Water

Introduction

Water conservation, recycling and reuse, and effective rainwater management practices are important in maintaining and protecting finite groundwater supplies. Likewise, pumping, delivering, and treating water is a major driver of energy consumption, so institutions can help reduce energy use and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy generation by conserving water. Water conservation and effective rainwater and wastewater management also reduce the need for effluent discharge into local surface water supplies, which helps improve the health of local water ecosystems.

416 resources

Rainwater Harvesting and Green Wall in LEED Gold building

  • Raritan Valley Community College (NJ)

RVCC has just built the Ray Bateman Center for Student Life and Leadership, which was built to LEED Gold Standards and opened in February 2014. It has a rainwater harvesting …

  • Posted April 8, 2014
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Harnessing Seawater: An Innovative Thermal Exchange HVAC System

  • Southern Maine Community College (ME)
  • Harriman Architects and Engineers (ME)

The installation of a uniquely designed sea water heat exchange system in Casco Bay is an example of innovative technology recently implemented during the renovation of the Lighthouse Building at …


Baylor University's Centralized Irrigation System

  • Baylor University (TX)

ARAMARK-Baylor Facility Services maintains all of the facilities and grounds on the Baylor University campus, including all irrigation systems. The former irrigation system for the campus of Baylor University was …


Innovative Water Reclamation Facility Comes to Emory

  • Emory University (GA)

The Southeastern United States and Atlanta in particular have a challenging water situation. With a rapidly growing population and a comparatively small watershed, measures are needed to better manage our …


University of California, Santa Barbara Water Action Plan

  • University of California, Santa Barbara (CA)

The UCSB Water Action Plan (WAP) has three major project goals: determine historical and current campus water use in order to understand water use trends over time, identify and assess …

  • Posted April 17, 2013
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Water Conservation Strategies in LEED Residence Halls

  • Emory University (GA)
  • Ayers Saint Gross (MD)

Emory University's water conservation goals are extensive and not only include reduced potable water use in our buildings but also across campus, effecting uses such as irrigation and physical plant …

  • Posted July 24, 2012
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Behind the Shower Curtain: How UC Merced Saved a Million Gallons of Water

  • University of California, Merced (CA)

In the fall of 2011, in the agricultural center of California, UC Merced assembled a broad coalition of students, faculty, organizers, and administrators to implement a campus-wide dormitory competition to …


One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Green Fish: How URI Saves 40 Million Gallons of Water a Year

  • University of Rhode Island (RI)

Without clean water, the University of Rhode Island's Aquaculture Center can't fulfill its mission to house fish for research. Yet, the center's water source left a large carbon footprint - …


Energizing the Community for Water Sustainability

  • Stetson University (FL)

The project was designed to energize Stetson students and the broader community around water sustainability on and off campus. Most domestic, agricultural, and industrial water used in Florida originates in …


Combining technology and water to conserve irrigation

  • University of Texas at Austin (TX)

The University of Texas at Austin's facilities management initiated a comprehensive program in fall 2007 to develop and implement demand-side water conservation measures. During this project it was determined that …

  • Posted June 29, 2012
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One World One Water (OWOW) Center for Urban Water Education and Stewardship

  • Metropolitan State University of Denver (CO)

Metropolitan State College of Denver is now the home of an exciting new water institution - the One World One Water (OWOW) Center for Urban Water Education and Stewardship. (Faculty …

  • Posted June 15, 2012
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Marcellus Monitoring: Helping communities turn fear into data collection.

  • Dickinson College (PA)

In 2010, the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM) set out to develop a community-based monitoring protocol that could help communities answer the question "is my local stream being adversely …

  • Posted June 24, 2011
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Just Tap It: Reducing Bottled Water Consumption at Muhlenberg College

  • Muhlenberg College (PA)

The Just Tap It project at Muhlenberg College successfully reduced bottled water purchases on campus by 95%, by limiting the availability of bottled water at Muhlenberg and encouraging the college …


Water Savings Through Non-Traditional Irrigation Control at Western Michigan University

  • Western Michigan University (MI)

Upgrade the campus irrigation controls, moving from stand-alone time clocks to a fully networked and automated control system with a web user interface.

  • Posted June 25, 2010
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Water Conservation Makes Cents at Vanderbilt University

  • Vanderbilt University (TN)

VU has retrofitted 492 low-flow faucets, low-flow toilets and waterfree urinals resulting in the savings of ~9.1 million gallons of water and $64,000 annually. Additionally, VU captured nonpotable water infiltrating …

  • Posted June 21, 2010
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Harnessing the Storm: Sustainable Stormwater Management at Delta College

  • Delta College (MI)

With Federal government placing stringent mandates on the discharge and filtering of storm water, Delta College took the forward-thinking initiative to transform our exterior space into a place of learning …

  • Posted June 15, 2010
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This tab provides access to data collected through AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS). STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. STARS enables meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements developed with broad participation from the campus sustainability community.

All responses reference content from reports under the latest version of STARS, version 2.2. AASHE membership and log-in is required.

OP 21: Water Use

OP 22: Rainwater Management

Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.

Water Partners