You are here
Project Updates for collection: Living Lab Facilities / Programs
Search
Search tips:
- This form will search for words in the title OR the description. If you would like to search for the same term(s) across both the title and description, enter the same search term(s) in both fields.
- This form will search for any of the words you enter in a field, not the exact phrase you enter. If you would like to search for an exact phrase, put double quotes (") around the phrase. For example, if you search for Bike Path you will get results containing either the word Bike OR the word Path, but if you search for "Bike Path" you will get results containing the exact phrase Bike Path.
- Associated Project(s):
Apprentice program for electrical work
Associated Project(s):Hi Josh,
Do you know if we could request apprentices work on the 15kw solar install? That could potentially bump us from a tax credit of ~$5500 to $33,000 if this goes through.
Best,
Tim---------------------
How much of the labor has to be apprentice?
Joshua Robin
----------------------
15% thanks!
Morgan White
---------------------
Thanks Morgan!
With a small crew, if they had one apprentice, that might catch what we need.
I overestimated below at 6x the base $5500, where apprentice would make it 5x, so only 27,500.
Best,
Tim------------------------
Thanks all. The contractor can put one apprentice on there. Tech services and in house work would not have an apprentice most likely. Is there a dollar value required for the apprentice labor or just 15 percent of total hours worked? Are certified payrolls needed?
Thank you
Josh
iCAP Resilience Team Meeting 11-10-23
Associated Project(s):The iCAP Resilience Team Meeting met on November 10th, 2023 to discuss current project statuses, review the 2016 resilience commitment, and further discuss the mission and goals of the team.
Meeting minutes, a supplemental slideshow, and recording is attached.
Meeting recording: https://uofi.box.com/s/7xow5bqoe8zz0xk3qxyctdxi1duvg0mf
Powerpoint: https://uofi.box.com/s/7ysynolap0ykpcaoxboxojaieispjn8a
Attached Files:Illinois EPA Announces $27 Million NOFO for Public Light-Duty Electric Vehicle Fast Charging Infrastructure
Associated Project(s):Today, through its Driving a Cleaner Illinois program, the Illinois EPA announced the Driving a Cleaner Illinois – Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) EV Charging Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the purchase and installation of new Direct Current Fast Charging (DCFC) light-duty electric vehicle charging stations at publicly accessible locations. This $27 million opportunity is being made available through Governor Pritzker’s bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital plan for electric vehicle projects authorized under CEJA. The NOFO and related documents have been posted to the Illinois EPA website. Applications must be submitted to EPA.EVCharging@Illinois.gov by 5:00 pm CT on December 22, 2023.
-------------------------------
Hi Scott,
I was just talking with Morgan, and we wondered if you know of any businesses in Urbana that would be interested in this program to fund the purchase and installation of fast chargers? If so, please let us know.
Thanks,
Jen
FY23 GPP Reporting Annual Update
Associated Project(s):Attached is the EPA GPP Reporting form for FY23.
Attached Files:ENG177 Intro to Sustainability – Sustainable Transportation
Associated Project(s):Sarthak Prasad presented to the ENG177 Intro to Sustainability class on Sustainable Transportation topics on Monday, November 6, 2023. Please see attached the presentation.
Attached Files:Green Research Committee Recommendations
Associated Project(s):See the attached report.
Attached Files:DOE and USGS Release Online Public Database of Large-Scale Solar Facilities
Associated Project(s):Please see the include link to a newsletter from the DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office
RECs for small solar rooftop arrays
Associated Project(s):Hi Rob and Tony,
Tim Mies asked me who “owns” the RECs from small scale solar arrays at individual buildings. I said I’d have to check into it.
At first I thought all RECs are owned by central campus (UES), but then I questioned myself. For a rooftop solar array, we don’t include it in the M-RETS program, and at ECE, we only “sold” them the solar farm 2.0 RECs. We let them count their rooftop solar directly and they have the DOR accordingly.
So is it appropriate to tell him that the RECs associated with the 14.7 kW array he is planning to install at the Energy Farm (not the SCAPES project) will be considered “used” at the Energy Farm?
I would caution that we do not want individual departments to get into selling RECs, without a much broader discussion. So perhaps we should say that he can use/retire them at his site, but he cannot sell them without further discussion?
