Campus utility mapping should connect property and legal boundaries, source assets, distribution, meters, isolation, capacity, operations, cost allocation, outage consequences, and the party responsible at every handoff.

Define the campus and the decision before drawing the lines

Identify every parcel, owner and operating entity, building, structure, central plant, utility source, public or private street, easement, right-of-way, leased or condominium area, tenant, shared facility, planned development, and adjoining property involved. State whether the work supports acquisition, refinancing, development, disposition, utility separation, cost allocation, benchmarking, resilience, decarbonization, capacity planning, a capital project, or operating control. The same pipes and wires may need a different level of evidence for each decision.

Define the included utilities: electric, generation and storage, natural gas and other fuels, steam, heating hot water, chilled and condenser water, potable and process water, sanitary and storm systems, reclaimed or alternative water, irrigation, fire water, telecom and controls networks, compressed air, specialty gases, or other shared services. KOW can organize physical, document, meter, cost, condition, capacity, and handoff evidence within its assignment. Title, easement and contract interpretation, utility determinations, engineering analysis and design, cybersecurity, code compliance, and operating authority remain with the responsible parties and professionals.

Build the physical utility and asset hierarchy

For each utility, trace source, utility-owned facilities, service entrance, point of delivery, customer-owned equipment, generation or plant, storage, treatment, primary and secondary distribution, vaults and manholes, transformers and substations, pumps and pressure zones, mains and branches, valves and switches, meters, controls and communications, building entry, risers or local distribution, critical end uses, return systems, discharge, and disposal. Assign a stable identifier, location, elevation or depth where known, size or rating, age, condition, capacity, source record, and field-verification status.

Reconcile surveys, civil and utility plans, one-lines, riser and flow diagrams, plant schematics, record drawings, GIS, easement exhibits, equipment lists, controls graphics, meter inventories, work orders, permits, utility correspondence, construction records, and interviews. Mark abandoned, bypassed, temporary, undocumented, inaccessible, shared, and future assets. GSA’s P100 provides one federal-owner example of coordinating site utilities with civil, mechanical, and electrical requirements and future maintenance; it does not establish the rules for another campus.

Separate physical, legal, operating, and financial boundaries

At every handoff, record the physical point, owner, operator, maintainer, inspector, account holder, payer, bill allocator, emergency contact, access right, shutoff authority, capital responsibility, replacement responsibility, and governing source. Review deeds, surveys, easements, declarations, reciprocal easement agreements, leases, licenses, utility tariffs and service agreements, plant or energy-service contracts, development agreements, maintenance agreements, cost-sharing formulas, insurance requirements, and public approvals with the appropriate legal and utility teams.

The boundaries may not align. The utility can own equipment inside the property; one owner can operate a plant serving another parcel; a tenant can pay for energy passing through owner-controlled equipment; a master account can cover assets maintained by several parties; or an undocumented line can cross a future construction area. Flag conflict between documents, drawings, interviews, billing, and field conditions. A responsibility matrix should show both the currently understood arrangement and the confirmation still required before a transaction or project relies on it.

Make meters explain both resource flow and money

Build a meter register with utility type, identifier, account, serial number, location, upstream and downstream assets, buildings or loads served, ownership, billing role, multiplier and transformer ratios, units, interval, accuracy class where available, installation and calibration record, communications path, platform, data owner, access, time zone, gaps, estimates, resets, rollover, virtual or calculated relationships, submeters, tenant allocation, and whether the meter is used for billing, compliance, operations, measurement and verification, or information only.

Reconcile total supply with plant input, distribution, building and major end-use meters far enough to expose unmetered load, loss, overlap, double counting, and unexplained residuals. DOE FEMP metering guidance distinguishes building-, distribution-, and end-use metering and emphasizes a planned use for the data. ENERGY STAR’s campus guidance separates meters serving the whole campus or multiple buildings from meters dedicated to a child building. Those program structures are useful checks; the campus still needs its own physical and financial meter logic, documented allocations, and responsible data steward.

Test capacity, isolation, outage, and project dependencies

For each building and critical function, identify normal source, alternate source, common dependencies, capacity and peak basis, losses, pressure or temperature requirements, power quality, water quality, utility constraints, isolation and sectionalizing points, access, spare parts, operator action, monitoring, emergency and standby support, return or discharge path, and the consequence of failure. Distinguish nameplate, contract or utility allocation, calculated capacity, measured peak, available margin, and capacity already committed to planned work.

Develop outage and construction scenarios: loss of source, plant, feeder, main, meter, controls or communication; maintenance of a shared segment; utility cutover; new-building connection; plant renewal; fuel switch; separation of a parcel; or emergency isolation. Show affected buildings, critical loads, notices, permits, utility and operator coordination, temporary service, backup limitations, restoration sequence, testing, and rollback. The map should reveal when nominal redundancy shares one vault, bridge, network, plant header, pump, access route, or responsible crew.

Turn the map into a controlled transaction and capital handoff

For a transaction, preserve utility accounts and authorizations, service agreements, bills and interval data, plant and distribution assets, easements and responsibilities, permits and inspections, maintenance and test history, open work, violations or notices, fuel and water treatment, operators and vendors, software and data access, emergency contacts, current capital projects, planned connections, capacity commitments, outages, temporary arrangements, and unresolved confirmations. Assign each transfer step, effective date, evidence, access dependency, and fallback if the transfer is delayed.

For a capital project, update the controlled one-lines, GIS and asset register; meter and allocation logic; ownership and maintenance matrix; isolation and emergency procedures; controls and network records; capacity model; permits, utility approvals and agreements; tests and commissioning; operator training; spare parts; warranty; and final accepted service boundary. Close superseded accounts, temporary feeds, bypasses, old virtual meters, and abandoned assets deliberately. The completed project should leave every building with a traceable source, responsible operator, measurable flow, funded maintenance path, and documented response when the shared system changes or fails.

Primary sources

Sources and technical references.

Source review current as of September 2, 2026.