The Energy iCAP team met on Friday, October 29th to discuss the proposed plan to construct a micro-modular nuclear reacter on campus. Several guests were invited to speak about the pros and cons of the issue.
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The Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP), completed in 2010, identifies several goals related to energy production and distribution on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) campus. The iCAP called for a detailed study of the University's Energy and Utility systems. That study is now ongoing and is intended to be interactive with the sustainability goals of the iCAP. The University is working with a multi-disciplinary consulting team to study the requirements and opportunities necessary to safely and reliably meet the current and future campus energy needs. The areas of study will examine factors including safety, system reliability, environmental impacts, environmental permit requirements, cost, budget constraints, pending/likely changes in legislation and regulations related to energy utilities, fuel costs, industry trends, innovative technologies and sustainability. Note that the study is limited to the Utility enterprise. Comments regarding improvements in transportation and buildings should be made directly to the sustainability office.
To that end, we are reaching out to the broader campus community to understand what ideas you have in mind that might help the University community meet our energy-related iCAP goals and objectives. If you have specific ideas we would love to hear from you. Please use this form to offer suggestions.
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Several SWATeam recommendations were discussed. Also, an update from the Sustainability Council was provided:
"Review of Council Meeting/Status of iCAP Approval - The Sustainability Council meeting went very well with lots of good discussion. There were not too many serious objections to the iCAP. They would like to see financial information, such as cost-benefit analysis on projects. This information will be included in the study for accelerating our carbon neutrality date. The cover letter from the Chancellor affirming our commitment will include language about the current fiscal climate in Illinois. The Chancellor was keen to be able to reach carbon neutrality by 2035. Other concerns were in regard to the net zero space item and they suggested a space audit be included in the iCAP."
Facilities & Services unit rejected the recommendation. F&S's response was sent to the iWG and EGen SWATeam on June 15th, 2015. However, this recommendation led to the EGen004 Electrification Study recommendation.
See SWATeam recommendation EGen004 Electrification Study here.
See Transmittal of EGen002 Utilities Master Plan Review to the unit here.
See iWG Assessment of EGen002 Utilities Master Plan Review here.
See SWATeam recommendation EGen002 Utilities Master Plan Review here.
Following the completion of iWG Assessment, the recommendation was forwarded to the Facilities & Services unit on May 29th, 2015.
See iWG Assessment of EGen002 Utilities Master Plan Review here.
See SWATeam recommendation EGen002 Utilities Master Plan Review here.
The iCAP Working Group (iWG) met on May 21st, 2015, to discuss the EGen002 Utilities Master Plan Review recommendation, and started the recommendation. Their official comment on this recommendation was:
"We recommend that the Utilities Master Plan be vetted by outside experts with specific expertise in renewable energy and geothermal heat pump technology."
See the attached file for the complete iWG Assessment with comments from all the iWG members.
See SWATeam recommendation EGen002 Utilities Master Plan Review here.
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The eGen SWATeam submitted a recommendation to the iWG stating, "Seek expert external reviews of the Utilities Master Plan."
See attached the SWATeam recommendation EGen002 Utilities Master Plan Review complete with comments from all the eGen SWATeam members.
Hi Ben,
Thanks for your letter from the iWG about the Utilities Master Plan (attached for reference).
F&S shares the iWG’s concerns with the slow pace of getting an acceptable draft product from AEI. This has taken much longer than the original goal of completion; however, it is important to have an accurate and good quality report even if it takes longer than planned. The scope of this study was developed in cooperation with the Office of Sustainability, and approved by FY12 Acting Director of the Office of Sustainability, Associate Chancellor Pradeep Khanna. It is attached here for your records, as well as the executed contract.
It has always been our intention to share the draft report with campus stakeholders, especially those participating in campus sustainability efforts. Once we get an acceptable product, we will share it with the SWATeam and iWG for feedback. At this time, we expect to have a draft ready to share later this month.
Thanks,
Morgan
For a general overview of our energy systems at the University of Illinois, please see the online overview at http://www.fs.illinois.edu/docs/default-source/Resources/brochures/utilities-energy-3-14.pdf?sfvrsn=0.
Each building has its own metering station where chilled water, condensate, and electricity are measured and recorded. The chilled water and condensate usages are recorded into the building automation system and transferred over BACnet I/P to our campus data historian system and the electric meters have an Ethernet I/P connection that is directly fed to the data historian.
We have a mixture of control system types and vintages on campus. There are older pneumatic controls systems still on campus that we are gradually converting over to DDC systems. Back in 1984 is when the campus starting installing its first digital control system. This system’s primary function was for monitoring temperatures, status of various types of equipment, and start/stop and speed adjustment of HVAC. About 20 years ago is when DDC systems were being installed for full control of system and not just for start/stop purposes. I would approximate that our campus has about 60% DDC and 40% pneumatic control.
The HVAC systems that do have DDC control typically have some sort of occupancy schedule where the unit either shuts down or a setback mode is used for after hours. We also utilize occupancy sensors on variable air volume(VAV) air handlers for classrooms and offices. This allows us during normal hours where the unit would be running to achieve additional saving by closing off air dampers( or air flow) to specific spaces that do not have occupants.
We have an Energy Management Control Center (EMCC) that is staff during normal working hours to monitor our DDC systems. They monitor the alarms, handle hot/cold calls and make sure the campus HVAC systems are running at their optimal level. We use two primary DDC systems for our building controls, Siemens and Schneider Electric’s TAC system and the Delta V system is used in our production plants. All three systems are monitored in the EMCC.
Requested information:
Hi my name is Sho Kawano.
I'm a student at the University of California, Berkeley currently doing research on sustainable operations, specifically energy use.
I thought this would be the right place to contact regarding energy management at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.
If you can answer these questions for me, I'd greatly appreciate your help
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Sho Kawano
University of California, Berkeley | May 2017
B.A. Statistics
In general, the overall efficiency of a typical power plant is approximately 35%, and the efficiency of a typical cogeneration plant is typically 80-85%. The efficiency is in general a measure of the energy input (fuel), vs. the energy output (electricity, and in the case of a cogeneration plant steam and electricity).
We have done a lot of things to improve the plant efficiency, but at this point in time we don’t have good data available that can measure and quantify those improvements. Some of the items that we have undertaken include: changing out the lighting to higher efficient flourescents and/or LEDs, changing out the Centac Centrifugal Air Compressors to more efficient VFD driven rotary air compressors, changing the air compressor cooling from city water to the plant service water system, and repairing and replacing direct contact heaters.
Mike Larson
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Director of Utilities Production
Work on the Energy Production and Distribution Master Plan continues. There was a progress meeting at F&S on April 18. This included a discussion about stakeholder engagement for the project and a brainstorming session with staff to identify new projects and aspects for the AEI team to review during the master planning study.