What do you recommend?
Thanks,
Morgan
-----------------------------
Good questions. I think that if the department “owns” the REC, then they should also be able to sell the REC. I am interested in others views on the topic, and agree that it would lend to a much broader discussion.
Rob Roman
----------------------------
I agree that a broader discussion would be helpful.
Best,
Tony
Weekly Update: Cranksgiving, Halloween last week
Associated Project(s):All, Halloween was last week, and we are still awash in candy and Halloween-themed cellophane.
Weather bumped back up, too, and we had a wait for stands on Friday. As the mercury goes, so do we. Accordingly, Monday and Wednesday project to be busy.
Getting some bikes on the sales floor and tackling some organizational projects; will continue to do so this week. Will also tackle some more kids bikes as we ramp up production for that.
This coming Saturday (11/11) the Bike Project is hosting Cranksgiving, a bicycle ride/food drive to collect donations for a local food pantry. I’ll mention it to my staff and patrons this week.
The numbers:
Visitors: 43
Sales: $484
Memberships: 9 for $270
Tires/tubes: 8 for $59
Thanks!Jacob Benjamin
Coordinator -- Campus Bike CenteriCAP Resilience Team Meeting 10-20-23
Associated Project(s):The iCAP Resilience Team met on October 20th to discuss charge letter priorities and current recommendations. Meeting minutes are attached.
Attached Files:Land & Water iCAP Team November 2023 Meeting
Associated Project(s):The Land & Water iCAP team met on Teams from 1-2 PM on Friday, November 3rd. The team discussed permeable pavers at State Farm Center, the meadow at Orchard Downs, cover crops on the South Farm, and the iCAP 2025 rewrite of the Land & Water chapter. Meeting minutes are attached.
Attached Files:F&S YMCA MOU
Associated Project(s):Hi Pete,
Please see attached for the draft we discussed today.
Thank you,
Daphne---------------------
Hi Daphne,
Can you give me an update on this YMCA MOU?
Thanks,
Morgan
---------------------
Hi Pete,
Throwing this question up to you 😊 Have you had a chance to send the MOU over to Ehab?
Thank you,
Daphne------------------------
I meet with Ehab this afternoon and can discuss with him at that time. However, are you working on an MOU with Housing as well? I’d rather give him both at the same time if possible.
Thank you,
Pete
---------------------
Hi Pete,
Yes, I have a working draft of the Housing MOU, too. I’ve attached it here for review.
Thank you,
DaphneAV FARM next steps - Re - Bid Information
Associated Project(s):Dear Team,
Kindly verify the attached document from Ryan to ensure it meets the requirements for a bid posting. We've initiated an inquiry about a potential sole source option, and we're awaiting a response.
Regarding the meeting scheduled to discuss CO and AZ designs for the rebid, it remains on track. We will also plan another meeting for next week.
Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.
Best regards,
Basia
----------------------
Please see latest proposed layout for 100kw system for discussion.
Best,
TimAttached Files:RE: Green Research Committee
Associated Project(s):We will be setting up a few meetings starting after Labor Day to meet our upcoming deadlines, with our final report due by November 15. Please review the attached Word file and supplemental attachments ahead of the meetings. Please feel free to post comments/thoughts to our Teams site.
Thanks
Jeremy
----------------------
Good morning, everyone,
I have put the files Jeremy sent on Aug 18th into teams. They are under “files” in the “General” channel. You probably saw the invitation to meet virtually on Sept 20th. Hard to get a busy group together. This is a long time from now and we were hoping to meet sooner. Since we can’t meet sooner, we ask that you review these new documents in the next couple weeks. Add comments to the documents, track changes, or put comments in the file called “COMMENTS Aug-Sept.” We need to spend more time working on this outside of the meetings.
We will use our Sept 20th meeting to make some semi-final decisions on the recommendations from the committee to leadership. October can be used to fine tune.
I will send reminders up until Sept 20th to makes sure no one forgets to dig into these. Please don’t wait until the final day. Your comments could help others produce ideas/additional thoughts. Also, please check back on those documents to see what others are saying as well.
Here is a screenshot of the highlighted documents I’m referencing. If you look at some of the other documents and have thoughts on those, it might be good to put them in the “Comments” doc too. Please let me know if this doesn’t make sense.
