There are a few examples of clean thermal energy in use on campus at this time. These include:

• the solar thermal panels on the Activities Rec Center, heating the three swimming pools
• the biomass boiler at the Energy Farm, heating the two story greenhouse on south Race Street
• geothermal installations providing heating and cooling at the Fruit Farm Admin Building, the RIPE greenhouse, the Campus Instructional Facility, a few buildings at Allerton Park, the solar decathlon Gable Home at the Energy Farm, and a few rooms in the Hydrosystems Building
• a wood-fired stove heating some maintenance buildings at Allerton Park

We could expand these types of energy systems...

• Additional geothermal installations are being planned for various places around campus, including a geothermal battery system at the Energy Farm.  The other geothermal locations in planning discussions now include the South Campus Center for Interdisciplinary Learning, a future greenhouse for CABBI, and the Doris Christopher Kelley Illinois Extension Building in the Arboretum.
• The biomass boiler at the Energy Farm was designed with the anticipation of future expansion.
• Solar thermal is a great option for our area of the planet, but it is not easy to integrate it in our existing energy enterprise.

Another option for clean thermal energy is biogas, which UIUC contributes to locally through the Grind2Energy system, which takes food waste from the dining halls to the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District (UCSD).  UCSD puts it through their anaerobic digester which captures the methane (a very strong greenhouse gas).  Currently, that captured methane is used to run an electrical generator, which provides power to the UCSD facility.  An alternative would be to upgrade the methane to pipeline quality and use the biogas a Abbott Power Plant on campus.  This is an expensive option that would require a lot of coordination and funding.

Another strong option is a micronuclear reactor, which is being studies by the Grainger College of Engineering faculty and researchers.  This system could be integrated with the existing steam distribution system and provide ghg-free energy to campus.

On January 30th, the Zero Waste iCAP team met to discuss final thoughts on the finished tailgate recycling recommendation, the feasibility of a large scale composting program on campus, and current work with the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). 

Meeting minutes are attached.

On February 8, Housing and F&S met to discuss Dump & Run plans. See the attached meeting minutes. A recording can be found here.

On February 7, Daphne Hulse met with Nate Himes (Director of Counseling Ministries) at Merci's Refuge and Tom King (Director of Logistics) + Wally Proenza (VP Retail Operations) at Goodwill Land of Lincoln to discuss donation logistics. On February 13, Daphne will meet with Lisa Sheltra (Director of Community Engagement) + Mike Jenkins (Director of Retail Operations) at Salt & Light.

On January 24, Daphne Hulse met with Kasey Umland, Director of the Women's Resources Center, formerly the Associate Director at University YMCA, to discuss the following:

1. What is the history of UIUC-YMCA Dump and Run events?

   1. Started with private certified housing, religious affiliated groups around 2012. 3 semi-trailers worth of stuff from campus and from the community. A lot of staff time went into the program.

   2. Previously had 2 boxes on every floor of Illini tower, which was a huge source of items. 26 boxes in this one building. Change in Illini tower management meant YMCA couldn’t do collections here anymore. It was great to have the materials, but hard to get everything out in time. the same year, University Housing came to YMCA about their Housing salvage drive (the person who ran it left). This was the first year YMCA collaborated with UIUC.

      1. Started doing some university housing dorms, but not all.

      2. Realized they couldn’t keep up with the overflow of materials.

      3. Big shift in kinds of items they received. Went from servicing mini apartments/suites (Illini Tower) versus university dormitories. 10x the amount of stuff as before with the Illini tower. 3/4 was clothing and bedding.

   3. Talked to Housing and needing more resources. It was too hard for YMCA to keep up. Majority of volunteers who did collections were students, but it was finals. Had a close relationship with them, but students would need to go right when things were picking up near the end of the move out week.

2. Based off a quick survey of other schools move-out programs, it seems most common for schools to work with local nonprofit(s) to immediately donate items following the move out program. As opposed to storing items over the summer and preparing for a fall move-in sale. Thoughts about these two different ways of operating?

   1. Donating most items straight away seems like it may be the only way it can work for the university, since there’s an immense quantity of items to deal with.

   2. Suggest talking with intended recipients of non-profits beforehand, to see if they can accept it all immediately, or if it will be too much.

   3. Even when YMCA was running it, their excess was too much for some places.

   4. Salt and light had capacity.

   5. Goodwill said to stop (no more clothes).

   6. Most places would say they would want at least some items.

   7. The value of selling these items in a sale near move in is that there are items unique the college experience: XL twin sheets, for example.

3. What are some best practices for event coordination?

   1. If you are dealing with multiple sites - think in advance about plotting out how to do collections.

   2. Thinking about when things will come in from certain places. Which were high donation spots? Some will only need checked every so often, some places needed checked 2 or 3 times a day.

   3. Capacity - Kasey always wanted something better than just putting items in a cardboard box.

      1. It is easier if items are placed directly into a bag. Otherwise, volunteers have to do this work.

   4. Try to be really clear about what people can and cannot donate. In a perfect world, check the boxes in the evening, that’s when students move out.

4. We will have to rely on the help of volunteers, but students will have their finals during this time, and be moving out. We want to strengthen town and gown relations through this program. Any suggestions for local groups/organizations who would be good to reach out to who you think would have an interest in volunteering?

   1. Rotary Clubs

   2. Church or high school youth groups

   3. If the university would consider half day leave, that could be an incentive

   4. during business hours means it increases the privilege needed to participate

   5. Honors societies

   6. Sierra Club

   7. Junior League

   8. Humane Society

   9. Court Diversion