Overall Rating	Silver - expired
Overall Score	56.23
Liaison	Jim Walker
Submission Date	June 14, 2018
Executive Letter	Download

STARS v2.1

University of Texas at Austin
OP-22: Water Use

Status

Score

Responsible Party

0.00 / 5.00

Jim Walker
Director of Sustainability, Financial, and Administrative Services
University Operations

"---" 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:

Medium to High

Part 1

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

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water use	775,935,637 Gallons	725,690,025 Gallons

Potable water use:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use	688,263,800 Gallons	613,947,900 Gallons

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

	Start Date	End Date
Performance Year	Sept. 1, 2016	Aug. 31, 2017
Baseline Year	Sept. 1, 2013	Aug. 31, 2014

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 use baseline year reflects the last report submission from 2016, in which FY and CY 2009 were adopted as baseline years by the Vice President of University Operations and Associate Vice President of Campus Planning as part of the Natural Resources Conservation Plan, an evolving document that supports resource consumption planning for the entire Operations portfolio.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users":

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	7,323	7,327
Number of employees resident on-site	18	16
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds	0	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	46,453	46,485
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty)	14,256.73	12,849
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	32	78
Weighted campus users	47,343.55	46,277.75

Potable water use per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per weighted campus user	14,537.65 Gallons	13,266.59 Gallons

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

Part 2

Gross floor area of building space:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Gross floor area	23,648,561 Gross square feet	22,623,133 Gross square feet

Potable water use per unit of floor area:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per unit of floor area	29.10 Gallons per square foot	27.14 Gallons per square foot

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

Part 3

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	432 Acres	430 Acres

Total water use (potable + non-potable) per unit of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water use per unit of vegetated grounds	1,796,147.31 Gallons per acre	1,687,651.22 Gallons per acre

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

Optional Fields

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:

Irrigation usage is being monitored and that information is being shared by an interactive dashboard. Moisture sensors are also being utilized to see moisture level before and after irrigation cycles. Rain water harvesting and reclaimed water is being used and signage is placed around those sites letting students/faculty know about the endeavor.

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

The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) has had an active water recovery program since the 1980s. UEM currently saves more than 100 million gallons of potable water each year through innovative uses of alternative water sources, and in the history of the program, the university has recovered more than 1.3 billion gallons. These alternative sources include groundwater and air conditioning condensate water recovered from building cooling systems. Since 2013, UEM has also been using reclaimed water from the City of Austin. This reclaimed water, which is significantly lower in cost than potable water, is highly treated municipal wastewater and is used for making up evaporative losses in some campus cooling towers. UEM is also working with Landscape Services in Facilities Services on a project to use reclaimed water for landscape irrigation. This small site at the northeast corner of Dean Keeton St. and San Jacinto Blvd. will be an ideal area to learn how to use reclaimed water for landscape irrigation.

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):

---

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:

https://tableau.austin.utexas.edu/t/UOPublic/views/IrrigationDashboard/IrrigationSystem?:embed=y&:showShareOptions=true&:display_count=no&:showVizHome=no

Additional documentation to support the submission:

---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

https://utilities.utexas.edu/efficiency/water-conservation-efforts