News article about criticism from Urbana residents over UI wind turbine plans
In November 2010, the News-Gazette published the article "Urbana council, residents hit UI over wind turbine plans".
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In November 2010, the News-Gazette published the article "Urbana council, residents hit UI over wind turbine plans".
Responding to the ordinance presented by the City of Urbana in September 2010, the university said in an official statement, "The University of Illinois is not subject to city codes and ordinances" and "The real property the University owns, it holds as trustee for the State of Illinois, the beneficial owner, and is not subject to the jurisdiction of the city. As such, the University would not be subject to the proposed new wind turbine zoning ordinance and would resist any attempt to apply the ordinance to the University.”
Rather than requiring Facilities & Services to submit a proposal for the program, we have created a Memorandum of Understanding, based on our conversations. Please review the attached memorandum and let me know if you have any comments or concerns.
We are looking to present this memorandum to the SSC for vote on Friday, November 12th in order to move forward quickly enough to start the program in the Spring semester.
The remaining piece needed is a formal letter of support for the program from Facilities & Services, indicating a commitment to implement cost effective recommendations and identifying who would supervise the student intern. To complete the memorandum, we will also need the names, emails, and phone numbers of the primary, secondary, and financial officer contacts.
In November 2010, the Daily Illini published an article describing the revival of wind turbine project at the University of Illinois. -- "Campus revives wind turbine project" -- https://web.archive.org/web/20101206070651/http://www.dailyillini.com/no...
On October 31, 2010, the Daily Illini published an article about the prospect of wind project going forward. SECS shared that this week the University has taken the first big step towards getting a wind turbine. -- "After years of waiting, wind changing for turbine".
Prior to the first Energy Liaison on-site presentation, Andy met with the two library staff that will be staffing the booth and talked about content and logistics. They selected a great location, just inside the West entrance to the Upper Level with a prime display location. They also pulled a book display which relates to energy and sustainability for the Lower Level. They are excited about the display and already have talked about moving it around their organization to continue to promote conservation! The date and time for the display is 10-2 on October 29 in the Undergrad Library.
ABC News Channel 15 streamed a video on October 29, 2010, about the wind turbine project (included in the Top 15 stories) on the campus of the university -- https://web.archive.org/web/20101201233936/http://wicd15.com/newsroom/to...
In the last week of October 2010, the request for proposal (RFP) for wind turbine was issued specifying that the proposals will be accepted until 2:00 pm on November 23,2010.
Request for Proposal
Attached is a proposed plan for the student weatherization program we have been discussing. The plan has been put together based off our conversations and research of similar initiatives at other universities.
In October 2010, the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) wrote a letter to the Office of Sustainability at the U of I recommending that the wind turbine project receive $500,000 in funding with following conditions:
1) That all funds provided by the SSC be returned in full if the project is postponed, cancelled or placed on hold.
2) That all funds provided by the SSC for be expended by December 31 st, 2011 and that a final report of all work completed and accounting of funds spent be provided to us by that date as well.
The Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) was in favor of the wind turbine project and hence, approved the funding proposal in the amount of $500,000.
As I have thought about this effort, I concluded that weatherization inspections would be most productive in our converted residential units on campus - frame structures and 1-3 story masonry buildings which were originally constructed primarily as residential units. While I don't have a ready inventory of those structures, following is an extremely incomplete list meant to typify the kinds of buildings I am thinking about:
These buildings fly far below the radar of our formal retro-commissioning efforts, since we have so many improvement opportunities in much larger buildings that consume significantly more resources.
For the Student Sustainability Committee to provide funding for a students who would spearhead and manage the program, in addition to financial incentives to the surveyors, is a brilliant idea that makes this effort that much more workable during a very busy time at Facilities & Services. That approach will also provide real world, resume quality experience for the people who step up to the challenge.
A part of program development that such student employees should undertake would be to identify the kinds of information that would be applicable toward weatherization of the types of structures identified above. F&S staff would discuss with the students their conclusions and would provide grounding in what weatherization remediation activities we could/would actually pursue. That approach is preferable to F&S telling you what information we want you to gather.
I just grabbed off the web the single quick reference below as one example of what resources are readily available to the student program managers as they work to identify what information the surveyors would be asked to gather.
