Hi Andy and Fernando,

 

One of our key research partners for the Illinois Geothermal Coalition is Andy Stumpf (copied here).  He has asked if there are soil borings info for the Chicago campus.  Can you connect him with the right person?

 

“Hi Morgan, Do you have a contact at UIC who would have access to their geotech and soil boring records.. person similar to Beth. I have been asked to help out with the Solar Decathlon project because they are interested in adding geothermal to the design. They plan to design an educational design and innovation center that is on the UIC campus and would occupy the two parking lots at 1198 W Vernon Park PI Parking, Chicago, IL 60607. Soil boring/geotech information for nearby buildings could help the design. I am also mapping Cook County, so this information would also be useful for that project. Would also be interested to know if there are any major water lines in along Harrison Street or I-290. Maybe an opportunity to include wastewater heat recovery.”

 

Thanks!

Morgan

--------------------------------

Hi Morgan,

 

Thanks for the introduction. Nice to meet you Fernando. I am going to find out from the students who they are working with at UIC.

 

Best,

Andy

--------------------------

 

Thanks, it may be Fernando (He is out of the office).

I can pull files related to the 2009 Geothermal wells, but it might help to have a specific question to circulate. IS this accurate: Does UIC have any records of Soil boring/geotech information from past geothermal well drilling?

Regarding water lines – best to assume every where on campus has some utilities under it.  There is likely water on Harrison and Racine,

 

Andy Mitchell 

-----------------------------

Hi Andy,

 

Thanks for getting back to me. Actually, it would be possible to get access to or copies of the soil borings for all projects on UIC campus, not just the geothermal projects. The Illinois State Geological Survey maintains a database of geological, engineering geology, and geophysical information for the entire state. Here is snapshot for part of the UIC campus with engineering test hole delineated by the red dots and labeled by the total depth of the drilling. The data can be accessed through the ISGS’ ILWATER map service https://go.illinois.edu/ilwater. Currently, only the owner, location, and soil boring logs are available for most of the engineering borings, but we plan in the near future to provide access to the engineering geology data entered from the reports and if allowed by the owner/client a pdf of the scanned documents. The boring locations were digitized from the maps included in the reports or coordinates surveyed and provided with the logs. As Morgan knows, I am working with Facilities & Services here to digitize all the soil borings on our campus and provide them through the ILWATER map service. This effort is being funded as a student project that received a grant from the UIUC Student Sustainability Committee. If you are interested in having the UIC data served in a similar manner, let’s talk some more about how this is being done at UIUC. For much of the data the ISGS on the UIC campus came from research survey geologists or UIUC CEE faculty were involved with on the campus and from consultants involved in the project. Beyond the Illinois Solar Decathlon design project, this data is being compiled for the ISGS project to map the surface and subsurface geology of Cook and DuPage counties. This mapping is being done to update work that was done in the 1940s or early. The data is used to develop the maps and models of the geology which we make available to the public. Below is one of the cross sections we made this year for west to east cross section along Roosevelt Road. We plan by 2028 to have a 3D model of the geology available for Cook County. The mapping project is being funded by the U.S. Geological Survey.

 

Best.

Andy

---------------------------

 

Andy – this is exciting stuff and I’m confident we can share the records, once we locate them.

I’m out of the office most of next week, and Fernando is just back and will playing catch up.

When do you need this info by?

 

Andy Mitchell 

----------------------------

Hi Andy and Fernando,

 

Getting back to you about the geotech soil borings. I have shared with you the Box folder with the logs found so far. The logs in the files starting with “x” have been plotted and the information is available through the ISGS borings database https://go.illinois.edu/ilwater. The logs in the files starting with “g” have not been entered yet.

 

Best,

Andy

------------------------

 

Thanks for the nudge Andy.

I’ll connect with our manager Dave Taeyaerts about the best way to go about getting this.

When do you need the info by?

 

Andy Mitchell 

Notes from our Campus Sustainability team meeting are attached.

Actions:

Miriam reaching back out to Ball State for more info on their program

Jen reaching out to DIA for a mtg-some direct requests for signage, staff support for recycling collection, getting volunteers

Morgan asked F&S to do an analysis of what could be accomplished with current $$ from carbon credit sales

Ask Daphne to look into options for SFC bins

Morgan would like for Madhu to speak to Paul Ellinger for his perspective on the carbon credit sales

Jen to reach out to Lowa and Alma about water quality testing

Miriam working to set up time with SSLC in Jan for a touch base meeting

-Elizabeth

The Land & Water iCAP team met on Teams from 1-2 PM on Friday, December 1st. The team discussed the meadow at Orchard Downs, revising the iCAP Land & Water objectives, and the development of an IPM plan for non-F&S areas. Meeting minutes are attached.

Hi All,

 

The iSEE advisory committee and Sustainability Subcouncil will meet on November 27. I would like to get a first draft of the slides done by Friday, November 17 so Madhu has time to review it before the Thanksgiving holiday.

