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SSC received semesterly report for Fall 2021 for Joint Pollinator Garden and Composting Systems to Offset Environmental Impact and Reinforce Responsible Stewardship in Research on 12/17/2021. Please see attached.
The Energy iCAP team combined its November and December meetings for the fall of 2021 into a single "Winter Meeting" This meeting was used to discuss 12 different recommendation ideas, a select amount of which will be developed into recommendations in the near future.
Additionally, the team discussed a short note to the iCAP Working Group asking that the Comprehensive Energy Plan not have its name changed to '"lean Energy Plan"
Notes from the meeting are attached.
USGBC offers information on LEED Certification Fees. This includes information on the initial flat registration fee, rates for certification fees, member discounts, policies, and more.
Visit the USGBC website to read more about LEED Certification Fees.
The following message was sent to Carbon Credit Fund Administrators by Thurman Etchison, the Assistant Director of Dining - Facilities and Equipment, on November 18, 2021. The email & attachments contain important information regarding the potential installation of a Grind2Energy system at LAR:
Carbon Credit Fund Administrators,
Housing Dining Services is seeking funds to add a Grind 2 Energy system to our Lincoln Avenue Dining Hall. Grind 2 Energy is a system that allows us to put our food waste into a pumpable slurry so that it may be taken to an anerobic digester at the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District. These systems replace the aerobic digesters we previously had in our dining units. The aerobic digesters had issues with the effluent not meeting EPA standards.
This system would be our fifth and likely final system as we would have one at every residential dining location. These are operational at Ikenberry, PAR, FAR and ISR. Currently, University Housing does not have resources to fund this project due to the impact of COVID on our budget. We would reach out to the Student Sustainability Committee for funding but for us to do the infrastructure work and have the unit installed prior to the next school year, we need to start before the next round of submissions.
The use of Grind 2 Energy has been a very successful program for us. It meets our needs, keeps us in compliance with regulatory bodies, is comparable in costs to other methods of disposal. It is very sustainable in terms of the environment. To date, we have diverted 289 tons of food waste even though there was limited use until this school year.
The amount we are requesting is $133,538.00. A simple breakdown of our expected costs is below. As our tradespeople have installed the 4 previous units, we believe this number to be very accurate. Our last unit came in within $1000 of our estimate.
LAR Grind 2 Energy – Preliminary Budget Cost
I would like to add that these units are highly visible on campus and it is our intention to start highlighting the metrics in our dining units via electronic messaging. This may include digital displays, The Housing Insider and social media platforms. There is also great deal of interest in biogas impact from these units. I have met with 2 groups of students from the CEE 190 class about these units in the past month.
In short, this program reduces carbon emissions, produces fertilizer and creates energy. The systems are highly reliable and have had almost no issues to date. Please see the attachments for additional info.
Thank you for your consideration,
THURMAN ETCHISON
Assistant Director of Dining - Facilities and Equipment
The Zero Waste iCAP Team met on Thursday, November 11 to review some data related to vending machine quantities and pouring operations, analyze the initiatives of some other universities, and begin discussing our campaign strategy. As some initial steps, the team devised some questions for a campuswide survey on drinking water behavior and discussed a recommendation to begin tracking drinking water filter stations on campus. Meeting minutes are attached.
The Zero Waste iCAP Team met on Wednesday, November 3 to prioritize recommendations for this semester and plans for next semester. The team has decided to move forward with a drinking water campaign to recommend by the end of this semester, and the committee will break out into sub-teams for the upcoming semester based on several other working recommendations. Meeting minutes are attached.
The Energy iCAP team met on Friday, October 29th to discuss the proposed plan to construct a micro-modular nuclear reacter on campus. Several guests were invited to speak about the pros and cons of the issue.
Helpful Links
https://www.constellation.com/community/e2-energy-to-educate.html
Through the E2 Energy to EducateSM grant program, Constellation offers students in grades 6-12 and college opportunities to experience problem-solving today’s and tomorrow’s energy challenges. Grant funds support projects designed to enhance students’ understanding of science and technology, and inspire them to think differently about energy.
On October 20, 2021, the 2021 Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP) Award Winners were announced at the Campus Sustainability Celebration!
UIUC is home to a total of 10 winners and honorable mentions, as listed below according to their categories:
See the attached file to read the official announcement of 2021 ECIP Winners, including the locations' % improvements and monetary savings.
All are invited to the 2021 Campus Sustainability Celebration and appreciation event! Meet and network with your peer sustainability advocates and hear about exciting campus sustainability progress! Since the event is in person, please be prepared to wear a mask and show your Safer Illinois app or equivalent status. If you can't make it in person, watch the livestream on YouTube! >>>
October 20, 1–4 pm • National Center for Supercomputing Applications lobby, 1205 W. Clark St., Urbana
Julie Wurth • Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment
Alec Van Patten met with Brent Lewis, Betsy Liggett, and Morgan White to discuss the SECS' idea to get a new green roof on campus. F&S staff shared some lessons learned from other green roof installations, and suggested some potential locations. These include:
We also mentioned the ECE green wall, which needs help getting refurbished. It most likely needs better watering and possibly needs a review of the soil quality.
For the funding, the SECS is likely going to request SSC funding in the spring semester. Brent says they can request pricing info from LiveRoof.com to get an estimated budget.
Once a location is selected, Alec will email this group to move into the preliminary approval stage.
On Friday, October 1 the Zero Waste iCAP Team had their first meeting of the semester! The team discussed progress on last year's recommendations, zero waste initiatives from F&S, and the iCAP Objective Assessment for Zero Waste. Meeting minutes are attached.
SSC received semesterly report for Spring 2021 for the Root to Roof project on 9/16/2021. Please see attached.
SSC received semesterly report for Spring 2021 for Joint Pollinator and Composting Systems project on 9/14/2021. Please see attached.
iSEE's Interim Director Madhu Khanna sent the Zero Waste iCAP Team a formal charge letter on Tuesday, September 14 detailing their campus sustainability duties this academic year. Full letter is attached.
After discussions with Michael McKelvey at MSTE and Aaron Mason and Ian Bonadeo at Hawkeye Energy Solutions, since Morgan White put them in contact back in April, the ECE building’s energy dashboards are now available without requiring a login and via domain name rather than IP address! Here are the dashboards:
ECE Building – Energy Dashboard
ECE Building – Net Zero Energy Dashboard
You can view the listing of dashboards currently available at the U of I Building Energy Dashboard Home Page.
Joyce Mast is working with Patricia Franke to refine the ECE energy displays to include the effect of local weather on the solar panels. F&S Utilities and Energy Services is connecting Joyce with the contact people at Hawkeye Energy Solutions, who incorporated real-time energy data in the ECE energy dashboard, using campus data provided by F&S.
https://www.nlc.org/initiative/leadership-in-community-resilience-program-application/
Embedding equity in city resilience plans/programs
costs associated with virtual events, convenings, and workshops, including community engagement programs or processes, trainings for city staff or elected officials, and regional convenings.
On August 3, 2021, the SSC submitted a semesterly report concerning the Precious Plastic Campus Recycling Hub, which is attached here.