Best,
Stephanie
---------------------------
Good morning all,
An updated version of the report based on your feedback has been added to Teams, titled GR Committee Report 10.13.2023, for one final round of comments. With the third charge being so different from the first two we think it is best to provide two separate reports. Both reports are included in the same file for ease of review.
We are working to get our preliminary meeting scheduled with Susan, Ehab, and Madhu. We hope we can present to them in the next few weeks so please take a few minutes in the next week or two to review.
Thanks
Jeremy
--------------------------------
Good afternoon
Steph and I are scheduled to present the committee’s recommendations next Tuesday afternoon. We would like to send the final version of our recommendations to leadership no later than Friday so they have a few days to review in advance. If you have any final comments please add them to the document in Teams by noon tomorrow.
Thanks
Jeremy
University Landholdings in CU/new construction in next 2 years
Associated Project(s):I'm doing some work with the USFWS on an urban pollinator habitat project and have a couple questions I'm hoping F&S can help me with (or send me in the right direction.)
- Do we have an accurate map or GIS layer of current UIUC landholdings (including properties connected to the south farms, etc). I've been able to locate some very low-quality, generalized maps but nothing that is either current or very detailed.
- Is there a way for me to find out where on campus there will be construction/renovation projects that will occur in the next 2-3 years?
Thanks,
BRODIE DUNN
---------------------------
Beth, are you able to assist with item 1 in the below email from Brodie regarding obtaining a map or GIS file of UIUC properties?
Morgan, are you able to assist with item 2 in the below email from Brodie regarding upcoming capital projects?
Thanks,
James Scherer
------------------------------
Helo Brodie,
I’m connecting you with the University Landscape Architect, Brent Lewis. He can assist with your inquiry about upcoming construction projects, and it is important to include him in any plans you want to pursue regarding additional plantings on university land.
Thanks,
Morgan
-------------------------
Morgan and Brent,
Rest assured I haven't made any promises regarding plantings on campus (and would reach out to you both before doing so.)
The primary program partner is the City of Champaign, which I am currently in discussions with. If the project does go through, it'll target underserved neighborhoods with pollinator conservation measures meant to protect/conserve the Rusty Patch Bumble Bee, an endangered species. It is a great opportunity and beside doing the coordination for the project with municipal partners, i'm doing my best to ensure we've got the option to physically participate in the program even if the lands we might have available are outside the model's ideal range.
Brent - If we have any construction projects happening in the next two years that include major changes in landscaping, especially on the north side of campus, it would be good to hear about those. Participating in the program might end up being as simple as swapping out a few species on the planting list and doing so might give us the opportunity to be a part of a very innovative Endangered Species recovery plan.
Thanks,
BRODIE DUNN
Weekly Update
Associated Project(s):All, Made some headway on the abandoned bikes and already have six on the sales floor. We tabled at the Green Quad Day last week as well. This week I’ll work on tallying inventory--and the marketing/publicity—for the Kids Bike Giveaway as well as getting regular bikes up for sale.
The numbers:
Visitors: 47
Sales: $862
Build-a-Bike: 1 for $40Memberships: 14 for $420
Tire/tubes: 17 for $131
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Coordinator -- Campus Bike CenterMolten Salt Energy Storage
Associated Project(s):Hi.
Have we been looking at this as an option for storing solar energy?
https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/11/17/1063391/super-hot-salt-battery/
https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/blog/top-molten-salt-thermal-energy-storage-companies/
https://www.maltainc.com/challenge/
Cheryl Bicknell
70/80 building dashboards complete!
Associated Project(s):Currently, 70 of the first 80 building dashboards are complete, which represents 92% of the University's energy consumption. Many of the dashboards are visible on building video displays for all building occupants to view. They continue to vet the data streams and will add more dashboards as they continue our efforts in the future. We contract Hawkeye Energy Solutions to develop and maintain the dashboards.
Project Update - Meadow at Orchard Downs
Associated Project(s):This project is in progress, with the primary challenge being the insufficient number of participants to maintain the meadow. One proposed solution under consideration is to engage students through fieldwork.
There is a prospect for collaboration between the iCAP Education and iCAP Land and Water teams to develop a course that would involve students in the maintenance of the meadow.