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  1. News about Christopher Hall winning

    Saving energy pays off for Christopher Hall

    Clayton Glazik 3/5/2014

    Since we were little our parents have told us to turn off the lights after we leave a room. That is just what the Christopher Hall residents at the University of Illinois did in 2013. By shutting the lights off in rooms not in use, switching their lights to compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, as well as other sustainable practices, the building was able to cut back its energy usage by 30.6% from the previous year.

    The campus Facilities & Services (F&S) hosted a reception at Christopher Hall on February 14 to celebrate the building’s accomplishment in the F&S Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP). A campus-wide sustainability effort, ECIP provides building upgrades to facilities that produce top energy conservation results in energy advancement and occupant action categories. ECIP calculates how much money the buildings are saving in energy reduction and gives it back to the building to pay for upgrades.

    Christopher Hall, which houses the Family Resiliency Center (FRC), the Autism Program (TAP), several classrooms, faculty and staff offices, and a family research home, saved nearly $22,000. According to FRC Director Barbara Fiese, a building committee recommended investing the funds in a bike rack since so many people cycle to work, as well as other items that can further reduce energy usage.

    In 2010, the University of Illinois published a climate action plan that set aggressive timeliness for reducing energy consumption on campus. Currently, there are more than 300 such active projects, which can be tracked at http://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/projects.

    “At the end of the day, if we really want to meet ICAP goals, we have to do more,” says Al Stratman, F&S executive director. “That is why we came up with ECIP, which mirrors the campus goals.”

    At the award ceremony, faculty and students pledged to continue reducing energy in their lifestyles by taking public transportation, using natural light in their offices rather than electricity, and shopping more at local food markets instead of commercial grocery stores. With their current sustainable practices and these recent pledges, Christopher Hall will continue slashing their energy consumption, making the Illinois campus a greener place.

    (from Family Resiliency Center news http://illinois.edu/lb/article/3493/82438)

  2. February 2014 meeting notes from first Student Sustainability Leadership Council (SSLC) meeting

    The first formal meeting with the Student Sustainability Leadership Council (SSLC) under iSEE's guidance was an introductory meeting about iSEE and the proposed iCAP SWATeams. 

    The meeting was called by and coordinated by:

    • Ben McCall – Associate Director for Campus Sustainability, iSEE
    • Madhu Khanna – Associate Director for Education and Outreach, iSEE
    • Nishant Makhijani – iSEE Intern, Vice - Chair Student Sustainability Committee

    The key points discussed included an overview of iSEE's goals and structure, education and outreach plans, and an overview of the SWATeams.

  3. Conference program related to digesters

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    Early Bird Discount Expires
    Friday, February 28

    Early bird registration fee of $495 includes sessions, exhibit hall, continental breakfasts, lunches, refreshments on April 8 and 9. Plus American Biogas Council Reception & Awards Ceremony on April 8.

     

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    Agenda Highlights

    • How To Finance AD Facilities

    • Codigestion of Food Waste At Wastewater Treatment Plants

    • Integrating Composting And Anaerobic Digestion

    • Lobbying Boot Camp

     

    • Digestate Management And Markets

    • Biogas To Low Carbon Fuel

    • Food Waste Diversion Tips & Tools

    • Building California's Digester Infrastructure


    Tuesday, April 8 and Wednesday, April 9, 2014
    More than 80 Presentations on:
    ANAEROBIC DIGESTION • BIOGAS MARKETS
    FOOD WASTE • MANURE • BIOFUELS • COMPOSTING

    Over 60 Exhibitors View list

    Keynote Speakers
    Plenary session, April 8

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    Caroll Mortensen

     

    Janea A. Scott

    Director,
    CalRecycle

     

    Commissioner,
    California Energy Commission

    AgSTAR 2014 National Workshop Monday, April 7, 2014
    Navigating the Biogas Maze:
    Learning from the Leaders
    This one-day AgSTAR event will include experiences and insights shared by members of the biogas and livestock industries, policy makers, and others. Registration for the AgSTAR 2014 National Workshop is free. Attendees have the option of having lunch on their own or participating in an optional luncheon for $25. AgSTAR is holding this one-day workshop in conjunction with BIOCYCLE REFOR14 WEST.

