I have realigned the way we account for projects in AiM, so each RLF will need to have a specific  AiM account number that maps to a banner plant fund.  As soon as I can transfer the open work orders off of MY862-Revolving Loan Fund, I will inactivate that account number.

So, each new RLF project will need a Banner Plant Account number (I obtain) and a new AiM account number (mee, too.) then I will let the PM know so he/she can set up work orders.  This way, it keeps project costs segregated.  Putting it all into one account like I did initially dumps all project costs into one AiM account making it hard to keep the expenditures separate.  - Mike

Objective 3.1 is for the SWATeam to lead an exploration of options for 100% clean energy and submit recommendations. F&S staff workload is too high to handle the exploration of options, so F&S will provide data and provide comments. Ben McCall and Scott Willenbrock will develop a plan for how to achieve carbon neutrality. They will make a document with potential options, pros, cons, and costs. 

Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) Water Audit Webinar – Oct. 21 at 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. (web only)

“Water Use and Conservation on Illinois College Campuses: The Ripple Effect”

The Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN) and the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) are partnering to train college faculty and staff to conduct water audits on their campuses, increasing knowledge about water on college campuses, and furthering ISTC’s goal of reducing water consumption in Illinois by One Billion Gallons. To do so, IGEN and ISTC will implement a three-phase program. In the first phase of the program, IGEN will cohost a webinar with ISTC to educate interested colleges on the basics of water audits. The webinar will cover the following information:

• Details of what a comprehensive water audit encompasses: the built environment, the campus landscaping, and the local topography/watershed;
• Where to find specific information on water use on a college campus: what bills, what departments have information, what is metered, etc.;
• Potential benefits of water audits: how to save money, water, and energy, and the environmental impacts; and
• Overview of the next phases of the program and how to participate.

Speakers will be: Megan Chery, Manager of Alliance for Water Efficiency; Aaron Dunbaugh, Director of Sustainability at Loyola University Chicago; and Michelle Maddaus, Founder and Civil Engineer with Maddaus Waste Management.

Please register to attend the webinar at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/154690976. For additional information visit http://www.igencc.org/node/1115.

In the second phase of the program, IGEN and ISTC will arrange regional training sessions at several Illinois community colleges to train stakeholders on how to conduct a comprehensive water audit on campus. In the third phase of the program, colleges will conduct water audits on their campuses and make recommendations that will reduce water consumption and apply for grants to implement the projects.

ISTC is a division of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Morning, all.

Courtesy of Max-R (big name in recycling bins), we have a new, functional, clean, state-of-the-art rubbish/recycling station in the break room (photo attached). It will still be serviced by our same cleaning staff. As free time allows, I’ll update the signage. The cardboard bin is next to the pretty bin. Note the SEDAC logo and the “this is made from 1501 recycled milk jugs” image.

Thanx to Lucas, Stevie, Carrie, Aaron and others for logistical and physical support in getting it sited.

Cheers,
Marcus

Morgan, here’s the direct link to the resource I mentioned to you on the Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable (GLRPPR) web site. The GLRPPR site is pretty extensive, with many “sector resources,” so I’ll save you the trouble of navigating through them.

P2 Measurement & Calculators Sector Resource: http://www.glrppr.org/contacts/gltopichub.cfm?sectorid=143. 

I don’t know if you were specifically interested in water-related calculators, or if you were using that as a hypothetical example. In any event, there are a few water-related calculators within the list at the above URL. US EPA’s WaterSense program provides a calculator for residential savings, if you replace existing fixtures with WaterSense labelled items. Seehttp://www.epa.gov/watersense/our_water/start_saving.html#tabs-3. This could be a resource to provide students or staff who ask you about such calculators, but be mindful (as you should with any “canned” calculator) of the assumptions made regarding things like utility costs, average number of gallons of water used per year, etc. (http://www.epa.gov/watersense/our_water/how_works.html#assumptions). This particular tool wouldn’t be useful for campus buildings; the Alliance for Water Efficiency provides some guidelines for calculations on school and university campuses:http://www.allianceforwaterefficiency.org/Schools_and_Universities.aspx. 

