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Project Updates for collection: 2015 iCAP Objectives
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ACES Study Abroad Carbon Offset Program Meeting
Associated Project(s):Meredith Moore and Tyler Swanson of iSEE met with Alicia Freter of the ACES Study Abroad office on August 31st to discuss options for developing a carbon offset program for students studying abroad in the college of ACES.
Highlights from the conversation include beginning the program by having students volunteer for iSEE in lieu of purchasing carbon offsets. Providing students studying abroad with Eco-Ambassador training was also discussed, with the idea that trained Eco-Ambassadors could lead iSEE sponsored events. The most equitable way to offset carbon emissions is still being discussed.
Attached Files:Resilience iCAP Team September 2022 Meeting
Associated Project(s):The Resilience iCAP Team had its first online meeting of the year on Friday, September 9th from 2:00 - 3:00 PM. The team reviewed the Resilience Charge Letter, talked about ground rules of the team, reviewed seven Resilience iCAP objectives, and shared updates on each objective. Meeting minutes and ground rules documents are attached.
Article on US OCC Recycling Rates
Associated Project(s):The attached link is an article detailing research that paper recycling rates are much lower than industry estimates.
Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) Supporting Member
Associated Project(s):In Spring of 2022, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign became a Supporting Member for the Northeast Recycling Council’s (NERC).
As an Advisory Member, we are invited to:
- Submit articles for the Email Bulletin.
- Submit blogs – which will be advertised on social media.
- Participate in four substantive committees:
- glass markets
- regional recycling markets
- bottle bills
- diversity, equity and inclusion
- Participate in Projects or Initiatives:
- Government Recycling Demand Champions. There three levels of participation champion, advocate, and state recycling organization advocate. https://nerc.org/projects/government-recycling-demand-champions
Solar Farm Taxes
Associated Project(s):Attached are the Solar Farm taxes for tax year 2021.
Attached Files:Solar Urbana-Champaign
Associated Project(s):From: Marta Monti <marta@midwestrenew.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2022 4:34 PM
To: White, Morgan <mbwhite at illinois.edu>
Subject: Solar Urbana-Champaign is back!Solar Urbana Champaign is back for 2022
2022 marks the seventh year for the Solar Urbana Champaign program. Since 2016, this non-profit-led program has educated 1,292 people about their solar opportunities with our Solar Power Hours presentations, and of those folks, 242 properties decided to go solar.
In partnership with our competitively-selected installer, GRNE Solar, and with support from the Citizens Utility Board (CUB), the City of Urbana, and our growing partners, we're excited to help central Illinois residents go solar and save on their energy costs!
Find us online:
- Learn all about Solar Urbana Champaign and sign up for your free site assessment by visiting the website at SolarUrbanaChampaign.com
- Be sure to like the Solar Urbana-Champaign and the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) Facebook pages and join the online conversation!
- Learn more about our competitively selected solar installer, GRNE Solar, by visiting their website.
First Benchmark Reached!
Our group buy program uses the power of bulk purchasing to create an economy of scale: the more people who participate, the larger the savings become! This year's program has already passed the first 50 kilowatt benchmark, meaning that participants can look forward to additional savings. Join today and share with friends so we can achieve lower costs for everyone!
Please help spread the word:
Please share the program website or this email with your friends and neighbors or post it on your social media pages.
Remember: the more people that go solar through the Solar Urbana Champaign program, the lower the cost for all!
Pull out your yard sign, it's Grow Solar season!
Not sure where it went? No worries, it's been a while. Let us know where to drop it off and we will get you a new one.
- UPCOMING SOLAR POWER HOURS -
Share this schedule with a friend and invite them to start their solar journey with you!
8/11, Thursday: Solar Power Hour, 6:00-7:00 p.m. at Papa Del’s Pizza Factory, 1201 S Neil St, Champaign, IL
8/17, Wednesday: Solar Power Hour, 6:00-7:00 p.m. at Danville Public Library, 319 N Vermilion St, Danville, IL
8/26, Friday: Solar Power Hour, 6:00-7:00 p.m. at Big Thorn Farm & Brewery, 14274 600 North Rd, Georgetown, IL – co-hosted by Big Thorn Farm & Brewery
8/31, Wednesday: Solar Power Hour, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. on Zoom (click to register)
— BROUGHT TO YOU BY —
Questions?
