buildings, our standard toilets flush automatically and have a flow rate of less than 1.3 gallons per flush (gpf). Our standard toilets for residence halls are dual-flush toilets with two rates of flow: 1.1 gpf and 1.6 gpf. Our toilet standards meet requirements for LEED. * High efficiency urinals - Our standard urinal is nearly waterless and has a flow rate of 0.125 gpf. * Low flow shower heads - Our standard shower heads use 1.5 gpm, under the LEED maximum of 2 gpm.

Specific Domestic Water Conservation Improvements to Date: * Installed low-flow shower heads in all residence halls. * Installed low-flow, dual flush toilets and low flow, metered/self-closing faucets in Crispell Hall and Lefevre Hall. * Installed water-saving aerators on all faucets. * Installed waterless urinals at Hasbrouck Dining Hall. * Renovated the bathrooms in Lecture Center, College Theater, and the Humanities Building including low-flow automatic (hands free) faucets and toilets. * Installed self-closing (water saving) faucets in the bathrooms of Sojourner Truth Library, Old Library, Fine Arts Building, and Old Main. * Installed low-flow toilets and urinals at Van Den Berg Hall, Esopus Hall, and Lenape Hall. * A 12,500-gallon rainwater cistern will be installed at the Wooster Science Building. Rainwater collected from the roof will provide water to the low-flow toilets and urinals in Wooster. * All the current and upcoming major construction projects (including Wooster Science Building, the New Residence Hall, and the New Science Building) meet campus design standards for toilets, urinals, faucets, and showers.

The water data provided in this credit indicates that water use has significantly increased from the baseline to the performance year. During this same period of time, the campus population increased. One of the possible reasons for the increase in water use is the change in the methodology used to track water. Until 2013, SUNY New Paltz tracked water use by taking visual readings of meters at each building on a monthly basis. Now, badger water meters have been installed and real time data is uploaded into our centralized online building management and metering system. The college is assessing the reliability of these new meters, which have reported unusually high readings for short periods of time (i.e. a three or two month period) for certain meters during the 2013-14 performance year. These high readings for a few meters for a few months at a time explain the ~ 2.4 million gallon increase in SFY 2013-14. Every other year's water use prior to the 2013-14 academic year shows substantially less water use: SFY 2008-9 - 36,961,717 gallons SFY 2009-10 - 36,644,879 gallons SFY 2010-11 - 35,278,187 gallons SFY 2011-12 - 35,530,923 gallons SFY 2012-13 - 36,796,812 gallons SFY 2013-14 - 38,673,933 gallons It is likely that the water data for the 2013-14 academic year is incorrect. The Office of Campus Sustainability is piloting a smart valve in one building that is anticipated to improve water meter data quality. SUNY New Paltz only tracks total water use and does not break down water use between potable and non-potable water uses. The number of residential students in the baseline year was not available at the time of submission, so we assumed that the number of students that lived on campus in the performance year was the same as the baseline year.