Angela Kent is leading a research team that is developing a new type of corn that reduces greenhouse gas emissions while also maintaining crop yield. The Department of Energy recently announced new ARPA-E funding for the project.
Professor Yun Yi provided an update on the building energy modeling project:
With the help of students, I created initial energy models for three campus buildings: Newmark Civil Engineering, Bevier Hall, and Allen Hall. The students were able to build detailed models of the HVAC systems for each building. The next step is to calibrate these models using actual meter data. While the students made good progress, the calibration still requires some advanced fine-tuning.
I’m planning to hire a student to focus on this calibration work. As we discussed, your help in hiring an assistant for the semester would be greatly appreciated. This would be a 25% appointment for a master’s student, with compensation similar to last semester.
The 2024 Campus Bicycle Master Plan was approved by the Chancellor's Capital Review Committee (CCRC) on Thursday, December 19, 2024. This plan will be published on the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign Master Planning website and an announcement will be sent out in January 2025. See attached the final document as approved by the CCRC.
RailSplitter Wind Farm provided the November 2024 Buyer's Share amounts by the hour, totaling 2,520.5 Megawatt hours.
The November 2024 Buyer's Share Report is attached below.
Visit the included link to see the 2024 Reimagine our future winners and finalists.
The iCAP Education team met on Teams from 4-5 PM on Monday December 16th. We closed the semester by reviewing the sustainability literacy assessment data and discussing updates and next steps for the sustainability Gen-Ed requirement. The meeting minutes are attached.
Last team meeting of the semester! We heard updates from the students conducting research and introduced them to the AASHE STARS system.
An update on 12/11/2024 from Brent Lewis on the Monarchs need Milkweed project:
"...all plugs were installed as of November 2024 in a variety of locations on campus. Additionally 25’bs of milkweed seed was purchased and delivered to grounds to broadcast seed into low mow and prairie areas on campus. As a set aside, 3 lbs of seeds were delivered to the Pollinatarium staff who will use it to make small planting gift sachets for their visitors. Thus this project’s influence may continue far beyond the reaches of the campus boundaries."
The Energy Team met on Tuesday, Dec. 10th, from 3:30 - 4:30 PM. We reviewed the occupant engagement program’s progress, discussed final steps for solar rooftop project proposals, and provided updates on energy efficiency recommendations. A potential pilot for risk-based lab optimization was introduced, and updates on funded energy projects and agrivoltaic solar construction were shared. The meeting minutes are attached!
Our next meeting is January 2025 (date TBD).
The Zero Waste Team met on December 9, 2024 at 1:30 PM. Attached are the meeting minutes.
At this past Friday's Illini Lights Out event, 2815 light bulbs were shut off that otherwise would have been left on all weekend, saving $428 in energy costs. This also prevented 5.9 metric tons of CO2 equivalent from entering the atmosphere, which is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from 664 gallons of gasoline being consumed. That's a huge impact!
The Zero Waste Team met on November 11 at 1:30 PM. Attached are the meeting minutes.
Using the #EPASmartWay logo helps differentiate your company from the competition. Be sure to let your customers and stakeholders know that you’re leading the way on clean, sustainable supply chain management. Learn more: epa.gov/smartway
On Friday, November 22nd, the iCAP Engagement Team held its monthly meeting. The team discussed ways to engage the campus community more, specifically students, and shared updates on OneIllinois, Greener Campus, and Earth Month. We discussed the possibility of using social media to increase engagement or physical fliers and posters. We also welcomed a guest speaker from the Zero Waste Team who discussed Sustain Illinois, a magazine that outlines what is currently happening around campus as well as how the average person can become involved in sustainability in the community. We also discussed having in-person meetings and events next semester for the team and small ways we can all be more sustainable. One call to action was for staff and faculty to consider making their office spaces green-certified and brainstorming ways to reach the Greek life population. Our next meeting will be December 20th.
A meeting was held with several involved individuals to discuss the progress and next steps for the Campus Lumber Project. Team members will submit an SSC Scope Change to cover the additional costs of electrical construction and to ensure efficient transportation of lumber
Next steps from Quinn Connolly:
As discussed today, here is the plan moving forward:
Quinn will work with Lowell on submitting an SSC Scope Change to cover the increased cost of the electrical setup
Justin, Ryan, and Issac will discuss the best course of action for storing, identifying, and transporting lumber from the south Lincoln facility to the mill site.
Justin and Lowell will work on a preferred tree species and dimensions list to include in the protocol document
Quinn will work with Morgan on setting up an open work order
Quinn will work on writing a protocol document for the Campus Lumber Project
This document will include:
Brent Lewis replied with additional information about peer universities with similar programs:
All,
In my meeting with the Association of University Landscape Architects, we talked about the different programs people had to use removed trees from campus. Here are a few links to what people are doing. Plenty of bowls, boards, pens, etc that they are selling for alumni. I also see live edge boards for sale and other items that aren’t finished products.
https://magazine.utah.edu/issues/summer-2021/scott-leech-woodworker/
https://www.pennstateelmscollection.com/
https://www.uvasawmilling.com/
https://www.canr.msu.edu/for/programs/swri
https://msusurplusstore.com/collections/msu-shadows-collection
Anyhow, just wanted to share for people to see what others are doing. There are probably some good contacts in here for future reference as well.
The Land and Water team had their monthly October meeting on Friday, October 25th, at 9 am on Teams. The minutes and notes from the meeting are attached.
The Land and Water team had their monthly meeting on Friday, November 22nd, on Teams at 9 am. The meeting minutes and notes are attached.
