The Building Envelope Pilot Project team held the first of three large meetings planned for the Building Envelope Pilot Project, which is funded in Spring 2021 with the SSC and Carbon Credit Sales funding. F&S, ICRT, and a student representative met to confirm the scope for the thermal imaging and blower door testing. We started with introductions of the team members and a general voerview of the pilot project.  Then ICRT leadership provided background information about ICRT, envelope commissioning benefits and processes, and initial expectations for the requirements to complete this project at the Transportation Building. At the end of the call, we defined next steps for getting the thermoimaging vendor on contract, specifying the equipment needs for the blower door testing, and scheduling the actual testing day. A tentative date to consider is April 13th, which is a non-instructional day this spring.

Renewable energy at the UI "How much power is each of the renewable (University of Illinois) sources generating? How many houses can each provide power for? Are there plans to add more than what we currently have? How many years does it take for the cost of each to be paid off? We have a growing interest in this and many homes now also have this."

Morgan White, the UI's associate director of Facilities & Services for sustainability, has all your answers.

As for power generation, she said that the UI's "on-campus solar arrays are now capable of producing over 25,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) per year and we purchase an additional 25,000 MWh/year from an off-campus wind farm in Illinois.

"For a more comprehensive answer:

"The (Illinois Climate Action Plan) 2020, objective 2.3.1 is: 'Use at least 140,000 MWh/year of clean power by FY25.' This objective is about clean power, which is different from clean thermal energy. As of 2020, there are three types of clean power options being pursued or used on campus.

"1. Solar Energy on Campus: installing solar photovoltaic panels on campus property

"2. Wind Energy on Campus: installing wind turbine generators on campus property

"3. Power Purchase Agreements for Clean Energy: purchasing solar or wind power from off-campus

"FYI, Solar Farm 2.0 is projected to produce 20,000,000 kWh/year. It began production at the end of January, so there will only be 5 of 12 months production in the FY21 totals (this current fiscal year)."

As for the number of houses each can provide power for, White said, "At Facilities & Services, we use the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) for the average power use in an American home. It currently says, 'In 2019, the average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential utility customer was 10,649 kilowatthours (kWh).”

"Thus, the FY20 clean power use on campus (30,635,993 kWh) was the equivalent of the power needed for 2,876 houses. Once Solar Farm 2.0 is operating for an entire year, that will be about 50,000,000 kWh/year of clean power use on campus, which is the equivalent to the power needed for 4,717 houses."

And about whether more generation will be added, she said: "The recently released Illinois Climate Action Plan 2020 (iCAP 2020) includes a goal for increasing clean power use to 140,000 MWh/year by FY25. We are currently having internal discussions at the University of Illinois about initiating a large off-campus solar power purchase agreement to meet this goal. We are also continuing to pursue clean thermal energy solutions, such as geothermal. Additionally, large construction projects on campus are required by the state law to be LEED certified, and this will often entail the addition of clean energy systems for individual buildings."

The payback period for each of these systems varies widely due to several factors, she said.

"For example, the geothermal system for the Campus Instructional Facility is projected to pay for itself in 28 years, while Solar Farm 2.0 is saving money in year one," said White. "For local projects off-campus these programs are very helpful: the Solar Urbana-Champaign program typically finds solar installations to pay for themselves in six or seven years, and the Geothermal Urbana-Champaign program typically finds a geothermal system at a residential home can pay for itself within 10 years."

https://www.news-gazette.com/toms-mailbag/toms-mailbag-feb-12-2021/artic...

The Energy iCAP Team had a meeting on Feb. 10th where student member, Brinn McDowell, shared a presentation on calculated energy savings from green lab protocols that could greatly contribute towards energy conservation efforts. Updates were give on the Building Envelope Pilot Project, which is anticipated to start in March with several Energy iCAP Team students participating. Among other topics of discussion were ways to enforce compliance with state energy standards, to cooperate with student leaders across the Engineering, Architecture, and Design disciplines, and to condition vacated spaces in a time of distance-learning and -working. The agenda, meeting minutes, and chat log are attached below!

CCNet hosted several local solar panelists in January 2021. This Zoom meeting was also shared via Facebook Live:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=429039901765435&ref=watch_permalink

• Scott Tess for Solar Urbana-Champaign (https://www.growsolar.org/solar-urbana-champaign/)
• Lauren Barchi, with Nexamp, for community solar (https://www.nexamp.com/community-solar)
• Jim Bustard, with Parkland College (https://www.parkland.edu)
• Morgan White University of Illinois solar projects (https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/.../solar-energy...)
• Sushanth Girini for University of Illinois Solar Farm 2.0: https://fs.illinois.edu/.../utilit.../production/solar-farms

Join the CCNet mailing list to gain access to the Zoom and stay connected. http://eepurl.com/g8IM

(video link corrected on 2-2-2021)

The dollars spent from TEM for faculty/staff air travel from FY20 is attached.