Throughout the program, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please let me know. I can be reached at marta@midwestrenew.org.
Sincerely,
Marta Monti
MREA Solar Program Manager
The Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) promotes renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable living through education and demonstration. To learn more about our work, visit midwestrenew.org.
2022 Illinois Urban Forestry Fact Sheet
Associated Project(s):Link for the 2022 Illinois Urban Forestry Fact Sheet:
https://www.nmsfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Illinois_Fact-Sheet_UF-Economic-Analysis.pdf
Energy Source Options Final Design Report 5/6/22
Associated Project(s):The attached document is entitled Energy Source Options Final Design Report. Which is a report done for ME 470 Senior Design.
The report details research on the use of compressed CO2 as a refrigerant. The goal of the report was to determine if this system would be viable option for providing green energy on campus.
Attached Files:Mode Choice Survey 2022: Analysis
Associated Project(s):Please see attached the excel spreadsheet that was used to analyze the responses gathered during the Mode Choice Survey 2022.
Attached Files:2022 TEACHAD Webinar: Case study from the Michigan State University South Campus Anaerobic Digester
Associated Project(s):Dana Kirk, Associate Professor at Michigan State University, presented a webinar on May 31, 2022 titled "Universities go green! A case study from the Michigan State University South Campus Anaerobic Digester", which also featured Marcello Pibiri, Senior Research Engineer at Energy Resources Center UIC.
In case you missed the live webinar or if you would like to view the recorded session again, go to https://register.gotowebinar.com/recording/7048417514261610508. You can register with your name and email to watch the recording. Also attached is the presentation by Dana Kirk from this webinar.
Marcello and his team at ERC organize the New Technical Education & Analysis for Community Hauling and Anaerobic Digesters (TEACH AD) Program to educate people about Anaerobic Digesters.
Spring 2022: iSEE Quarterly Update (iQ)
Associated Project(s):The Spring 2022 iSEE Quarterly Update (iQ) was released with the following message from Madhu Khanna, the Interim Director of iSEE:
Greetings Colleagues,
Attached, please find the Spring 2022 edition of iQ, our quarterly update. You will see that in this six-page pdf recapping the recent semester, we had plenty of news and updates from our research, education, events, and campus sustainability fronts.
But the work did not end there! Since the semester ended, we have had two other exciting announcements:
- The U of I campus was rewarded with the only USDA NIFA “Farm of the Future” grant. Our I-FARM project will be an 80-acre testbed for merging technology, sensing, and agronomy into a farm setting with crops and livestock that will be productive and profitable. Read our June 1 news release >>>
- In addition, for the fifth consecutive time, our campus reached Gold-level status in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) run by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). New solar and geothermal energy projects, a reduction in water use, and wide-ranging sustainability research helped us reach this level yet again. Read the May 25 news release >>>
For more up-to-date news from iSEE, please sign up for our E-newsletter at https://illinois.edu/fb/sec/5031776.
Best wishes for a healthy and productive summer,
Madhu
Attached Files:Lighting Retrofits are important - article in Popular Science
Associated Project(s):“Incandescent bulbs use more energy and produce more heat due to their engineering designs,” says Paul Foote, energy efficiency and conservation specialist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It’s important to shift to more energy-efficient alternatives to reduce the environmental impacts of incandescent bulbs from the utilization of fossil fuels for electricity, he added.
By mandating a minimum light output or lumens per watt, manufacturers make sure all bulbs can effectively light up a room, which ensures that consumers will avoid overusing energy with substandard bulbs to get the same level of brightness, says Foote. “When upgrading from incandescent bulbs to LEDs, we have noticed a 60 percent decrease in energy consumption on average, and therefore energy cost avoidance has reduced our utility bill by similar amounts for lighting,” he adds.
Popular Science interviewed Paul Foote at F&S as part of their article about the importance of lighting retrofits. the full article is available online at https://www.popsci.com/environment/light-bulbs-sustainability-energy/.
