Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.46
Liaison Francis Mitalo
Submission Date April 21, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of California, Riverside
OP-26: Water Use

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.01 / 5.00 John Cook
Director of Sustainability
Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Level of water risk for the institution’s main campus:
High

Total water use (potable and non-potable combined)::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total water use 3,871,352.60 Cubic meters 4,415,563.91 Cubic meters

Potable water use::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Potable water use 2,493,689.54 Cubic meters 2,610,889.25 Cubic meters

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users"::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of residential students
Number of residential employees
Number of in-patient hospital beds
Full-time equivalent enrollment
Full-time equivalent of employees
Full-time equivalent of distance education students

Gross floor area of building space::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross floor area 675,740.96 Square meters 571,685.86 Square meters

Area of vegetated grounds::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds 153.78 Hectares 153.78 Hectares

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year July 1, 2014 June 30, 2015
Baseline Year July 1, 2005 June 30, 2008

A brief description of when and why the water use baseline was adopted:
Baseline mandated by University of California Office of the President for UC Sustainable Water goals.

Water recycled/reused on campus, performance year:
Cubic meters

Recycled/reused water withdrawn from off-campus sources, performance year:
Cubic meters

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

A brief description of any water metering and management systems employed by the institution:
The campus has one major meter for water. Sub-metering is done on a recharge basis for revenue generating facilities, state funded facilities built after 2005 have water meters installed. Meters vary depending on building occupants and construction date. UCR does not have irrigation meters for potable water.

A brief description of any building retrofit practices employed by the institution, e.g. to install high efficiency plumbing fixtures and fittings:
During the certification of four of our residential apartments LEED EBOM Gold, UCR replaced all showerheads and faucets with high efficiency ones. Savings of over 2 million gallons of potable water were achieved.

A brief description of any policies or programs employed by the institution to replace appliances, equipment and systems with water-efficient alternatives:
UCR requires EPA WaterWise appliances for any new or replacement purchases, when available.

A brief description of any water-efficient landscape design practices employed by the institution (e.g. xeriscaping):
As part of our commitment to LEED certification for all new construction and major renovation, we engage in drought tolerant landscaping in all new projects.

A brief description of any weather-informed irrigation technologies employed by the institution:
UCR has two weather sensor systems that control irrigation - one for housing and one for the academic and administrative core.

A brief description of other water conservation and efficiency strategies employed by the institution:
UCR has reduced its potable irrigation water by 15%, replaced all of its urinals with low flow units and switched the irrigation for our Botanical gardens from potable to non-potable water.

The website URL where information about the institution’s water conservation and efficiency initiatives is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
UCR uses 100% potable water on its main campus for building operations, residential and landscaping irrigation. UCR uses non-potable water for all agricultural operations, its community garden and botanical gardens.

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.