Overall Rating	Gold
Overall Score	68.42
Liaison	Austin Sutherland
Submission Date	Feb. 18, 2025

STARS v2.2

University of Pennsylvania
OP-21: Water Use

Status

Score

Responsible Party

3.50 / 5.00

"---" 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:

Medium to High

Part 1. Reduction in potable water use per person

Total water withdrawal (potable and non-potable combined):

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal	701,599,466.90 Gallons	853,382,209.91 Gallons

Potable water use:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use	701,599,466.90 Gallons	853,382,209.91 Gallons

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

	Start Date	End Date
Performance Period	July 1, 2022	June 30, 2023
Baseline Period	July 1, 2018	June 30, 2019

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:

This is the first year of the Univeristy's Climate & Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 (CSAP 3.0).

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users":

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	6,467	5,966
Number of employees resident on-site	59	0
Number of other individuals resident on-site	14	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	25,106	21,211
Full-time equivalent of employees	18,101	16,858
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	1,024	0
Weighted campus users	33,282.75	30,043.25

Potable water use per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per weighted campus user	21,079.97 Gallons	28,405.12 Gallons

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

25.79

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	17,299,357 Gross square feet	16,971,119 Gross square feet

Potable water use per unit of floor area:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per unit of floor area	40.56 Gallons per square foot	50.28 Gallons per square foot

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

19.35

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

Area of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds	43.80 Acres	43.80 Acres

Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds	16,018,252.67 Gallons per acre	19,483,612.10 Gallons per acre

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

17.79

Optional Fields

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

The Water Center at Penn is a trans-disciplinary applied research center focused on solving today's urban water challenges. Aligning the University of Pennsylvania's academic resource with water practitioner expertise, the Water Center at Penn combines policy, science, and technology to create equitable, resilient, and sustainable solutions. The Water Center regularly hosts events aimed at educating the Penn community about emerging water issues.

Website: https://watercenter.sas.upenn.edu/

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

Several projects across Penn's campus reuse rainwater for irrigation. Of note are two new open green space projects on Penn’s campus that collect and store rainwater used for irrigating the same planted spaces, helping to reduce water use, improve water quality and minimize runoff.

Shoemaker Green, a 2.75 acre public commons, features a 20,000 gallon cistern that captures rainwater. This Green is also designed to capture condensate from air conditioning units in the adjacent building for reuse.

At Penn Park, a 24-acre park for recreation and sports activity, stormwater is captured in a 300,000 gallon cistern, where it is stored and pumped out as needed for irrigation.

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

N/A

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

https://sustainability.upenn.edu/stormwater-management

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

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