Overall Rating	Silver
Overall Score	45.93
Liaison	Gabrielle Jette
Submission Date	April 13, 2022

STARS v2.2

The Catholic University of America
OP-21: Water Use

Status

Score

Responsible Party

2.64 / 4.00

"---" 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	48,060,000 Gallons	70,268,000 Gallons

Potable water use:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use	48,060,000 Gallons	70,268,000 Gallons

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

	Start Date	End Date
Performance Period	May 1, 2020	April 30, 2021
Baseline Period	May 1, 2015	April 30, 2016

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 water baseline covers the University's Fiscal Year 2016. This year is significant as it is the last full year of data before the University embarked on a campus infrastructure project.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users":

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	1,555	4,133
Number of employees resident on-site	26	23
Number of other individuals resident on-site	14	13
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	3,930	4,174
Full-time equivalent of employees	1,514	1,465
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	3,107	553
Weighted campus users	2,162	4,866.50

Potable water use per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per weighted campus user	22,229.42 Gallons	14,439.12 Gallons

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

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	2,034,186 Gross square feet	2,099,932 Gross square feet

Potable water use per unit of floor area:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per unit of floor area	23.63 Gallons per square foot	33.46 Gallons per square foot

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

29.39

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

Area of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds	176 Acres	176 Acres

Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds	273,068.18 Gallons per acre	399,250 Gallons per acre

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

31.60

Optional Fields

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

The University encourages the campus population to reduce their water usage. Many tips and strategies are displayed on the University sustainability website, on social media accounts, and through sustainability orientation handouts.

In 2021, the University placed stickers throughout campus encouraging the community to take shorter showers and turn off the tap when brushing your teeth.

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

The University has two rainwater harvesting systems on campus. One is located at Maloney Hall, the home of the Busch School of Business. The rainwater harvesting system there is an underground storage tank that collects rainwater. The rainwater is then used for reuse to flush plumbing fixtures in the building.

The other rainwater harvesting system is included in the University's central plant. The underground cistern there is used to collect water to supply make up water to the University's three centralized cooling towers.

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

When plumbing renovations are set to occur, the University often procures lower flush, flow, and process water fixtures and equipment. Recently, the University renovated all of the bathrooms in Flather Hall, a residence hall, in 2020. The bathrooms were upgraded to low flow and low flush fixtures.

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

https://facilities.catholic.edu/sustainability/water.html

Additional documentation to support the submission:

---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Performance year data is FY2020 (May 2020 - April 2021). Baseline year data is FY2016 (May 2015 - April 2016). This baseline year was chosen as it was the last full year of data before a campus-wide infrastructure project designed to reduce water use. Campus population data is provided for each of these time periods. Note that this data is different from that in PRE-5 due to the different performance and baseline years.