Below is an email exchange between Jim Sims and Tom Keller:

Mike or Tom,

The EMT is discussing the advantages of converting building heating systems from steam to hot water with steam distribution. Would one of you be able to clarify this benefit?

Thanks,

Jim

---------------------------

Jim,

Hot water is more efficient than steam because it is easier to control. This also adds comfort to the occupants. Steam can be easier to leak and it is hotter, so there are some small safety concerns. Steam tends to be a bit noisier than hot water. Hot water can be easier to maintain than steam.

There are quite a few other reasons. This is why hot water heating systems have become the industry standard.

Thanks,

Tom

-----------------------------

EMT,

I asked Tom Keller and Mike Halm to provide some feedback regarding the advantages of hot water versus steam within buildings. Please see Tom Keller’s response below for our information. Please let me know if we would like for Tom would like to further explain “quite a few other reasons” or his primary benefits listed below.

Thanks,

Jim

Below is an email exhange regarding a spring 2023 SDA Webinar:

Dear Wanjhen,

Thanks for Yu-Feng's arrangement. It seems that all invited speaker have agreed that our first SDA webinar will be hold on 8:30am-10:30am, 4/11 in Taiwan (7:30pm-9:30pm CDT, 4/10 in U.S.). Can you help us in announcing the Webinar to our colleagues in the Future Earth Taipei, and also arrange the on-line virtual meeting affairs(invitation letters, lecture fees, links, softwares, login.....) for our international speakers?

The title for the spring SDA webinar in Future Earth Taipei is "Campus Sustainability Actions as a Living Laboratory"

 Here is our invited speakers and agenda:

0. Introduction: Dr. Ping-Yu Chang, (5min.) Professor, National Central University ,Taiwan; Secretary, SDA in Future Earth Taipei

1. Dr. Yu-Feng Forrrest Lin (15 min.), Director of   Illinois Water Resources Center; Principal Research Hydrogeologist in Illinois State Geological Survey; Clinical Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2. Dr. Andrew Stumpf (15 min.), Principal Research Scientist, Prairie Research Institute in Illinois State Geological Survey; Co-founder of Illinois Geothermal Coalition, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

3. Ms. Morgan White (15 min.), F&S Associate Director for Sustainability, Interim Director of Capital Programs. 

4. Mr. Jack Reicherts(15min.), Chair of the Student Board, Illinois Green Fund and Student Sustainibility Committee

5. Dr. Jui-Pin (Rubin) Tsai (15 min.), Assistant Professor, National Taiwan University

6. Q&A time (15 min.).......(I saved 25 min. if we have delayed or further discussion)

Thanks for your great helps. Let us anicipate the webinar then!

Best regards,

Ping-Yu Chang

Secretary, SDA Group in Future Earth Taipei

--------------------------------

Hi Ping-Yu,

I think it might be better to yield my time to Andy, Morgan and Jack for them to talk 20 minutes each.  If you really want me to speak, I can give a quick introduction to on campus as a living lab concept for 3 minutes.

Yu-Feng

-----------------------------

Hi Team,

I would like to initiate our discussion by suggest the workflow of this webinar:

1. Introduction: Ping-Yu (5 min.) – End with our previous and current collaboration as the transition to Yu-Feng
2. Definition of Campus Living Lab: Yu-Feng  (5 min.) – End with UIUC is a perfect testbed as the transition to Morgan
3. UIUC Campus Administration on Sustainability as a Living Lab: Morgan (15-20 min.) – End with the student partnership as the transition to Jack.
4. UIUC Student Actions on Sustainability as a Living Lab: Jack (15-20 min.) – End with geothermal projects as an example for the transition to Andy.
5. Geothermal research development at UIUC: Andy (15-20 min.) – End with current international collaborations with Europe (Powell Center and Groundwater Special Issue), South America (Columbia and Brazil), Japan and Taiwan (as Ping-Yu mentioned in the beginning) as the transition to Jui-Pin.
6. Progress and opportunities in Taiwan, and conclusion: Jui-Pin (15 min.)

Please feel free to share your ideas on the workflow, time, contents, and anything else.

Yu-Feng F. Lin

Greetings, Colleagues,

I hope the start of 2023 is going well. I’m reaching out today to send you iSEE Quarterly update for Winter 2022 from the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment.

For more up-to-date news from iSEE, please sign up for our E-newsletter at https://illinois.edu/fb/sec/5031776.

IN RESEARCH

• iSEE received a $1M gift from a class-action lawsuit settlement; it is being used for  iSEE-funded $300k low-carbon transportation solutions research.
• A new cover crop project called iCOVER received a $5M grant from USDA and was featured in The News-Gazette.
• From the Agroecosystem Sustainability Center and SMARTFARM project: 
  
  • ASC team members co-authored paper led by Stanford on cover crops’ effect on yields; also, papers on soil carbon budgets and increased adoption of cover crops
  • ASC was featured in a video for American Geophysical Union meeting, and team members also were part of an Illinois Farm Bureau video.

• From the Illinois Regenerative Agriculture Initiative: 
  
  • The Riggs Brewery “Field to Beer” video was immensely popular, receiving more than 11,000 interactions on Twitter.
  • IRAI was also featured in Illinois Farmer Today.