Dan Marsch mentioned resources for pre-rinse spray nozzles, which could be of interest in dining halls. Probably the best resource on best practices in this arena is the Food Service Technology Center (http://fishnick.com/). Their site includes a spray valve water cost calculator (http://fishnick.com/savewater/tools/watercalculator/) and a water leak cost calculator (http://fishnick.com/savewater/tools/leakcalculator/).

Kishore mentioned the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. Their site is at http://www.aceee.org/. He also mentioned EERE, the US DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Their site is athttp://energy.gov/eere/office-energy-efficiency-renewable-energy.

Hope this helps,

Joy

Joy Scrogum

Emerging Technologies Resource Specialist

Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC; www.istc.illinois.edu) 

Co-coordinator, Sustainable Electronics Initiative (SEI; www.sustainelectronics.illinois.edu)

Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable (GLRPPR; www.glrppr.org)

ISTC is a Division of the Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

217-333-8948; 1 Hazelwood Drive, Champaign, IL 61820; MC-676

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is pursuing development of a large-scale food waste composting facility on the University’s property, in order to compost food waste from University dining halls.  This interest is precipitated by the commitment made by the University in the 2010 Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP): “The University will commit to… a large‐scale food composting project by 2012.” The new facility will initially receive and process all acceptable pre- and post-consumer food waste from six dining halls on campus, as well as supplementary landscape waste as necessary carbon bulking material from Campus Grounds. In the future, if needed, the system may accept additional landscape waste from the city of Champaign as well as livestock bedding and other animal-related organic waste from the University’s Agricultural and Animal Sciences Departments. The finished product will provide rich compost material to agricultural projects on campus such as the Sustainable Student Farm, as well as to campus grounds and athletic fields.

Background

The University of Illinois is dedicated to composting across the board.  There are three main academic campuses at Urbana, Springfield, and Chicago and two medical campuses at Peoria and Rockford.  We are in communication with all of these sites about the future of composting at the University.  This is an exciting opportunity for the sustainability contacts to work together and support each other in a major sustainability initiative.  Additionally, the University Extension office has a long history of supporting sustainability and has numerous resources for composting operations that we can call upon as the project progresses. 

In 2008, the Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, pledging to become carbon neutral by the year 2050.  As part of this commitment, the University published “Illinois: A Climate Action Plan (iCAP)” in May 2010, describing several projects related to various aspects of campus sustainability.  This document is available online at http://sustainability.illinois.edu/iCAP.html.  

The Procurement and Waste aspects of campus sustainability are highlighted on page five of the iCAP.  It states “The University will commit to a Zero Waste campus policy by 2012, a large-scale food composting project by 2012, and target an increase in the University’s waste diversion rate to 75 percent by 2020.”  The specific project is listed on page 34 item 4 under Agricultural targets, as “Incorporate a large-scale food composting project by 2012.” 

The composting project also has significant support from campus leadership represented by Associate Chancellor Pradeep Khanna, Facilities & Services as represented by Tracy Osby the Waste Management Coordinator and Jack Dempsey the Executive Director, and the students as represented by the Student Sustainability Committee.  The Office of Sustainability works closely with Facilities and Services to assist with the various projects in the Climate Action Plan, and will assist with project implementation and promotional information.

Currently, approximately 1411 tons of food-waste is collected annually from the five major Dining Halls on campus.  Unfortunately, all of this waste is sent to the Clinton Landfill.  There was a small pilot composting project which diverted about five percent of this waste during the short pilot test phase, but it has not been in operation for the last year.  The proposed Large-Scale Food Waste Composting Facility will divert 100 percent of this food-waste and utilize Grounds department landscape waste to generate approximately 2,822 tons of high-quality compost annually.  The compost material will be used solely on University land, including the campus grounds, athletic fields, and the Sustainable Student Farm project.  Future expansion of composting operations could incorporate the animal waste at the Beef and Sheep Facility, which is directly south of the Compost Facility.   At that time, the finished product may be used on certain crop sciences lands.

The attached file is the final report for the Water Bottle filler retrofit program.