    American Biogas Council Events
    Tuesday, April 8, 2014
    Noon — 2 PM: ABC Working Groups & Committee Meetings
    6 — 8 PM: ABC Reception & Awards Ceremony
     
    Wednesday, April 9, 2014
    7:30 — 8:30 AM: ABC Member Meeting
    Noon — 2 PM ABC Working Groups & Committee Meetings

    All Day site tours See details
    Thursday, April 10, 2014
    • California Center For Algae Biotechnology
    • Encina Wastewater Authority Energy Recovery Plant
    • San Diego International Airport: Food Scraps And Materials Recycling

    Network and Connect
    BioCycle REFOR14 WEST is where to network and connect to the growing organics recycling sector of the Renewable Energy Industry. Generators of organic waste streams need solutions that provide multiple benefits for capital investments — environmental compliance, reducing power and fuel costs, climate-friendly practices.Processors need the facts, figures, case studies, equipment that will turn organics into renewable energy. Developers and investors will get key industry data to move projects forward.

    Who's Attending
    • Project developers and operators
    • Public officials and permitting authorities
    • Organic waste generators and managers
    • Utilities and biofuel suppliers
    • Investors
    • Industry executives
    • Equipment providers
    • Researchers

    BioCycle REFOR14 WEST — where participants get the latest on technologies and practices to turn municipal, agricultural and industrial organic waste streams into power, renewable natural gas, vehicle fuels and high-value digestate and compost products.

     


    Schedule:

    Monday, April 7

    AgSTAR 2014 National Workshop

    Tuesday & Wednesday,
    April 8 & 9

    Conference Sessions &
    Exhibits

    Thursday, April 10

    All Day Site Tours

     

     

     

    Sponsors:

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    Current Exhibitors

     

     

    Over 80 Presentations:

    ANAEROBIC
    DIGESTION

    BIOGAS
    MARKETS

    FOOD WASTE

    MANURE

    BIOFUELS

    COMPOSTING

     

     

     

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    Town & Country Resort

    San Diego, California 92108
    (619) 291-7131

    Take advantage of the Special BioCycle Conference Hotel Rate: $118 Double/Single (plus tax)
    (special rate expires March 13, 2014)

    Click here to reserve your hotel room at this rate

     
     

     

  4. Strategic Instructional Improvement Program (SIIP) pre-proposal

    Associated Project(s): 

    The primary objective of this project-based learning course is to develop critical thinking and engineering problem solving skills by identifying and proposing solutions to current civil and/or environmental engineering problems facing the University of Illinois campus community. The class also includes several site visits to local engineering infrastructure facilities and multiple discussion driven case studies, which expose and deepen students understanding of current engineering facility operations and challenges. Additionally, students will understand more intimately what civil and environmental engineers do as well as the various fields of specialization and prepare them for opportunities for summer internships. Through working on a team project, reviewing other team projects, and receiving feedback from the course instructors, students will also develop necessary professional skills such as communication (written and oral) and project management. The course is primarily for sophomores and junior transfer students with a focus of engaging them into the broad spectra of challenges and contemporary issues in civil and environmental engineering, especially with regard to sustainability, design, and multi-disciplinary teamwork.

  5. message from Jack Dempsey

    Associated Project(s): 

    _____________________________________________
    From: Dempsey, John Garrett
    Sent: Friday, February 14, 2014 11:01 AM
    To: Roesler, Jeffery Raphael; Mestre, Jose; Johnston, Morgan B; Schideman, Lance Charles; Schmidt, Arthur R; Liu, Liang Y; Somaratna, Jeevaka I
    Cc: Stratman, Allan; Andrechak, Michael J; Wise, Phyllis M; Adesida, Ilesanmi
    Subject: RE: CEE398

    I want to thank each of you for allowing me to be part of the first offering of CEE398. I have learned so much from each of you and developed an real appreciation for the work faculty do. I only wish I had made the connection between F&S and the academy earlier.