• From the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation:
  
  • CABBI authored a multi-institutional study that explored the first known use of CRISPR/Cas9 editing of miscanthus. Another team published a paper on 3-D phenotyping tools for miscanthus.
  • Articles have featured new Sustainability Theme Leader Wendy Yang, new Feedstock Production partner and PI Ernst Cebert of Alabama A&M, and new Conversion PI Heng Ji.
  • Six CABBI researchers (including Lisa Ainsworth, Kaiyu Guan, and Don Ort) were named to Clarivate’s highly cited list; and CABBI researchers have earned two EMSL awards for continued studies of sorghum stems.

• From the I-FARM “Farm of the Future” project:
  
  • View a new overview video.
  • Check out the FAQ article.
  • The project has received FarmWeekNow and WAND-TV coverage — and was featured on the Big Ten Network during Illini basketball games!
  • Robotics in the field media coverage in The News-Gazette.

• From the Energy-Enhancing FEWS project:
  
  • Team members are part of new $2.5M USDA grant to convert biowaste to pavement.

• Members of the Illinois Geothermal Coalition have successfully demonstrated efficient use of an abandoned oil well in the Illinois Basin as a geothermal “battery.”
• An iSEE biobased chemicals and inks project was featured for its work on printable electronics.
• Former iSEE Associate Director Gillen D’Arcy Wood recently published a new website on ocean data from 19th century voyage.

 IN EDUCATION & OUTREACH

• Registration is open for iSEE Congress 2023 — “Addressing Crises of a Planetary Scale: Lessons from Pandemics and Climate Change.”
• The Fall 2023 Critical Conversation is expected to bring together stakeholders to discuss climate-smart commodities.
• iSEE’s Environmental Leadership Program for Spring 2023 is already more than past the midway point; check out our student blog for some perspective on the immersive learning experience.
• Read a Certificate in Environmental Writing (CEW) success story in former Q author and CEW recipient Zack Fishman.

IN CAMPUS SUSTAINABILITY

• Our Grind2Energy video explored how dining hall food waste produces energy and fertilizer; its release spurred coverage by The News-Gazette and WCIA-TV.
• iSEE’s new, more comprehensive Student Action webpage offers listings for iSEE jobs, volunteering, and student organizations to join.
• Illini Lights Out fall semester featured RECORD totals: more than 640 volunteers turned off 20,303 bulbs, saving the campus as much as 35,000 kWH, $3,090, and nearly 25 tons of GHG. Spring dates: Jan. 27 (130+ volunteers, 5,043 bulbs, 8,700 kWH, $760, 6.2 tons of GHG), Feb. 10 and 24, March 24, and April 21.
• At the November Zero Waste basketball game (see video) more than 280 pounds of beverage containers and other recyclables were diverted from the landfill. The next Zero Waste basketball game March 2 seeks 100 volunteers. iSEE partnering with F&S, Housing, Athletics, and Union for a #don’twasteWednesdays twitter campaign all spring. FALL PLAN: a ZW football tailgate.
• A new Waste Transfer Station video shows the great work by Facilities & Services — but also the need for all campus community members to pre-sort their recyclables to prevent them from becoming landfill waste.
• Greener Campus certifications in the new year: One new office (Visit Champaign County!), one new chapter (Sigma Lambda Gamma sorority), and nine new events (including Illini Lights Out) certified in January.
• Read our article about the sustainable features of Campus Recreation and our feature about the new beekeeping club on campus.

Thanks for reading, and best wishes for the remainder of the spring semester!

Best,

Madhu Khanna

Madhu Khanna

Pronouns: she, her

Alvin H. Baum Family Chair & Director, Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment

ACES Distinguished Professor in Environmental Economics

Co-Director, Center for Economics of Sustainability

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

1301, W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801

Below is a newsletter regarding ECE's zero energy certification.

https://emails.illinois.edu/newsletter/27/1637114727.html

Ehab Kamarah and Madhu Khanna approved $10,000 in funding to support Agrivoltaics projects on campus.

Tim Mies sent the following email excerpt to Madhu Khanna on Feb 7, 2023:

I would like to update a bit on how this project might go forward, and ask for your thoughts on possible funding to complete this project (connect to campus grid).

Carl to date has purchased 3 solar frames which can hold up to 72 of the size panel I have in storage (from the 2007 Solar Decathlon house).  Unfortunately I have only 40 panels, which will lead to a gaps in shading with only 12 panels per structure.

My initial intention was to apply to SSC for funding to fill the space, purchase inverters, and hire electricians to connect to the campus grid.  This application would occur after the initial goal, shading research plots, is complete.

Since this last email, I was contacted by Brent Lewis at F&S regarding potential surplus panels available immediately due to a demolition project under way for the failed building the panels connect to.  The picture below shows 60 panels of larger capacity (245 watt instead of 180) that would be able to fully populate the footprint of Carl’s frames.  In addition, there are inverters and ancillary connection parts that can likely be reused to allow these panels continued production on the campus grid.

A ballpark estimate from F&S would be 5-10K to salvage all of the panels and equipment.   Do you think there would be support from Ehab to utilize carbon credit funds to at least salvage the panels and reinstall on the new frames?  I would be willing to apply to SSC again for the final connection if carbon funds could not cover this all.

Alec McKay & Sarthak Prasad met on 1/30/2023 and 2/8/2023 to discuss Alec's progress on reading over the Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) related materials.

Alec read and took notes on the 2015 BFU application and the 2015 BFU Feedback. His notes are attached below.

Attached is the official receipt of payment for the University's recent carbon credit sale.