| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 51.25 |
| Liaison | Jacob Saffert |
| Submission Date | Feb. 4, 2015 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Saint John's University
OP-26: Water Use
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.63 / 4.00 |
Jacob
Saffert Sustainability Fellow Office of Sustainability |
Level of water risk for the institution’s main campus:
Total water use (potable and non-potable combined)::
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Total water use | 69,382,942 Gallons | 92,745,100 Gallons |
Potable water use::
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Potable water use | 58,747,742 Gallons | 84,238,900 Gallons |
Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users"::
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Number of residential students | 1,502 | 1,640.40 |
| Number of residential employees | 22 | 22 |
| Number of in-patient hospital beds | 0 | 0 |
| Full-time equivalent enrollment | 1,845 | 2,015 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 506 | 136 |
| Full-time equivalent of distance education students | 0 | 0 |
Gross floor area of building space::
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Gross floor area | 1,346,820 Square feet | 1,873,268 Square feet |
Area of vegetated grounds::
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Vegetated grounds | 271.10 Acres | 271.10 Acres |
Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
| Start Date | End Date | |
| Performance Year | July 1, 2013 | June 30, 2014 |
| Baseline Year | Jan. 1, 2005 | Dec. 31, 2005 |
A brief description of when and why the water use baseline was adopted:
Water recycled/reused on campus, performance year:
Recycled/reused water withdrawn from off-campus sources, performance year:
A brief description of any water recovery and reuse systems employed by the institution:
The power plant chemically treats, softens and "cycles up" the water used in the evaporative cooling towers up to 3 times. Boiler water is chemically treated and cycled up to as much as 30 "cycles" of concentration. As an additional conservation measure, the campus strives to maintain steam traps and condensate return systems in such a manner as to return 80-90% of water back to the boilers, thus reducing the raw water make-up required for them. We also created a collection and pump system where a portion of the non-contact cooling water can be used in the pottery studio for their clay production purposes. For the future, we also intend to automate boiler chemical control and blow down as well as a brine reclamation system to reclaim a portion of salt brine back into the softening process which will reduce water, salt and lessen the waste water in the softening process
A brief description of any water metering and management systems employed by the institution:
Virgil Michel, Flynntown Apartments, and the McKeown Center all have water meters at the building level.
A brief description of any building retrofit practices employed by the institution, e.g. to install high efficiency plumbing fixtures and fittings:
Saint John's is exploring the possibility of installing waterless urinals in the upcoming renovation of the library learning commons. There is no systematic practice of building retrofitting for the purpose of water conservation.
A brief description of any policies or programs employed by the institution to replace appliances, equipment and systems with water-efficient alternatives:
The campus does not have an official policy, but only energy star appliances are purchased whenever possible. Front load washers are the campus standard because they use about 1/3 the water per load.
A brief description of any water-efficient landscape design practices employed by the institution (e.g. xeriscaping):
The McKeown Center, Abbey Cemetery, and Abbey Guesthouse rain gardens are explicitly xeriscaped. The McKeown center rain garden utilizes two plants which bloom at different times of the season. Overall, we have limited automatic irrigation installed on campus so we try to minimize the use of plants that will demand a lot of watering, seeing as much of the irrigation is done manually.
A brief description of any weather-informed irrigation technologies employed by the institution:
No weather informed irrigation technologies are used on campus. The majority of campus is irrigated with a lake water system which draws water directly from the lake as opposed to using well water or domestic sources.
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:
Vegetated grounds were calculated by taking the uninversity area and subtracting the building area.
Our water treatment plant serves a greater population than just the university. The proportionate usage is likely the same (so our numbers are unrepresentative of our per capita usage).
Vegetated grounds were calculated by taking the uninversity area and subtracting the building area.
Our water treatment plant serves a greater population than just the university. The proportionate usage is likely the same (so our numbers are unrepresentative of our per capita usage).
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.