Does this give you what you need to flesh out your idea?
Carl Wegel
Director of Maintenance, and all-around nice guy
Weatherization Tips For Your Home.
...Recommended by US DOE (1)
-- Test your home for air tightness. A professional blower door test is the best option, however you can find major leaks yourself. On a windy day, hold a lit incense stick next to your windows, doors, electrical boxes, plumbing fixtures, electrical outlets, ceiling fixtures, attic hatches, and other locations where there is a possible air path to the outside. If the smoke stream travels horizontally, you have located an air leak that may need caulking, sealing, or weather-stripping.
-- Caulk and weather-strip doors and windows that leak air.
-- Caulk and seal air leaks where plumbing, ducts, or electrical wiring penetrates through exterior walls, floors, ceilings, and over cabinets.
-- Install rubber gaskets behind outlet and switch plates on exterior walls.
-- Look for dirty spots in your attic insulation, which often indicate holes where air leaks into and out of your house. You can seal the holes by foaming the gap, or by stapling sheets of plastic over the holes and caulking the edges of the plastic.
-- Install storm windows over single-pane windows or replace them with double-pane windows. Storm windows may as much as double the R-value of single-pane windows and they can help reduce drafts, water condensation, and frost formation. As a less costly and less permanent alternative, you can use a heavy-duty, clear plastic sheet on a frame or tape clear plastic film to the inside of your window frames during the cold winter months. Remember that the plastic must be sealed tightly to the frame to help reduce infiltration.
-- When the fireplace is not in use, keep the flue damper tightly closed. A chimney is designed specifically for smoke to escape, so until you close it, warm air escapes 24 hours a day!
From: Jennifer Koys [mailto:jennifer.koys@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 10:14 PM
To: Wegel, Carl V (Facilities & Services); Henson, K Dean (Facilities & Services); Johnston, Morgan (Facilities & Services)
Cc: Anna Franco
Subject: Campus Weatherization Project
Hello,
Hope you're all having a good week! I was wondering if you would be able to provide a "wish list" of the data that would potentially be useful to obtain from student assessments, how you would like it organized, and what you would want to do with the data obtained? This would be very helpful to have as I move forward.
You mentioned at the meeting having students help run the program. Thinking about this, one possibility I came up with was hiring a student worker to work under someone at F&S to run the program. In the years after the initial start-up, this student could be chosen from the students involved in the assessments during the previous year, as they would possess background knowledge and experience necessary to effectively coordinate the program. Do you have any thoughts on this idea?
Thanks!
Jenny
I'm meeting with Brian Deal tomorrow to hopefully get a better idea of how we could get students trained and what kind of information we could get from the audit. I've also reached out to Tim Lindsey to see about possible ISTC invovlement but haven't heard back yet. If came up with any other ideas for departments that might be willing to house the program and put a staff member on it (there would be SSC compensation involved for the staff person), that could be helpful.
I'm from the Student Sustainability Committee. This year, we are interested in funding a project that will utilize students to help to achieve the University goal of weatherizing campus buildings. Suhail Barot pointed me to you as good people to talk with to start a conversation about what F & S would be looking for in regards to such a program and getting ideas going to submit in response to the Committee's RFP.I'm from the Student Sustainability Committee. This year, we are interested in funding a project that will utilize students to help to achieve the University goal of weatherizing campus buildings. Suhail Barot pointed me to you as good people to talk with to start a conversation about what F & S would be looking for in regards to such a program and getting ideas going to submit in response to the Committee's RFP.
Jennifer Koys
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Business Process Management, 2011
Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), Director
Student Sustainability Committee, Treasurer
SSC minutes from 10/8/10 include this update:
Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) includes composting on list for proposed funding. Kevin Wolz assigned as SSC Intern “working at feasibility of composting.”
In September 2010, the University of Illinois received acceptance from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Cty of Urbana declares that the wind turbine location does not follow the Urbana Wind Ordinance by situating the turbines too close residential neighborhoods.
In last week of August 2010, The Daily Illini published an article focusing on the return from sustainability investment -- "Sustainability investment guarantees returns" -- https://web.archive.org/web/20101206070431/http://www.dailyillini.com/op...