U.S. Water Use Intensity by Property Type: Technical Reference
Last Updated: 08-30-2023
If you benchmark your water use in Portfolio Manager, one of the key metrics you’ll see is water use intensity, or WUI. Essentially, the WUI expresses a building’s water use as a function of its size or other characteristics.
For most property types in Portfolio Manager, the WUI is expressed as gallons per square foot per year. It’s calculated by dividing the total water consumed by the building in one year by the total gross floor area of the building.
This reference table is jointly prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) ENERGY STAR and WaterSense® programs. It is designed to allow you to compare your property’s water use intensity to similar properties throughout the United States, with data available for the following property types:
- College/University
- Fire Station
- Hospital (General Medical & Surgical)
- Hotel
- K-12 School (includes Pre-school/Daycare)
- Medical Offices (includes Urgent Care/Clinic/Other Outpatient)
- Multifamily
- Non-Refrigerated Warehouse (includes Self-Storage Facility and Distribution Center)
- Office (includes Bank Branch/Financial Office/Other Offices)
- Retail Store
- Senior Living Community
- Supermarket (includes Grocery Store, Wholesale Club and Supercenter)