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Staff met with representatives from the Red Bison registered student organization about the prairie at the corner of Florida Avenue and Orchard Street. Red Bison has taken on responsibility for that prairie, and is looking into naming options, signage, and enhanced plantings.
Two electric vehicle charging stations were installed for Fleet vehicles at the Garage and Car Pool facility. This was done in conjunction with the purchase of two Chevy Volts for the campus fleet. At this time, the charging stations are not accessible to the public.
The proposed Solar Farm was taken through the formal Site Selection process for campus, and approved by the Chancellor’s Capital Review Committee (CCRC). Then the Request for Proposal (RFP) was published and over 30 vendors downloaded the RFP. A Fact Sheet and Q&A were sent with introductory letters to the community leaders and Solar Farm site neighbors on First Street.
Krannert Center for Performing Arts worked with F&S Planning to initiate a solar energy project for their building. Funding will be requested from the Student Sustainability Committee this spring, and a DCEO grant will be requested after the initial conceptualization phase is complete.
The SSC Weatherization student leader met with the Building Maintenance team at F&S to review the student team reports for the small houses they assessed last fall. Building Maintenance will develop cost estimates for the identified needs, so the students can prioritize the available funding ($50,000 from F&S).
The Energy Dashboard Project will be a highlighted project at the Behavior Change/ Energy Efficiency Conference.
Illinois Energy Dashboard project, collaboration with the Environmental Change Institute (ECI), Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) and the Department of Facilities and Services (F & S).
This project has been in the works for over a year, with a commitment to provide clearly visible, usable and understandable information to students and staff of chosen University buildings about energy consumption (electrical, chilled water and steam). We are working with InStep Software, Inc., the University of Illinois vendor for the management and predictive analytics software for energy use on campus. We are now in Phase One of implementation, the design of the look and content of our public Energy Dashboard site, testing and the public launching of the first version of the Ilini Energy dashboard (Phase two will support the installation of real time meters in about 10 – 12 builings).
This is one in many of the continuing efforts across campus to pull together and unify the significant educational (and research) efforts of departments and Colleges in reducing negative human impact and enhancing sustainability locally, nationally and globally.
This project is intended to have a threefold effect:
· Provide real time information to develop awareness and cultural/behavioral changes in how energy is used (not only in the buildings featured but in all aspects of life).
· Provide information for faculty and students in research.
· Provide details for building staff to better use resources and energy, and make plans for building adaption in ways that may decrease usage over time.
There 24 buildings currently on the Energy Dashboard. Information about electrical, heating, and cooling energy use is available on the website, but not every building has all three sources available at this point in the project.
Because the Solar Farm is being managed by Purchasing, through the RFP process and contracts, there is not a Planner assigned to the entire Solar Farm project. However, the portion of the project that does relate to campus infrastructure is the connection to the Campus Electrical Grid. That will be under the responsibility of Jim Sims as the Planner.
The Environmental Change Institute (ECI) and Facilities and Services (F&S) are working in conjunction on the Energy Dashboard with funding from the Student Sustainability Committee. The SSC has set for responsibilities for each group to complete the project.
The Environmental Change Institute is to coordinate meetings with representatives of major stakeholder groups (ECI, SSC, F&S, etc.) for the purpose of development, communication and clarity concerning the scope of the project, funding expenditures, review of phases, and deliverables; coordinate selection of appropriate building for building metering system upgrades that will be providing real-time data to the dashboard display system, assuming that the connections are technically or technologically feasible; develop content for website, including incorporation of new buildings, with input from stakeholders; coordinate marketing, communications with stakeholders, and progress reports; and compose and develop a final project report with input from F&S and other stakeholders as required.
Facilities and Services responsibilities are implementing and launching the Energy Dashboard module; providing technical support for metering, direct digital connections and dashboard website; purchasing software and installing that software with funds designated in the SSC award letter; determining data connections, server needs, IITAA compliance issues for website; communicating regularly with ECI concerning implementation issues and progress updates; installing and connecting upgraded building metering systems; and determining technical feasibility of connecting building metering systems to Dashboard and supporting systems.
