| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 69.47 |
| Liaison | Sally DeLeon |
| Submission Date | Feb. 28, 2019 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of Maryland, College Park
OP-22: Water Use
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.31 / 5.00 |
Sally
DeLeon Acting Manager Environmental Safety, Sustainability and Risk |
Level of ”Physical Risk QUANTITY” for the institution’s main campus as indicated by the World Resources Institute’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas:
Total water use (potable and non-potable combined):
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Total water use | --- | 550,159 Gallons |
Potable water use:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Potable water use | 547,192 Gallons | 550,159 Gallons |
Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
| Start Date | End Date | |
| Performance Year | Jan. 1, 2015 | Dec. 31, 2017 |
| Baseline Year | Jan. 1, 2007 | Dec. 31, 2007 |
A brief description of when and why the water use baseline was adopted:
The water use baseline was adopted when UMD submitted for a STARS Rating in 2014. This year was chosen to because it was the last year before the campus initiated a coordinated, campus wide approach to setting sustainability goals and measuring progress.
Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users":
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Number of students resident on-site | 11,404 | 9,556 |
| Number of employees resident on-site | 0 | 0 |
| Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds | 0 | 0 |
| Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 36,140 | 32,420 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty) | 9,213 | 7,973 |
| Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 837.90 | 0 |
| Weighted campus users | 36,237.33 | 32,683.75 |
Potable water use per weighted campus user:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Potable water use per weighted campus user | 15.10 Gallons | 16.83 Gallons |
Percentage reduction in potable water use per weighted campus user from baseline:
Gross floor area of building space:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Gross floor area | 15,129,960 Gross square feet | 13,236,841 Gross square feet |
Potable water use per unit of floor area:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Potable water use per unit of floor area | 0.04 Gallons per square foot | 0.04 Gallons per square foot |
Percentage reduction in potable water use per unit of floor area from baseline:
Does the institution wish to pursue Part 3 of this credit? (reductions in total water use per acre/hectare of vegetated grounds):
Area of vegetated grounds:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Vegetated grounds | 844.59 Acres | 844.59 Acres |
Total water use (potable + non-potable) per unit of vegetated grounds:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Total water use per unit of vegetated grounds | 0 Gallons per acre | 651.39 Gallons per acre |
Percentage reduction in total water use per unit of vegetated grounds from baseline:
A brief description of the institution's water-related behavior change initiatives, e.g. initiatives to shift individual attitudes and practices such as signage and competitions:
The GreenTerp Program for residence halls, the Green Chapter Program for fraternity and sorority houses both incorporate water saving actions to which participants can commit to earn their certification. For more information visit https://sustainability.umd.edu/get-involved/students/green-terp
The Small Footprint Pledge includes three behavior changes to which people can choose to commit in order to conserve water on campus: 1) I will reduce my showering time by five minutes; 2) I will turn off the tap while brushing my teeth; 3) I will check my faucets, showerheads, and toilets for leaks and call 4-WORK or my landlord when repairs are needed. See https://sustainability.umd.edu/get-involved/students/small-footprint-pledge
The Green Office Program includes a number of collective behaviors to which offices can choose to commit to reduce water consumption on campus. See https://sustainability.umd.edu/get-involved/faculty/green-office-program
A brief description of the institution's water recovery and reuse initiatives:
The University of Maryland has 4 water harvesting units. All units are cisterns that capture rainwater for reuse. They are located at Washington Quad, Knight Hall, Denton Quad and the Community Learning Garden by the School of Public Health. The Washington Quad, surrounded by residence halls, now features a stormwater irrigation system. A 10,000 gallon cistern receives stormwater from the roofs of the surrounding buildings. A computer controlled system then directs the water to a drip irrigation system to the plant beds nearby. The system eliminates the need to water all the planted beds during warm periods.
Knight Hall, home to the school of Journalism, is a green building surrounded by green space that now captures the rain that falls on the site in a 10,000 gallon cistern buried under the courtyard. This system collects rainwater from roof drains, channels the water through a high capacity filter in the courtyard, and stores it in an underground cistern. A drip irrigation system detects the amount of moisture in the soil so that plants are only watered as needed. When the irrigation system calls for water, pumps send water from the cistern through the irrigation system for distribution on-site.
A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace plumbing fixtures, fittings, appliances, equipment, and systems with water-efficient alternatives (e.g. building retrofits):
Many restroom fixtures have been replaced with automatically flushing, low capacity units. New and renovated restrooms have equipment required under the University's Design Criteria Facilities Standards. Many more installations are planned. once completed, there is a predicted 5 million gallons per year reduction. All toilets/urinals in the residence halls are low-flow with an adjustable water-use option. All faucets/shower-heads have had low-flow disks installed. There is an anticipated reduction of 1.5 million gallons per year due to all residence hall upgrades.
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Facilities Management began reporting annually to the University Sustainability Council on water consumption, water reuse and recycling, and other water related goals in 2015. We do not track non-potable water consumption consistently across campus, so only potable water use has been measured for this credit.
For this credit a 3-year average of the most recent data was used for the performance year because potable water consumption fluctuates significantly from year to year. Weighted campus users for the performance year is calculated based on three year averages for all categories where three years of data was available (and from 2017 for Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education). Resident Employees on site were not included because data was not available from baseline year and the number of employees on site is small enough to be considered negligible. Campus area for the performance year is from Calendar Year 2017.
Facilities Management began reporting annually to the University Sustainability Council on water consumption, water reuse and recycling, and other water related goals in 2015. We do not track non-potable water consumption consistently across campus, so only potable water use has been measured for this credit.
For this credit a 3-year average of the most recent data was used for the performance year because potable water consumption fluctuates significantly from year to year. Weighted campus users for the performance year is calculated based on three year averages for all categories where three years of data was available (and from 2017 for Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education). Resident Employees on site were not included because data was not available from baseline year and the number of employees on site is small enough to be considered negligible. Campus area for the performance year is from Calendar Year 2017.
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.