 

The Advisory slides on Box: https://uofi.box.com/s/m380tqilie5s4503svndmoot1hbxnftx

 

I have put update assignments in the notes section of the slides, but will also list them here:

Heidi-slides 6,7 (if there is something exciting), 9,11 (Proposal metrics, new proposals submitted, Sust Trans update) Should we add Kyushu in here?

Luis-slides 13, 14 (Critical Conv and Sloan Workshop)

Eric-slides 15-20 (ELP and Gen Ed. Add a slide about the ESG certificate)

Jen/Miriam-slides 22-30 (Waste reduction efforts/DIA engagement and Carbon Credit accounting)

 

Subcouncil slides: https://uofi.box.com/s/241ttyx8bfceor6hzvoqp0c577lykpzx

Jen and Miriam—pull the slides about waste reduction and carbon credits over to this talk also. Make a slide on the Green research (there is a placeholder)

Eric-pull the Gen Ed slides over to this talk and replace the previous version.

 

Thanks,

Elizabeth

-------------------------------

Hi Elizabeth,

 

I have compiled all the draft subcouncil slides into this version: https://uofi.app.box.com/file/1361429522139

 

Please let me know if you have any questions or changes.

 

Best,

Miriam

--------------------------------

 

Hi all,

 

Please use the version:

 

Sustainability SubCouncil Nov 2023_11.17.2023_new.pptx

 

https://uofi.box.com/s/cbg4t8nr73ib38sr23i7n8k32uo82lwf

 

Thanks,

Jen

------------------------------

 

Hi All

Thanks for putting these slides together in a timely manner. I have a few comments and suggestions below

 

Miriam/Tony

A few formatting edits are needed to improve the look and readability of the slides

1. Remove the top header which says education or campus sustainability on each slide since it is redundant to have it on each slide
2. Instead make the content oriented header which is on the next line the top header and in larger font.
3. Please change font to be at least 20 or more everywhere
4. Add a section break for each change in topic – is this current section header following our latest template? If not would be good to have that.
5. Miriam - Send me the numbers underlying the graphs for carbon credits that you have created
6. Miriam – any idea on how our decision to sell or not would affect our AASHE gold star rating?

 

All- take a look at the two slides I have added at the end and see if you agree.

We have three choices for our recommendation on carbon credits –

stop sales completely

or follow the Ball state example and say that we will stop sales after we reach carbon neutrality, sell our credits in the meantime and not claim any environmental benefit from these reductions in the meantime,

or only sell to entities that are willing to retire these credits and not claim it to achieve their own carbon reduction goals.

 

Thoughts? We can keep it open for now and solicit ideas from the council.

 

If I could have these back by Wednesday then I can go over again and have a final version ready for Elizabeth to send to the Council by Saturday. 

 

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Madhu

------------------------

 

Hi Madhu,

 

Regarding the last slide: Second Nature confirmed at the end of October that we have 10,264 remaining unsold carbon credits. These credits are vintage year 2018, and we haven’t verified any credits beyond 2018. I’m not sure if we can estimate total potential credits if we achieve carbon neutrality as I’ve been told the calculation used is quite complicated, but I’ve reached out to Second Nature to ask if there is any guidance to come up with a rough estimate. Another consideration is how we plan to reach carbon neutrality, and the feasibility of achieving carbon neutrality through emissions reductions alone. It looks like most schools plan to achieve carbon neutrality by buying some offsets.

 

Please see my responses to your other questions below in blue:

 

 

1. Miriam - Send me the numbers underlying the graphs for carbon credits that you have created

The graphs were generated on SIMAP. The attached spreadsheet includes the underlying data. I’ve also included a screen grab below that lays out the numbers clearly.

1. Miriam – any idea on how our decision to sell or not would affect our AASHE gold star rating?

Institutions can earn up to 8 possible points for Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the AASHE scoring system. UIUC received 3.15 out of 8 possible points in this category. Carbon credits sold or transferred are accounted for in our total score, so selling carbon credits could reduce the points we earn here. I looked at the report for Ball State, and found they achieved a Gold rating in 2023. Their score for Greenhouse Gas Emissions is also higher than ours at 4.5/8.0. This suggests there are ways to maintain a high score in this area while selling carbon credits.
Our most recent AASHE score is 73.25, and the range for Gold is 65-85, so I do not expect that selling carbon credits would have a strong enough impact on our score to alter our overall Gold rating.

Thanks and please let me know if you have any other questions!

 

Best,

Miriam

-------------------------------

Hi Morgan,

 

The data from the carbon emissions charts in the subcouncil slides is attached here.

 

-Miriam

Dear Friend of the Reimagine our Future sustainability competition,

 

Thank you for your fantastic support for the 2023 Reimagine our Future competition as a participant, specialist advisor, judge, sponsor, media representative, or interested person. This year we had a record number of 243 participants and 44 submissions from 10 higher education institutions.