The SSC report also included a schedule extension.
The Illini Union submitted proposed projects to the committee for review and approval, see file.
ACES will transfer assignment of 27.8 acres at Kruse Farm to Facilities & Services to provide property for the solar farm installation. ln exchange, Facilities & Services will provide ACES Crop Sciences with $84,250 to re-establish new organic acres as replacement for their research
plots.
Location of land identified for this purpose is near the southwest corner of Windsor Road and First Street, bounded by the railroad tracks to the west and First Street to the east. A total oÍ 27 .B acres has been identified, including the homestead area, as illustrated on the attached map. lf additional acreage is needed, up to a total of 30 acres, land directly east of the homestead area may be made available.
NRES is in the process of developing this farmland to meet organic designation/standards and relocation of this activity will be required in order to accommodate making the land available to F&S. The Department of Crop Sciences has agreed to provide similar acreage to NRES for this purpose. The location of the replacement land will be in the southern portion of the Cruse Farm and is reflected in the 27 acres identified as C1000W 14 acres and C100E 13 acres in the attached map.
To facilitate relocation and to compensate the Department of Crop Sciences, F&S agrees to provide $550/acre for each of 5 years, plus $10,000. Funds would be provided beginning FY12 as outlined below. After the 5-year period, any compensation required by the Department of Crop Sciences will become the responsibility of the Department of NRES.
Here are the recommended fix lists from each of the groups.
Thomas,
My name is Mark Barcus and I am Dean Henson’s new assistant and he has asked me to work on the SSC weatherization project. I would like to set up a meeting with you and Morgan Johnston and myself to see where we are at. When would be a good time to meet?
Thanks
Mark
Mark A. Barcus
Assistant Superintendent
Building Maintenance
University of Illinois
Facilities & Services
(217)-265-6566
A fact sheet and frequently asked questions document were developed by F&S for neighbors of the proposed solar farm on South Farms. In February, the documents will be accompanied by a cover letter and sent to the mayors/leadership of surrounding jurisdictions, as well as residents in the immediate vicinity of the proposed location, to inform them of the proposed development. Once the Request for Proposal (RFP) is complete and the Chancellor’s Capital Review Committee approves the project, the RFP will be published. The installation is tentatively scheduled for this fall.
The firm that was hired last fall to complete the Compost Feasibility Study, Foth, submitted a draft of their study to the University in early January for comments. Immediately following, F&S applied for $250,000 from the F-SCRAP Grant from DCEO, for equipment and site improvements for the Large-Scale Food Waste Composting Facility. In order to apply for the grant, the University was required to commit to funding the remaining portion of the facility’s proposed budget, and an emergency phone meeting was called by the Student Sustainability Committee to assign funding toward this. The committee voted in favor and granted $250,000 toward the project. A draft plan for the compost facility was also developed and distributed to key stakeholders in mid-January for feedback.
The battery recycling program is being expanded to four locations across campus, for both rechargeable batteries and single-use alkaline batteries. Facilities & Services confirmed participation, developed a fact sheet and instructional kit for participating locations, and has committed to funding the program up to $10,000 each fiscal year. The containers for the program will be ordered in February.
The Florida and Orchard Prairie has new leadership through the student group Red Bison and their advisor, John Marlin. Red Bison will be meeting with F&S to set next steps for the site, including going through the process of naming the site and implementing the concept design.
The battery recycling program is being expanded to four locations across campus, for both rechargeable batteries and single-use alkaline batteries. Facilities & Services confirmed participation, developed a fact sheet and instructional kit for participating locations, and has committed to funding the program up to $10,000 each fiscal year. The containers for the program will be ordered in February.
The Krannert Center for Performing Arts is seeking funding from the SSC for solar installations on their building. They will be submitting a full proposal to SSC in March, and they will work with sustainability staff to submit a DCEO grant application under the Program Year 2013 Renewable Energy Production Program.
ECI (Environmental Change Institute) provided Facilities and Services with a list of 25 potential buildings for real-time meter upgrades.