    Jeff’s presentation yesterday about the second offering this fall and the discussion surrounding it demonstrated just how far he has brought the concept in such a short time. There is no doubt that with Liang’s leadership, Jeff’s hard work, Al’s support and Morgan’s involvement this CEE initiative will continue to blossom. In fact, during a conversation with Ben McCall yesterday, it appears that what you have done is directly translatable to a course being developed by Prof. Madhu Khanna for iSEE. I have asked Morgan to introduce her to the team when appropriate.

    As my time here is short, I need to focus on some remaining projects so I will not be attending the bi-weekly course planning meeting, but leave you in Morgan’s capable hands.  Again, thanks for letting me be a part of this.

  6. Update from Robby Bauer

    Associated Project(s): 

    Robby Bauer and Morgan Johnston reviewed the status of the real-time energy meter installations, funded by the SSC and campus.  The original plan was to install real-time electric, steam, and chiled water meters in the Housing facilities in support of the Campus Conservation Nationals.  The electric meters are all installed, but we are recommending that the steam and chilled water meters be put on hold indefinitely in favor of installing electric meters in additional buildings.

  7. Meeting with iSEE, IBI, and F&S

    Associated Project(s): 

    Ben McCall, Adam Dornford, and Craig Grant met today to discuss the IBI needs.  Ben wrote this summary, after the meeting:

    1. It would be really nice if we could get IBI back into the ISTC space, at least in the short term.  I will engage them in discussions.
    2. As a "lean" short-to-medium-term option, we could divide the project into three pieces: first, a covered, caged area with secondary containment for the storage of 55-gallon drums of methanol; second, a double-wall above-ground storage tank for the biodiesel; and third, some sort of trailer/truck that would contain the reactor and ancillary equipment.  Each of these would need to be 30 feet away from each other for fire code compliance.  The code requirements for the "trailer" are TBD, but the smaller the quantities of methanol and biodiesel in there at any given time, the easier the compliance would be.  If the trailer is within 1000 feet of a bathroom that can be accessed by people in the trailer, it would not need to have its own bathroom.  We discussed the possibility of trying to go water-less and electrically self-contained.
    3. In the medium-to-long term, it might be preferable to build a dedicated building along the lines of the Variety Crop Trials building, although smaller.  The cost might be a couple hundred thousand or so.

    I think the students will probably investigate the options in more detail now, and we may come back to you with some more detailed questions as we converge on things.
     

     

  8. News about Library winning

    Libraries Win Energy Awards

    Jan 23, 2014

    The Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP) at Illinois awards building upgrades on campus in facilities which have produced top energy conservation results. Each year eight campus buildings receive ECIP awards in two separate categories. Those selected have demonstrated the greatest percentage of energy conservation over a one-year period.

    In 2013, three of eight awards went to Urbana campus libraries. The Undergraduate Library won 1st Place in the Occupant Action category; in the Energy Advancement category, the Main Library took 3rd Place while the Grainger Engineering Library took 4th Place. These libraries will work with the Utilities & Energy Services Division within Facilities & Services at the University to implement upgrades to their appearance or functionality.

    The Energy Advancement category is for campus buildings whose energy reduction is the result of central funding from a significant energy conservation project. The Occupant Action category is for those buildings which have not benefited from such projects in the last fiscal year.

    To learn more about the ECIP, please visit go.illinois.edu/ecip.

