The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was the first recipient of an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Large Customer grant. The University received over $848,000 to spend on campus-wide energy conservation projects. The project will save the University more than $1 million each year in energy costs. The ARRA grant was administered by the Illinois Energy Office in the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) has a program called the Illinois Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (EEPs) that provides incentives and/or funding for projects that promote energy efficiency in local, state, and federal government facilities; public schools; community colleges; public universities; and colleges.
The Foundation's lighting programs continue to assist Illinois communities improve lighting quality and lower utility bills by the simple act of replacing old light fixtures with high efficiency bulbs and ballasts. Over 4,000 buildings have been upgraded, leading to electricity demand savings of over 130 megawatts.
For 2014, the Foundation is introducing a new incentive and format methodology for Energy Efficiency Lighting Grants.
The new format and incentive structure provides:
The Multi-Modal Transportation Study included a recommendation to consolidate bus stops throughout the University District. With fewer bus stops, the transit riders alighting from the buses can be better protected through campus infrastructure. For example, by moving a bus stop to the far side of a crosswalk, the pedestrians are naturally directed to the back of a bus after alighting. From the back of a bus, the pedestrians are more visible to oncoming traffic. Thus, they are les
The Campus Bike Center is offering a series of bike low-cost mechanics classes throughout the fall semester. All classes are open to students, staff, faculty and the general public. Unless otherwise noted, classes are at 7pm on the date indicated, at the Campus Bike Center, 608 E. Pennsylvania Avenue, Champaign.
The Office of Sustainability has been working to further Illinois’ research mission, particularly in sustainability research. Recent work by partners in the Office of Corporate Relations includes an inventory of sustainability research conducted by faculty on the Urbana-Champaign campus. This inventory revealed more than 120 faculty conducting research in the arena of sustainability. Eventually, this inventory will be posted online to enable both the public to identify experts and for faculty to locate partners on potential research projects.
In FY2011, cooling towers constituted 30 percent of the total water use on campus. Due to the large water use of these towers, a ‘True Cost of Water Study’ was performed on with goals of benchmarking water use in cooling towers and generating ideas for improving water use efficiency. The study was conducted by the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center in collaboration with Facilities and Services and was funded by the Student Sustainability Committee.
Unlike traditional pavement, porous asphalt allows some of the stormwater to flow through the pavement and into the soil below which offers benefits in flood control, water quality treatment, and extends pavement life since the base is well drained. Traditional pavements cause increased volumes of stormwater runoff. Effective porous asphalt removes the pollutants from stormwater. Although porous asphalt is more expensive, the total project cost is similar to traditional asphalt pavement since stormwater infrastructure (i.e. curbs, gutters, and storm drains) is not required.
To improve the biodiversity and aesthetics at the front of the Natural Resources Building, volunteers planted sections of native woodland flowers. Four plots of trillium, geranium, native columbine, solomon's seal, jack-in-the-pulpit, and other plants fill in the spaces between dogwood trees.
