One measure that the University plans to take is to expand reuse of durable goods. Use could be expanded if the University were able to resell used goods to the public. Current state law does not allow the University to resell used goods to the public. Efforts to reverse this law and improvement of internal reuse programs should be implemented.
According to the 2010 iCAP, non-potable sources of water will utilized when appropriate, including connecting the existing raw water system by 2020. Such sources of non-potable water include untreated raw water, sump pump discharge, cooling tower wastewater, stormwater, and greywater. Before utilizing such sources, the University must conduct research to understand how non-potable water may be used within the constraints of the Illinois state laws.
One of the goals of the 2010 Illinois Climate Action Plan is to create a community of scholarship around the Plan. The iCAP suggests developing an interdisciplinary reasearch seminar for graduate students as one way in which this goal can be achieved. Those who take part in the seminar would be exposed to the plan as a whole and would contribute to its evolution and implementation through research.
Developing a definition of sustainability education for our campus is a key step that will allow us to identify existing opportunities that educate our future leaders. In addition, it will provide insight for the creation of new opportunities.
Implement full-cost accounting and life-cycle analysis structures for major purchases and categories with a cost threshold to be determined
Construction of tile-drainage wetlands is a strategy the University would use to reduce carbon emissions. GHG emissions aren’t the only environmental contaminants on the South Farms. Extensive tile drainage on 3,609 acres of farmland delivers more than 100 metric tons of nitrate-N to the Embarras River and ultimately to the Gulf of Mexico, where it contributes to gulf hypoxia.
The 2015 iCAP, chapter 5, objective 5, is "Through an open solicitation process, implement at least four pilot projects to showcase the potential of water and/or stormwater reuse by FY20, with the objective of implementing a broader program by FY25." The first pilot project was initiated during the engineering design of the upcoming Seibel Center for Design. The AE for the project worked with campus code compliance staff to specify the water capture and reuse system and to draft a requ
The campus will implement a freeze on new buildings and building additions once current planned projects are completed. Any new space must take an existing space of equal or greater size (or of equal or greater energy usage) out of commission. Furthermore, any building retrofit will be required to “do no harm”; that is, it should not increase the energy consumption of a building—if necessary by packaging together additional energy conservation and renewables as part of a project. New building projects will be net-zero or replace an existing building.
Illinois Path is a vision to transform the Military Axis from its current use into a landscape that incorporates prairie, savanna, a wet prairie swale, and woodland. With implementation of the Illinois Path, the University has an opportunity to explicitly link the prairie ecosystem and the richness of its soils to the early agricultural legacy of this Land-Grant University represented by the Mumford House and the Morrow Plots.
The 2015 iCAP, chapter 6, objective 3, is "Utilize landfills with methane capture." Methane is one of the worst greenhouse gases, and this university has a number of methane producers on South Farms. There are beef cows, dairy cows, sheep, pigs, horses, and chickens. One of the strategies listed in the iCAP to reduce agricultural emissions is to install a methane capture process for additional energy generation by 2020, with a pilot project by 2015.
