Water Conserved (OI4015)

This metric is intended to capture the reduction in water usage resulting from the organization’s water conservation during the report period. Water conservation efforts could include low-flow toilets, rainwater collection facilities, or improved manufacturing processes. Organizations should not include overall reduced water usage resulting from reduced organizational activities (e.g., partial outsourcing of operations).

Organizations should footnote all assumptions used, including the basis for calculating reductions in water usage (such as base year or baseline) and the rationale for choosing that basis. For example, if the reporting period is annual, organizations should report on the difference in water use between the current year and previous year. Additionally, organizations are encouraged to footnote water conserved as a percentage of the total water consumed by the organization.

Organizations are encouraged to report this metric in conjunction with Water Conservation Strategy (OI9326).

In some contexts, this metric may help measure the HOW MUCH Depth dimension of impact, which helps estimate the degree of change in outcome that the stakeholders experienced. For more on the alignment of IRIS metrics to the five dimensions of impact, see IRIS+ and the Five Dimensions of Impact (https://iris.thegiin.org/document/iris-and-the-five-dimensions/). No single metric is sufficient to understand an impact; rather, metrics are selected as a set across all dimensions of impact. When possible, the selection of metrics to measure and describe the five dimensions should be based on best practice and evidence.