The Provost Fellow for Sustainability worked with the Associate Provost for Capital Space and Facilities regarding allocation of resources for Illinois Climate Action Plan objectives during FY17 and FY18. Physics Professor Scott Willenbrock is focusing on energy efficiency in campus buildings.
The main objective is to provide comprehensive scientific data and analysis to help our community on evaluating the potential of using ground source heat pump system in a large scale as part of campus green energy policy.
The 2015 iCAP, chapter 7, objective 3 is "Incorporate sustainability principles more fully into the Campus Master Plan." Campus F&S worked with the University Office of Capital Programs and Real Estate Services on updating the Campus Master Plan in 2017 and 2018, putting more emphasize on the Net Zero Growth Policy.
The 2015 iCAP, chapter 6, objective 4 is "Appropriately staff Zero Waste efforts through the hiring of a full-time Zero Waste Coordinator." The Purchasing, Waste, and Recycling SWATeam submitted a recommendation to the iCAP Working Group (iWG) in support of this position, and the iWG requested they divide the position into two half-time roles. One half-time Zero Waste Coordinator at Facilities & Services (F&S), and one Zero Waste Coordinator in the Office of Business and Finan
The Illini Gadget Garage was a collaboration of the Sustainable Electronics Initiative (SEI) at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC), the UI School of Art and Design, and the School of Information Science (The iSchool at Illinois). Staff from all these units provided support and guidance, while ISTC coordinated efforts and administers seed funding granted by the Student Sustainability Committee and external donations.
The Student Sustainability Committee funded an effort to decrease the use of single use plastic bags at the Illini Union Bookstore.
Parking Lot E37 (near the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center and Natural History Survey) currently lacks sufficient lighting to meet minimum light requirements, but unfortunately is located in a low-priority area located away from current electrical access. The use of standalone solar-powered lights for parking is an innovative solution that allows the system to remain off-grid while improving illumination for the lots – which in turn improves campus safety.
Wassaja Hall was named after the University's first Native American graduate and a pioneer in advocating for Native American rights. A 30 kW solar PV array was installed on December 14, 2015 on the east side of the roof.
Retrocommissioning (RCx) was formed in August 2007, under F&S management. The program was formed to help alleviate existing utility deficits, anticipated increases in fuel costs for natural gas and coal, and major maintenance issues. F&S decided to create this special team called RCx to go through these buildings to do as much maintenance as possible within the resources available and improve the air quality as much as possible. This year, they used the motto "saving the planet one building at a time."
The primary deliverable of this proposed project is to provide a detailed waste characterization assessment for three facilities located throughout the Urbana-Champaign campus of the University of Illinois. Lincoln Avenue Residence Halls (LAR), Business Instructional Facility (BIF), Roger Adams Laboratory(RAL) are facilities that will be characterized.