The roughly 100 initial judges have reviewed the submissions, provided comments which will be sent to the teams, and selected 12 finalists. (The list of finalists is available below this message.) These teams or individuals will briefly present their projects during an award ceremony on Saturday Dec. 2, 2023, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (US Central Time). The winners of nine awards totaling US$7,000 will be announced after the presentations.  

Professor Kelvin Droegemeier will be the guest speaker at this event. UIUC’s Student Sustainability Committee will conduct the ceremonies.

You are cordially invited to join us in-person if you are in the vicinity of the UIUC. The ceremony will take place in Room 4031 of UIUC’s Campus Instructional Facility. We will serve refreshments from 10:45 a.m. and a light lunch after the ceremony.

If you cannot join us in-person, you are invited to join the award ceremony via Zoom:

Please be so kind to respond to this invitation by completing the following poll before Thursday Nov. 30 at 10 a.m. (US Central Time).

Thank you again for your support. We look forward to thanking you on Dec. 2 and are confident that you will be impressed by the students’ outstanding projects.

 

Yours sincerely,

Leon Liebenberg (Teaching Professor, Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering, UIUC) 

Warren Lavey (Adjunct Professor, College of Law, School of Earth, Society & Environment, and College of Medicine, UIUC) 

Robert McKim (Emeritus Professor, Department of Religion, UIUC) 
Codie Sterner (Coordinator, Student Sustainability Committee, UIUC) 

 

(Reimagine Our Future co-founders and coordinating committee)

 

FINALISTS IN THE 2023 REIMAGINE OUR FUTURE COMPETITION

(In alphabetical order of the team leaders’ last names)

Arshia Ajmera, Keerthana Nallamotu (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) – Accessible screening for preeclampsia

Muskaan Alimchandani (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) – Vrddhi Sthan – A brighter future for Dharavi

Brandon Baron, Whitney Fowler, Shito Ito, Ada Moy, Gwynne McGrady (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) – Parking lot permaculture

Karmyn Flesch, Nadia Wilson, Emily Rhodes, Gabriella Sanchez (University of Illinois, Springfield) – Zero food waste

Amy Jurkowski, Matthew Nowlan, Liesl Schrag, Aiden Sup (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) – Renewable energy-supported housing and opportunities for immigrants

Iryna Maistrenko (International Humanitarian University, Ukraine) – Organization of organic farming during the war in Ukraine

Margot O'Malley, Tom George, Jasper Nord (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) – Grounds for nutrition

Manan Sanghavi (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) – Optimizing resource efficiency by digitizing receipt processes

Jamie Scimeca, Xiang Fei Heah (University of Birmingham) – Light-water small modular reactor

Advay Sudarshan, Patrick Harsono, Jesse Wei, Hugo Ji (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) – Polyester upcycling and fiber composite furniture

Hlib Vakumenko (Vienna University of Economics and Business) – Transform food waste into improved dietary nutrition

Charles Wheeler, Lucas Baronello, Saharra Murphy, Caila Riggs, Michelle Check (University of Illinois, Springfield) – Farm to School: a shared investment for a healthier future

Hi Josh,

 

Do you know if we could request apprentices work on the 15kw solar install?  That could potentially bump us from a tax credit of ~$5500 to $33,000 if this goes through.

 

Best,
Tim

 

---------------------

How much of the labor has to be apprentice? 

Joshua Robin

----------------------

15%  thanks!

Morgan White

---------------------

Thanks Morgan!

 

With a small crew, if they had one apprentice, that might catch what we need. 

 

I overestimated below at 6x the base $5500, where apprentice would make it 5x, so only 27,500. 

 

Best,
Tim

------------------------

Thanks all. The contractor can put one apprentice on there.  Tech services and in house work would not have an apprentice most likely.  Is there a dollar value required for the apprentice labor or just 15 percent of total hours worked?  Are certified payrolls needed?

 

Thank you

 

Josh

Today, through its Driving a Cleaner Illinois program, the Illinois EPA announced the Driving a Cleaner Illinois – Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) EV Charging Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the purchase and installation of new Direct Current Fast Charging (DCFC) light-duty electric vehicle charging stations at publicly accessible locations. This $27 million opportunity is being made available through Governor Pritzker’s bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital plan for electric vehicle projects authorized under CEJA. The NOFO and related documents have been posted to the Illinois EPA website. Applications must be submitted to EPA.EVCharging@Illinois.gov by 5:00 pm CT on December 22, 2023.

-------------------------------

Hi Scott,

 

I was just talking with Morgan, and we wondered if you know of any businesses in Urbana that would be interested in this program to fund the purchase and installation of fast chargers? If so, please let us know.

 

Thanks,

Jen

Please see the include link to a newsletter from the DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office