To communicate within departments and colleges, we asked Energy Liaisons established by F&S to promote energy conservation to host presentations in their buildings which will include a display, information, and materials specific to your buildings. The first of these presentations were conducted during Sustainability Week, October 2011. The goal is to use the Energy Liaisons and various campus sustainability committees as grassroots contacts for initiatives such as energy conservation.

The ECE Building acheived LEED platinum certification in November 2019, and it is striving for a net-zero energy certification. From a vast array of photovoltaic cells, to a chilled beam system to cool and heat the classroom tower, ECE wil accomplish a major campus addition with maximum space and minimal carbon footprint.

Excerpt from the ECE building website:

Shades reduce heat from the sun, and thereby reduce the energy needs for temperature control.  These shades replace the need for seasonal soaping of the windows.  Cost avoidance accrues to the department.  This project was funded by the Student Sustainability Committee.

The Erosion Control and Green Infrastructure Conference will take place 8 a.m.-4 p.m. on July 12, 2019 at the I Hotel and Conference Center. This one-day conference will bring together designers, contractors and other professionals to explore and advance the use of erosion control and green infrastructure in municipal management. Breakfast and lunch will be provided and a tour of the U. of I. Erosion Control Research & Training Center is also being offered.

Efficiently Deliverying Green Energy at the Vet Med Complex

The Facilities and Services team has partnered with Energy Systems Group (ESG) a leading energy services provider, to develop a comprehensive energy savings performance contract (ESCO) project at the Veterinary Medicine Complex.

The Vet Med ESCO project will provide innovative energy efficiency and technology, demonstrable energy savings, and long-term financing solutions for modernization of our facilities and energy infrastructure. The expected energy reduction for this project is 40 percent.

With the careful use of motion detectors, we can reduce energy demands for unoccupied space.  Rather than turning lights off when no one is in the area, we can use bi-level lights to reduce the energy going to the light fixture.  The results in parking lots have been shown to reduce energy demands by as much as 60 percent over the course of a month.  This technology is available with different styles of lighting, including Metal Hallide, LEDs, and Fluorsecent.  Campus is developing a project using bi-level LEDs in Parking Lot E-15.

There are nearly one million fluorescent and incandescent lighting fixtures on campus, and the majority are fluorescent fixtures in buildings.  In 2008, the majority of these fixtures were the T12 style, which are no longer produced.  The new T8 fixture is thiner and much more energy efficient.  To replace all the T12s with T8s will take many years and millions of dollars.  However, the energy savings are great, with each replacement bulb dropping the energy demand from 40 Watts to 28 Watts.  This program has been ongoing for a number of years, and has had fund

A recent evaluation of potential energy conservation measures on campus was performed by the international consulting firm Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). The subsequent report described conservation strategies with the potential to reduce campus energy use by about 32 percent, resulting in a 114,500 MTE CO2 reduction (this is about 22.5 percent of current emissions).

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is one of the most established technologies for processing waste organics. This study investigated the feasibility of installing an Anaerobic Digester to produce renewable energy from available streams of organic waste (feedstock) within the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. This study assumed that one on-site digester would be installed in the University’s South Farms.

Plans are progressing to add a new energy source at Abbott Power Plant – biomass fuel made from plants – following the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency 2012 decision to grant a test-fire permit.

The idea involves using a biomass material, made from wood or miscanthus grass for example, which then would be added to the coal. The mixture could contain anywhere from 10-20 percent biomass fuel, though the tests will determine the proper mixture and whether the process presents any dangers during the combustion process.