Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 56.61
Liaison Kelsey Beal
Submission Date Nov. 2, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Indiana University Bloomington
OP-26: Water Use

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.72 / 4.00 Mike Girvin
Campus Division Manager
Physical Plant
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Level of water risk for the institution’s main campus:
Medium to High

Total water use (potable and non-potable combined)::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total water use 638,213,000 Gallons 635,507,000 Gallons

Potable water use::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Potable water use 638,213,000 Gallons 635,507,000 Gallons

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users"::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of residential students 12,758 12,335
Number of residential employees 28 23
Number of in-patient hospital beds 0 0
Full-time equivalent enrollment 38,764 37,443
Full-time equivalent of employees 8,040 8,155
Full-time equivalent of distance education students 809.32 675.73

Gross floor area of building space::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross floor area 16,738,186 Square feet 15,889,707 Square feet

Area of vegetated grounds::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds 1,000 Acres 900 Acres

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year July 1, 2012 June 30, 2013
Baseline Year July 1, 2009 June 30, 2010

A brief description of when and why the water use baseline was adopted:

2009 is used as a consistent baseline across all credits and metrics, and coincides with the year that the IU Office of Sustainability was institutionalized.


Water recycled/reused on campus, performance year:
0 Gallons

Recycled/reused water withdrawn from off-campus sources, performance year:
0 Gallons

A brief description of any water recovery and reuse systems employed by the institution:

The Global and International Studies Building (GISB), opened in 2015, has a 40,000 gallon capacity cistern which collects water from the majority of the rooftop area.

Many parts of campus do not have installed irrigation systems.

Water trucks that are used to spot water new plantings (initially grown in the campus nursery, then transplanted) utilize non-potable water for irrigation.


A brief description of any water metering and management systems employed by the institution:

We have installed over 240 water meters on the Bloomington campus water distribution system and most of them are reporting back through an automated meter reading system. We read the RPS water meters weekly and the rest of them once a month. Our distribution system is supplied by the City of Bloomington. Another ~250 water meters belong to the City of Bloomington and supply the distribution system as well as all the houses used for academic functions. We review the City water bill monthly to insure there are no discrepancies with their readings before the bill is paid. We average about 600,000,000 gallons of water consumption a month.


A brief description of any building retrofit practices employed by the institution, e.g. to install high efficiency plumbing fixtures and fittings:

Replacement of fixtures occurs during planned renovations. At that time, high-performance low-flow fixtures are used and are standard IU practice.


A brief description of any policies or programs employed by the institution to replace appliances, equipment and systems with water-efficient alternatives:
---

A brief description of any water-efficient landscape design practices employed by the institution (e.g. xeriscaping):

Low maintenance perennials are utilized along with many hearty native tree species. Most landscape plants selected for university projects are selected for site heartiness. Irrigation is not a common practice at IU. Plants requiring regular watering such as annual beds are watered utilizing water trucks. This allows for “spot” watering minimizing waste and run off.


A brief description of any weather-informed irrigation technologies employed by the institution:

Rain sensors are utilized on the irrigation system at the arboretum, the Multidisciplinary Science Building II, Simon Hall, and the Science center. The others are monitored frequently.


A brief description of other water conservation and efficiency strategies employed by the institution:

Careful monitoring of irrigation. Planting of drought resistant plants, trees, and turf grass. Mulching to increase moisture retention around plants.


The website URL where information about the institution’s water conservation and efficiency initiatives is available:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

IU has between 900-1100 acres of vegetated grounds. This was rounded to 1000.


IU has between 900-1100 acres of vegetated grounds. This was rounded to 1000.

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.