Water
The University has aggressively pursued initiatives to conserve water on the Grounds and to develop creative opportunities for storm water management, which has led to several national awards.
- Water usage at the University increased this year by almost 21 million gallons over the previous year. Water usage in 2008 is down 26% from a decade ago despite a 29% increase in gross square feet and a 15% increase in the number of faculty, staff, and students since 1998. The University continues to benefit from the many water conservation initiatives that have been implemented.
- Our most recent storm water management awards:
- 2008 - Society of College and University Planning Merit Award for Landscape Architecture, University of Virginia and Nitsch Engineering
- 2007 - Engineering Excellence Awards - Honor Award, University of Virginia Meadowcreek Regional Storm Water Management Plan
- The University has adopted Facilities Design Guidelines with specific design requirements for domestic water systems in the University projects. Such guidelines supplement mandatory codes, industry standards and other authoritative resources applicable under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Federal Government. These include prohibiting use of domestic water in single pass air conditioning units, mandating the use of central chiller plants and recirculating chilled water systems as a source of cooling, mandating the installation of metering at all new buildings, and mandating the use of low flow water closets, urinals, and shower heads.
- The University has an ongoing program to detect, eliminate and avoid water loss from its distribution system.
- The University is in the process of implementing several water conservation projects.
- The University has a drought management program that is tiered to the severity of the community drought conditions.
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