    (from Library News at http://www.library.illinois.edu/news/ECIP2013.html)

  9. Conference Call with Big Ten schools

    Associated Project(s): 

    From: Rob Andrejewski [mailto:rga116@psu.edu]
    Sent: Monday, December 16, 2013 1:26 PM
    To: Stacey White
    Cc: Amy Short; Catherine Huddy; Chris Kelleher; Colin Higgins; Jeff; Julia Burchell; MSU USGBC; Phuong Nguyen; Shane Stennes; clark.devries@unl.edu; Foote, Gerard Paul; matan.gill@unl.edu; Johnston, Morgan B; mkornitas@facilities.rutgers.edu; tjhoggatt@purdue.edu
    Subject: Re: Meeting today: Big Ten CCN Competition

    Hi All,

    Attached you will find the Building Captain Manual that Penn State used last year for our volunteers and Eco-Reps for our "Fight the Power" CCN competition last year. Here is the link to our dashboard from last year as well: http://buildingdashboard.net/psu

    I also included a "Best Practices" document that I downloaded from AASHE, but I still find it helpful. 

    Rob

    On Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 12:12 PM, Stacey White <whit0691@umn.edu> wrote:

    Hello everyone, 

    Looking forward to today's Big Ten CCN competition meeting. We're hoping to cover:

    • Schools participating
    • Dates/reporting times
    • Unified logo update
    • Marketing
    • Other ideas you'd like to discuss

    Talk to you soon,

    Stacey White
    Sustainability Coordinator

    University Services

    University of Minnesota

    Office: 612-624-3285

    Cell: 612-978-0843

    Fax: 612-625-4133

     

  10. Engineering Design preliminary meeting

    Eva Sweeney, Robert Halverson, and John Summers from F&S Engineering Design Services met with Paul Foote and Morgan Johnston.  They discussed the SSC step two proposal for an EV charging station.  Robert had met with Michelle Wahl and Tom Skaggs from Parking. Eva will be the key electrical engineer for this project.

    There was discussion about a connection from the parking meter to the electric charging station.  The meter could have contacts that would energize the charging station when the parking meter is paid. 

    There was a question whether this proposal is for one or two charging stations which would take two or four parking spaces.  Morgan said she would check with Michelle about the quantity.  It was later clarified that the proposal is for one charging station, which would need two parking spaces.

    Parking will have reduced revenue from the parking spaces.  A departmental space is $1980 per year.  Parking meters are currently charging $1.00/hour.  We need to be able to report on the effectiveness of this program, so we need to track the energy usage.  

    There will be ongoing maintenance costs.  The Engineering design work can help understand these potential costs, once the specific charging station is selected.

    This will go in parking lot B4. It will not be a leased space.

    The SSC request is for $20k.

    According to Robert, Michelle indicated that UA wants a trending report on usage.

  11. Email to students about CCN

    Associated Project(s): 

    From: Foote, Gerard Paul
    Sent: Monday, December 02, 2013 1:19 PM
    To: Mondello, Jessica Rae; Ross, Karoline Jeanne; Myles, Kirsten N; Khan, Nadia; Jones, KeJuan M; Jamal, Sahir S; Anjum, Hiba Sattar; Sheth, Saloni B
    Cc: Johnston, Morgan B; Hochman, Sarah E; Hauger, Kevin J
    Subject: Campus Conservation Nationals Introduction email

    Hello everyone,

    I hope everyone had a great holiday!

    As a follow-up to our initial meeting, I would like to thank you all for your interest in participating in the first ever UIUC CCN competition.

    It is great to find fellow students interested in making a difference in the world, and sustainability in energy conservation is a great place to start.

    This competition is promising to be an Awesome experience!

    Getting started: I would like to schedule a meeting where we discuss the roles needed and create the competition schedule.

    I know these next two weeks are demanding but we need to meet,

    With this in mind;  I  am available most evenings after 5 pm,  Mon and Tue I have prior arrangements but can cancel them if needed.

    Please respond today or Tue with which evenings and times that work or don’t work for you, then I will post the meeting options that meet the majority

    Attached is a sample timeline. Keep  in mind these are recommendations and we may opt to re-arrange to best fit our team’s needs.

    When I met with you there was some question as to the duties in each role participating in the competition, attached is a pdf of sample team position descriptions.

