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Project Updates for collection: 2010 iCAP Projects

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  1. Waste Management Question

    Associated Project(s): 

    A student reached out to Morgan White to ask if UIUC has its own recycling facility. Morgan explained UIUC has a Waste Transfer Station on campus, which collects and bales the recyclables which then get purchased from us by a regional waste hauling company. Basics of the Waste Management system can be found at Waste Reduction Plan 2020.docx in https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project/state-waste-reduction-plan.

  2. Proposed presentation for AASHE

    Sol Systems is looking to present at the AASHE’s Global Conference on Sustainability in Higher Education (GCSHE) sometime from October 12-14 through their request for abstracts on Emerging Issues in the field.

    Sol Systems is looking to present on our work expanding the impact of renewable energy projects that would certainly focus on things we did for the U of I project, namely the inclusion of pollinator habitats, zero waste construction and the work with students for their Sustainability Minor Capstone projects.

  3. Engagement iCAP Team Final Summer Meeting

    The members of the Engagement iCAP Team met on Thursday, August 19 for their final meeting of the summer. At this meeting, members discussed three pending recommendations the team has been formulating throughout the summer--a sustainability section on the Illinois Homepage, sustainability sections of individual college websites, and uniform recycling signage for blue bins. Meeting minutes are attached below.

    Attached Files: 
  4. archived info - past project description additional information

    The following text was removed from this project description, with the update to the iCAP 2020:

    "The core component of co-curricular education and sustainability outreach is strong and effective communication; therefore these objectives center around communication. 

    1. Support and communicate about co-curricular student sustainability programs. 
    2. Strengthen and communicate about sustainability outreach programs.  Specifically, at least half of the full-time campus staff will be participating in the Certified Green Office Program by FY20.
    3. Organize and promote three major sustainability events on campus each year: Earth Week, Campus Sustainability Week, and the iSEE Congress."
  5. iCAP Portal Updates

    From: Maloto, Avery (FandS) <fandsamaloto2 at mx.uillinois.edu>
    Sent: Monday, July 19, 2021 1:15 PM
    To: Johnson, Bryan Lloyd <blj at illinois.edu>
    Cc: White, Morgan <mbwhite at illinois.edu>
    Subject: [Follow-Up] iCAP Portal Update(s)

     

    Hi Bryan! 

     

    I would like to offer a gentle reminder for the iCAP Portal content updates. We would appreciate receiving this information as soon as possible as it allows us to keep the public updated with university & community initiatives.  

     

    Right now, I am missing updates for the following project(s): 

    • Food Purchases from Local Sources
    • Orchard Downs Community Gardens
    • SDRP Lighting 

     

    Please let me know if there is any information or assistance that I can provide to complete these! 

     

    Best, 

    Avery 

  6. Crop Sciences/ACES - Agronomy Days!

    Crop Sciences/ACES is committed to sustainability and works hard to ensure our land is responsibly managed! They are hosting a series of Agronomy Days; events are free and open to the public though registration is encouraged to reserve your space. Agronomy Day field events will begin on July 22 and run through August 19; tours are held each Thursday from 9 AM - 12 PM. 

    Click here for more information and to register: http://agronomyday.cropsciences.illinois.edu/

  7. Engagement SWATeam Meeting

    Representatives of the Engagement SWATeam met on July 19 to discuss 2 working recommendations: one related to recycling bin signage (having consistent & effective signage in residential halls and offices) and one related to increasing the visibility of the iCAP on university websites. Meeting minutes are attached.

    Attached Files: 
  8. Article Highlights Conversion of Food Waste Into Energy

    To combat the issue of food waste, U of I Housing collaborated with F&S Utilities & Energy Services, Operations, Maintenance & Alterations, and environmental compliance. The committee researched various food waste options, including composting, pulpers, and grinder systems used for anaerobic digestion -- including Grind2Energy systems.

    These operate similarly to an industrial garbage disposal. However, it uses significantly less water than the digester system, up to 90-95 percent less. Additionally, it does not send the waste directly to the sanitary sewer. The food waste is pumped into a 5000-6000 gallon tank located on the outside of the building it serves. A tanker truck empties the waste and takes it to the local sanitary district. The industrial-strength waste is processed in an anaerobic digester, where it undergoes treatment without oxygen. The methane produced is collected and used to generate electricity at the treatment plant.

    Read more about Grind2Energy use on campus through the F&S Website or the PDF in the attached files!

     

  9. Summary: F&S Asset Management Plan 2021-2025

    Associated Project(s): 

    Did you know Illinois has the highest percentage of Pre-World War II academic facilities in the Big Ten? This, of course, provides students, faculty, and staff with a sense of history, place, and uncommon beauty while considering the campus.

    On the other hand, older buildings require more and detailed maintenance in order to satisfy up-to-date code compliance and hit notable programmatic needs for students, faculty, and staff.

    Additionally, design that fits with the pre-war era of the building’s birth is important to maintain a cohesive architectural look for the campus. Assets are managed through different funding sources, including the Academic Facilities Maintenance Fund Assessment (AFMFA), an ongoing fee assessed each semester to students, and the Deferred Maintenance Program. The F&S Asset Management Plan 2021-2025 “illustrate[s] the number of aging facilities… provide[s] definition of the Facility Condition Index, review[s] how deferred maintenance has been tracked historically, and illustrate[s] current funding strategies for addressing asset management at Illinois for the next 5 years,” it reads.

    The university plans to renew aging infrastructure through programs like the Academic Facilities Maintenance Fund Assessment, means to ensure building renovations are done to deferred maintenance projects.

