Dear ECBS SWATeam,

Below are my notes from today's meeting.  It was a small crowd: Scott, Karl, Claire, and myself.  I hope we have a full crowd next week, because we have a lot of work ahead of us in just a few short weeks!

Cheers,

Ben

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Q: Are we starting with a "blank slate" for iCAP 2015?  A: Not really, because we have iCAP 2010 as a historical context, and we have done so much in the intervening years that cannot be ignored. But we are also not bound to the specific commitments of the 2010 iCAP, or even the format.

Q: Can we simply re-use the 2010 iCAP as is?  A: It's a good foundation, but needs improvement.

Fume hoods are an important issue to address; potentially big savings.

Should we recommend again to charge units for energy?  Possible counterargument is that Auxiliaries already bear the cost of energy but are not aggressively reducing energy usage.  Counterargument to that is they have expressed interest, but somehow don't have expertise and/or capital.  RCx cannot go into Auxiliaries; ESCOs can.

Scott suggested that someone needs to write a first draft of recommendations; he is writing the Energy Generation team's draft. No takers.  But Karl has written a nice document that most had not yet had a chance to read.

Occupancy sensors for HVAC can lead to big savings ~25%.

Can we expand ESCO program?  We've done ~7 buildings, why can't we do 100?  What is the financial model?  If campus cannot tolerate that much debt, can we foist the debt onto the ESCOs themselves?  We haven't done this because it doesn't generate as much savings, but maybe we should reconsider that if it would help us expand.  Some issues with quality of contractors, familiarity with campus facility standards.  Two ESCOs have been used so far: ESG for VetMed and Loomis&friends, Siemens for the Oak Street Chiller.  Typically ~5 ESCOs bid on our jobs; most are from Chicago.

What is in the SAIC report?  Ben will send around (see attachment). Do we need another SAIC study?  Or can we just leave this in the rear view mirror?

More discussion of energy billing; challenge is to fairly bill units only for the energy use they impact (i.e., lighting and equipment, not steam).  Can this team recommend a high-level study to devise a mechanism for fairly charging units?  External consultant?  Team of faculty, facilities folks, and students with relevant expertise?  If we just parrot the recommendation from 2010 iCAP, probably we'll get the same result.

Behavioral change is so important, and has not really been tackled on our campus (except very recently with Green Office program). Really need to improve this, and also try to measure it (surveys?).

Scheduling HVAC systems - when doing so, better to make the change first and then handle complaints, rather than announcing in advance and generating complaints from people who will never notice.

Can someone compile a list of "bullet-points" to begin the discussion that will lead to our recommendations?  Claire volunteered to do this, but will be asking others for suggestions and input.  Goal is to have a draft set of bullet points before next week's meeting, and then discuss at meeting.

Karl noted that Big Ten & Friends Energy conference is coming up Oct

12-15 at U. Iowa.  Should we offer to host the next one on our campus? 

We have not hosted one since 1999.  Seems like we should. Possible F&S/iSEE collaboration?  Scott volunteered to be on organizing committee.

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Professor Benjamin J. McCall

Associate Director for Campus Sustainability Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus-sustainability@illinois.edu