    When responding with meeting times if you already know what role or roles you are interested in please indicate that in your response.  Thank you!

    http://competetoreduce.org/ccn/plan.html This is a link to the competition training webinars, I encourage you to scroll to the bottom and read the CCN Competition Planning Guide and the CCN Data Collection & BuildingOS Guide. These will provide important data for understanding what and how we are going to accomplish CCN, as the competition organization team.

    For those of you that are more ambitious watch the webinars as they are well prepared and explain many facets of the competition in great detail.

    I have downloaded and watched them all!  

    As for an update on the current status of the competition;

    -We have a tentative timeline for collection and competition weeks, however we have been invited to participate in a Big 10 version of the competition as well, this may require us to modify our schedule to match the Big 10 timeline, will update as we progress.

    -The 20 res Halls with metering capability have been identified and I am working with the metering dept. to get training on how to digitally collect this data.

    -Most of the signatures on the CCN registration have been received with 2 remaining this will be completed by Dec 15th 2013.

    Thank you again for your participation and I look forward to working with all of you in creating this Amazing competition at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign.

    Paul Foote

     

  12. display information

    Associated Project(s): 

    Slides will play on all 3 working digital displays at BIF. Unfortunately, we're having hardware issues with the display facing the Sixth Street entrance. The IlliniEnergy images will take up the entire interactive region of the digital display. However, the images will not take up the space on the footer and right-hand portion of the display, as we already have student groups scheduled to run information on those spaces.

    Images will run through December 20. We would be happy to keep a small number of the slides in the rotation after December 20.

  13. Status update

    Associated Project(s): 

    The display ppts have been distributed and can go on as a static display.  We than the Comminication office of our college for moving forward and we will be ready for testing when the students come back Dec 2.

  14. discussion about trailer needs

    Associated Project(s): 

    Craig Grant had an initial meeting with Kevin He from the student biodiesel group yesterday to hear his initial thoughts about building a biodiesel processing facility in a trailer. They have been unable to find another suitable facility for their program since they had to leave the ISTC facility on Hazelwood. They were looking at purchasing a mobile pre-manufactured set-up, but the company has since dropped the trailer systems. They want to construct their own system in a trailer using newer processing technologies, but many of the previous raised issues remain problems for them.

    Attached is a copy of their written “Initial Plan” for this endeavor. After listening to the presentation of the plan, Craig identified a number of significant issues that would need to be addressed to even consider the “trailer option” further. Obvious concerns included the approval of possible sites to park the trailer and operate the plant (including off-loading of WVO and storage of processed Biodiesel as well as glycerin processing for liquid soap). The need to take into consideration the approvals needed to be able to available electrical power supplies and connection methods, environmental precautions, etc. will also be significant criteria to be resolved.

    Attached Files: 
  15. Notice to selected buildings

    From: "Rients, Seth M" <rients@illinois.edu> Date: November 4, 2013 at 2:13:15 PM  Cc: "Johnston, Morgan B" <mbjohnst@illinois.edu>, "Osby, Tracy L" <tosby@illinois.edu>, "Jacobson, Debra F" <djacobso@illinois.edu> Subject: Building Waste Stream Characterization                   I am pleased to announce that your building has been selected by Facilities and Services to be one of the four buildings in a pilot waste stream characterization study for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This study is designed in support of the campus wide Zero Waste policy which aims to increase the waste diversion rate to 75% by the year 2020. Facilities and Services has partnered with the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC), a unit of the Prairie Research Institute at U of I, to perform this waste stream characterization study.                   ISTC will begin examining solid waste outflows from your building during the week of November 11th, for a period of one week. During this time all discarded materials from your building will be collected, sorted, weighed, and documented in an effort to create a baseline measurement for waste diversion activities. The first step in this process is to have a kickoff meeting at your facility so we can discuss in person any thoughts, cares, concerns, or questions that you may have. We would like to schedule a meeting for this Thursday, November 7th at 2 pm. This meeting shouldn’t last more than 30 minutes. Attached to this sheet you will find some questions and answers that have been previously asked of ISTC.   Thank you for your time,   Seth Rients, PSM Project Manager for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign waste characterization study Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (217) – 300 – 4494  

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