Mode Choice Survey ended
Associated Project(s):Mode Choice Survey ended on May 2, 2022. We have received 620 responses from our faculty, staff, and students. F&S TDM will analyze the data in May 2022 and publish a report in the summer.
Draft Report - Local Carbon Offset Program
Associated Project(s):DRAFT White Paper: "Recommendations for Initiating a Local Carbon Offsets Pilot Program for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"
Submitted by Stacy Gloss on May 9, 2022
Conclusions & Recommendations reported below:
The University of Illinois iCAP calls for reducing emissions from unavoidable travel by purchasing carbon offsets and creating a local carbon offset program. Program planning and oversight can be achieved with the formation of a committee on carbon offsets and local offsets. Concurrently, the chancellors office should delegate where a carbon-off-set account would be housed – the account needs to be set up to receive and administer funds for competitive projects.
The most that the iCAP Resilience Committee could do is submit a recommendation to the iWG to convene a campus working group for a local offset program directed by the Chancellor’s office and/or central Sustainability Council; and direct the set-up of an account to receive and administer funds. Sustainability professionals hired at the University of Illinois could administer the program with oversight from the carbon offsets working group/committee.
Edits or comments to this paper should be submitted to sgloss@illinois.edu for review by the iCAP Resilience committee.
The document can be viewed here: https://uofi.box.com/s/w007s43qyhtdcbjbmzb4asjt70weueyq
Carbon Offset Technology Review Project
Associated Project(s):iSEE Carbon Offset Program: Technology Research and Options
Authors: Jane Williams, Rachel Pu, Fina Healy, Natalia Ptaszek, and Angela AndradaStudents from the ABE469 Capstone Course taught by professor Ann Witmer met over the course of the Spring 2022 semester to research renewable energy technologies and carbon sink projects appropriate for campus and communtiy in our surrounding county-vicinity. The purpose is to provide technology options for the Local Carbon Offset Program described in the iCAP objectives. A local carbon offset program would be designed to offset staff & faculty travel, and the offset funds generated can be used in local projects that reduce or sequester carbon on campus and in the community. The technologies reviewed by the student engineering team include:
- solar photovoltaics
- biodigestor
- planting trees
- prairie restoration
- geothermal heating and cooling
The final deliverables report and presentation are attached.
This Week in Research
Associated Project(s):Ming Kuo recently contributed to an NPR piece that explored the benefits of spending time in nature, noting that getting your daily dose of nature is vital to your well-being.
Reminders sent out for Mode Choice Survey
Associated Project(s):F&S TDM sent out reminders in e-week, GradLinks, Email+ to UG students, and others in the last week of April.
Developing PCI Targets document and comments
Associated Project(s):Attached is an article that details the development of Performance Cost Index Targets.
Below are comments made by Tom Keller on the article:
Comments:
- Out of Date Reference - The referenced items are from early 2016 and reference ASHRAE-90.1-2013. These are not our current codes/standards and Appendix G has changed since 2013.
- UIUG Goals - 25% new construction and 20% major renovation (for UIUC Standard facilities) is indeed appropriate. It was developed in a collaborative effort with the UIUC stakeholders and analyzed by qualified professional to be reasonable and considerate of our goals. Is someone (possibly UES) suggesting that we should lower the efficiency goals?
- Standards – The standards were not developed completely by me. These standards were developed in a highly collaborative effort and analyzed by qualified professionals (including myself) to be appropriate and practical.
- They are for the most part currently assigned to Morgan and myself.
- Personal Agendas/due diligence – Please further clarify this. I have not found this to be true (quite the opposite in fact). Can you provide specific examples of this?
- TJK comment – A single consultant (IMEG) and a single non-standard project (Undergrad Library) have expressed/had difficulty with meeting the goal. On one occasion IMEG was indeed able to comply and be within the project established parameters (DIA – Ubben). For UL, a proper variance was approved for 17.4% in lieu of full 20% based mainly on the archival special processes.
- NOTE – Based on this, Jim S. and I collaborated on “scrubbing” the standards (assigned to me) this round. We did find some confusing wording that was clarified and may help the consultants (IMEG) in the future. This was also collaborated with Morgan W., Rob R., and Scott W. (as I recall).
Attached Files:useful links