  10. Meeting Minutes from Pollinator Call (07-12-2021)

    On July 12, 2021, Adam Dolezal, May Berenbaum, Layne Knoche, Eliana Brown, Morgan White, and Avery Maloto met over Zoom to discuss pollinator efforts on campus. The conversation included topics such as: Bloom Calendar, Red Oak Rain Garden, Dorner Drive Retention Pond, Setting up a BioBlitz, and more.

    See the attached file to view the minute notes. 

  11. Altgeld Renovation

    Associated Project(s): 

    From: Lewis, Brent C

    To Trimble, Sydney M; White, Morgan

    Recipients: sydneyt2 at illinois.edu; mbwhite at illinois.edu

     

    Hi Sydney and Morgan,

     

    Last Friday I said I would send you some info on Altgeld.  Here is a good one on the stained glass dome:

     

    Piecing together a colorful mystery | College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Illinois

     

    cid:image003.png@01D47A77.7BE8AC90

    Trust-Respect-Accountability-Integrity-Teamwork-Safety-Perseverance

     

    BRENT C. LEWIS, PLA, CA

    Capital Programs, University Landscape Architect

    1501 South Oak Street

    Champaign, IL 61820

    Phone: 217.300.3164

    Email: bcl at illinois.edu

    http://www.fs.illinois.edu/

     

    "Under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), any written communication to or from University

    employees regarding University business is a public record and may be subject to public disclosure."

     

  12. Article: Can Solar Farms Help Save Bees?

    Discover Magazine released an article highlighting the biodiversity benefits that can stem from pairing solar farms with pollinator-friendly plants. Supporting its claims with initiatives from universities across the country, the article recognizes the University of Illinois' pollinator habitat at Solar Farm 2.0.

    Read the article on Discover Magazine. Or, refer to the PDF of the article in the attached files.

     

  13. News-Gazette article about CIF geothermal

    The News-Gazette printed this story about the geothermal at the Campus Instructional Facility: https://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/university-illinois/renewable-en...

     

    "URBANA — The University of Illinois’ glossy new building at Springfield Avenue and Wright Street represents the next step in its sustainability goals.

    The four-story, 122,000- square-foot, $75 million Campus Instructional Facility is also the biggest geothermal installation on the UI campus.

    Its geothermal system can pump 135 tons of hot or cool air into the building. That’s twice as much as the next biggest geothermal system on campus, and about 30 times the amount pumped into an average home.

    “The whole world knows about solar and wind power and things like that — hydroelectric power, too — but that’s only the electric side of energy. Energy also includes heating and cooling,” said Morgan White, director of sustainability at UI Facilities & Services. “It’s truly transformative, because it’s moving into the phase of getting us clean thermal energy and not just clean electricity.”

    Electricity provides heating and cooling as well, she said, but it’s primarily provided by natural gas, propane and other nonrenewable sources of energy.

    The key to the geothermal endeavor? Forty boreholes dug into the Bardeen Quad next to Grainger Library. They’re 20 feet apart, 6 inches wide and drilled 450 feet deep.

    Initially, the project required 60 boreholes, but UI researchers reduced that figure — and made the system financially feasible — by checking the thermal conductivity of different rock and soil layers, or the rate that heat passes through them, while considering the depth and flow rate of groundwater.

    To keep the building temperate year-round, a mixture of water and glycol circulates from a heat pump in the mechanical room into a pipe that runs up and down the underground field of boreholes.

    In winter, the pump pulls heat from the ground into the building. In summer, heat is pumped from the building back into the ground.

    “It’s like when you have a bathtub that’s a little too hot or a little too cold, and you pour some water in and stir it up,” White said.

    In all, the system reduces the building’s energy consumption by 65 percent compared to a typical heating/cooling installation, saving about $45,000 per year.

    Student initiatives helped fund the state-of-the-art thermal system. The 18-member Student Sustainability Committee, funded by the annual “Green Fee” assessed on students, allocated $375,000 — or about 13 percent of the system’s cost — to the facility’s geothermal installation.

    The building has a number of other unique features. It contains two dozen new classrooms — one of the highest figures on campus — replete with active-learning and distance-learning spaces. In the fall, engineering courses will occupy most of the space, along with math, statistics and other technical classes.

    The facility is also the first UI building funded through a public-private partnership, which allows for tax-exempt financing.

    Meanwhile, faculty and graduate students will use temperature information from a 385-foot-deep monitoring well, funded by Facilities & Services and the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment, for continued research opportunities. 

    As part of the Illinois Climate Action Plan, the university plans to get to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

    Currently, around 12 percent of electricity is provided by renewable sources, like the solar and wind farms near campus, White said. But only 4.5 percent of the UI’s total energy use, counting thermal, comes from renewable sources.

    “Clean electricity is important, but it’s not enough,” White said.

    In the planning stages, the UI wasn’t supposed to start implementing geothermal systems until 2035, but a suggestion by Yu-Feng Forrest Lin of the Prairie Research Institute jump-started that process."

  14. Florida-Orchard Prairie Pollinator Signage

    A 24" by 36" blank sign was installed at the corner of Florida Avenue and Orchard Street, by the Florida-Orchard prairie, near Orchard Downs and the Presidents’ House. The information planned to be featured in the sign will originate from the new Bee Campus brochure. This text will highlight the Bee Campus student organization, information about pollinators, as well as university and campus initiatives to be more pollinator-friendly. Thanks to funding by SSC, the signage will be ready for public display by the end of 2021!

    See the attached files to view the installation of the blank sign!

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