Overall Rating	Gold - expired
Overall Score	65.48
Liaison	Amy Brunvand
Submission Date	Oct. 21, 2020

STARS v2.2

University of Utah
OP-21: Water Use

Status

Score

Responsible Party

5.21 / 6.00

William Leach
Sustainability Project Coordinator
Facilities Management

"---" 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:

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	1,076,431,032 Gallons	1,214,760,228 Gallons

Potable water use:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use	943,504,012 Gallons	1,214,760,228 Gallons

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

	Start Date	End Date
Performance Period	July 1, 2018	June 30, 2019
Baseline Period	Jan. 1, 2010	Dec. 31, 2010

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 2010 baseline year was selected to maintain a consistent emission-inventory history between the performance year and the year we had previously submitted a STARS report.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users":

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	4,785	3,558
Number of employees resident on-site	255	158
Number of other individuals resident on-site	286	2,222
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	30,693	29,456
Full-time equivalent of employees	22,611	15,319
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	1,566	355
Weighted campus users	40,349.50	36,466

Potable water use per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per weighted campus user	23,383.29 Gallons	33,312.13 Gallons

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

29.81

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	17,539,148 Gross square feet	13,985,662 Gross square feet

Potable water use per unit of floor area:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per unit of floor area	53.79 Gallons per square foot	86.86 Gallons per square foot

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

38.07

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

Area of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds	230 Acres	212.12 Acres

Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds	4,680,134.92 Gallons per acre	5,726,759.51 Gallons per acre

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

18.28

Optional Fields

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

Primary shifts have occurred around passive management (e.g. low flow) and through selective landscaping.

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

Outside of a few, select gray water and water catchment systems, there is no comprehensive campus initiative.

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

Although not fully represented within the reporting period, largest impacts were recently made with to a campus-wide upgrade of the irrigation control system that better accounts for weather variation and soil needs.

Low flow toilets, sinks, and fixtures are pursued throughout the campus. Implementation of these upgrades is consistent for the majority of renovations and new construction. There have been some obstacles implementing these changes in the Health Sciences campus due to water line contamination concerns.

Significant work was also done to identify and repair leaks in the high temp system and changes in plant cooling towers resulted in significant water savings.

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

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Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

SOURCES
Facilities Sustainability & Energy tracks water use of utility bills and well water over time. Water systems are associated with buildings along with their floor area, construction date, and demolition year to account for changes over time. The university purchases most water from Salt Lake City, but some irrigation water pulled from a well system on site.

NOTE: The University system also serves water to the Intermountain Healthcare Primary Children's Medical Center, which that area has been added as a part of the system boundary. That building area is not applicable to energy and campus boundaries.

NOTE:University began tracking well pump non-potable water used for irrigation in 2013. In 2010 the University began gradually switching irrigation from 100% potable water from the Salt Lake City water system to non-potable well water. In addition to the progress made in system efficiencies noted above, the reduction in potable water use per weighted campus user is also due in part to the shift to well water for landscape irrigation.

Utah Division of Facilities Construction and Management (DFCM). Design Requirements: University of Utah Supplement. November 1, 2017.
URL: https://dfcm.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/University-Design-Requirements-November-1-2017-final.docx.pdf
C. Water Distribution System (1) The source of the University’s domestic water distribution system is Salt Lake City’s water supply system. (2) Water conservation measures are to be designed into, and implemented on all new construction or substantial remodeling projects. No project is to increase the quantity of water consumed; indeed; water consumption should decrease with the completion of each project.