Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 60.20
Liaison Jonathan Rausseo
Submission Date March 29, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Ottawa
OP-22: Water Use

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.97 / 4.00 Jonathan Chiasson
Mechanical and Electrical Technologist
Physical Resources Service
"---" 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’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas:
Low

Total water use (potable and non-potable combined):
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total water use 461,044 Cubic meters 700,414 Cubic meters

Potable water use:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Potable water use 455,377 Cubic meters 695,914 Cubic meters

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year May 1, 2016 April 30, 2017
Baseline Year May 1, 2005 April 30, 2006

A brief description of when and why the water use baseline was adopted:
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Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users":
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site 3,557 2,885
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 36,061 37,345
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty) 3,132 5,358
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 0 0
Weighted campus users 30,284 32,748.50

Potable water use per weighted campus user:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Potable water use per weighted campus user 455,377 Cubic meters 695,914 Cubic meters

Percentage reduction in potable water use per weighted campus user from baseline:
29.24

Gross floor area of building space:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross floor area 577,662 Gross square meters 539,211 Gross square meters

Potable water use per unit of floor area:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Potable water use per unit of floor area 19.35 Cubic meters per square meter 31.67 Cubic meters per square meter

Percentage reduction in potable water use per unit of floor area from baseline:
38.92

Does the institution wish to pursue Part 3 of this credit? (reductions in total water use per acre/hectare of vegetated grounds):
Yes

Area of vegetated grounds:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds 11.08 Hectares 7.77 Hectares

Total water use (potable + non-potable) per unit of vegetated grounds:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total water use per unit of vegetated grounds 4,450,048.70 Cubic meters per hectare 9,638,180.01 Cubic meters per hectare

Percentage reduction in total water use per unit of vegetated grounds from baseline:
53.83

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 bulk of the success in our water reduction has not come from community engagement, rather from improvements to equipment, using new technologies, and empowering Facilities staff to take imitative on projects that reduce consumption.

A brief description of the institution's water recovery and reuse initiatives:
The University of Ottawa employs a black water re-use system to provide feed water to the cooling towers. The black water is sourced from the concentrate of the science precinct water purification plant and the over-flow from the aquatic care fish holding facility.(on main campus) Aquatic care black water diverted to cooling tower make up and enriched reverse osmosis concentrate that used to go to sewer at the power plant. At our health science campus, we use a reverse osmosis system to purify ‘black water’. Water optimization and black water recycling of Reversed Osmosis concentrate is used as feed water.

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):
Whenever new technologies arrive that are proven to reduce water consumption, the University of Ottawa retrofits its infrastructure to incorporate that technology. This tends to happen typically at the end of life of the equipment (ex. toilets, showers, etc). If it is observed that water consumption in a building is rising faster than anticipated, investigations are conducted to isolate the issues, and when required, old infrastructure is replaced with new infrastructure.

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.