An Energy Audit and Retrofitting of the Illini Union was funded by the Student Sustainability Committee in 2006. In 2007, the Smart Energy Design Assistance Center (SEDAC) completed the audit with help from students. As suggested by the audit, lighting retrofits are planned for the Union. The total cost of these retrofits is $90,000, but they will save the Union $28,900 per year in electricity costs. Retrofits will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 469 tons per year.

“The Tempest – Sustainability Project” explores the possibilities and limitations of creating sustainable theatre within the university environment in Urbana-Champaign. Using the production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest as a laboratory for the examination of sustainable theatrical practice, the production team will consider how the purchase, use, and disposal of building materials, the operation of lighting systems, energy and water use, and the representation of human beings interacting with their environment can contribute to an ecologically-sound production.

An Outdoor Wood-fired Boiler system was funded to replace a natural gas heating system at Allerton Park. By replacing the previous system, CO2 emissions will be eliminated and there will be a substantial cost savings. The use of a renewable resource (wood), obtained from landscape management at the park grounds in place of a non-renewable one (natural gas), combined with the greenhouse gas emissions reduction will help increase campus sustainability. The Student Sustainability Committee Granted the project $25,500.

This project is meant to map the sustainability related programs, facilities and organizations in the Champaign-Urbana Area. The purpose of this project is to inform the community of the sustainability programs the University is undertaking. There is also an educational component to the project, since a Univeristy of Illinois class will be involved. Visit the map at http://www.opengreenmap.org/greenmap/champaign-urbana-green-map.

This project constructed an Algae Biodiesel Production Facility at Abbott Power Plant. The facility's purpose is to sequester some of the flue gases produced at the power plant while providing a renewable, carbon-neutral fuel source for transportation. The project involves several student organizations and has research potential. The Student Sustainability Committee provided the project with $13,000 worth of funding in 2008.

The Illinois Natural History Survey was awarded the LEED Silver Certification on August 1, 2012. The building received 36 of the 69 possible points. With a staff of over 200 scientists and technicians, the Illinois Natural History Survey is recognized as the premier natural history survey in the nation. The resources needed to effectively support the Survey have changed considerably since their current headquarters building was completed in 1942.  

Nugent Hall (the Champaign Housing Residence Halls Phase A) was awarded the LEED Silver Certification on January 20, 2011. Nugent received 34 of the 69 possible points on the LEED Scorecard. The construction was especially strong in the Indoor Environmental Quality, receiving 13 of the 15 possible points in that area. Nagle Hartray was selected as the Architect of Record in order to ease the transition in the unusual project delivery approach.

The Ikenberry Commons Dining Hall was awarded the LEED Silver Certification on August 17, 2011. The dining hall received 34 of the 69 possible points on the LEED Scorecard. Energy saving features of the facility include recycled content in 20 percent of the materials used to construct the building; water-efficient plumbing fixtures; energy-efficient lighting, heating, and cooling; low-VOC paints, coatings, and sealants; and a white reflective roof that reduces the need for cooling.

The NCSA Petascale Computing Facility was awarded the LEED Gold Certification on November 4, 2011.The building received 40 of the 69 possible points on the LEED Scorecard. Energy saving features of the building include a power distribution system that is based on 480 V power for the computational equipment, water-cooled computational and storage equipment (which is twice as efficient as air cooling), external cooling towers that allow for natural chilling of water for a large part of the year, law-impact landscaping with native prairie plants, and use of best practice construction methods.

In the Housing Lighting Retrofit a total of 5,515 T-12 fixtures were replaced with thinner, more energy effiecient T-8 fixtures in housing buildings around the University of Illinois' campus. This will incur a total Annual KWh  Savings of 791,331 hours.  The total Simple Payback is estimated to be 2.81 years.