Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 70.94
Liaison Brandon Trelstad
Submission Date April 30, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Oregon State University
OP-26: Water Use

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.71 / 3.00 Sonja Mae
Sustainability Program Specialist
Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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

Total water use (potable and non-potable combined)::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total water use 250,805,148 Gallons
+ Date Revised: Dec. 17, 2014
267,228,984 Gallons

Potable water use::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Potable water use 250,805,148 Gallons
+ Date Revised: Dec. 17, 2014
267,228,984 Gallons

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users"::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of residential students 4,784 3,253
Number of residential employees 17 16
Number of in-patient hospital beds 0 0
Full-time equivalent enrollment 24,451.20 18,055
Full-time equivalent of employees 5,054.40 4,208.20
Full-time equivalent of distance education students 0 0

Gross floor area of building space::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross floor area 7,893,953 Square feet 6,839,309 Square feet

Area of vegetated grounds::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds 793 Acres 818 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, 2004 June 30, 2005

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

2005 is the first year in which we have comprehensive data for this credit.


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Recycled/reused water withdrawn from off-campus sources, performance year: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

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

Nearly all of buildings are metered for water. Irrigation is metered as well.


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

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):

OSU landscapers have taken many steps to reduce their operation's impact on the environment:

* Incorporating native and/or drought tolerant plants into landscaped areas
* Leave grass clippings on the lawns to return nutrients
* Obtain annual Oregon Dept. of Agriculture training to maintain pesticide best practices and application licenses
* Maintain the campus to different standards based on need (i.e., MU quad vs. low profile areas)
* Use of Maxi-com computerized irrigation system with weather-based watering to conserve water
* Minimal use of only slow release fertilizers to avoid fertilizer run off
* On-campus handling and chipping of woody debris and compostable material
* Application as groundcover of mulch and wood chips to reduce watering and weeding needs


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

Our Rainbird Maxicom computerized system uses local weather data to determine appropriate water levels, based on evapotranspiration (ET) indicators.

OSU Landscape Crew also performs annual irrigation audits to verify automated system performance.


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

The website URL where information about the institution’s water conservation and efficiency initiatives is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---

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.