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  1. Weekly Update - Data request form, news article, Mathemetical models

    Associated Project(s): 
    Crowd Management for Quad Day: Living Lab Project

    Dear Stacey, Morgan, and Prasad,

    ​

    The CEE research team (including Shelly, Weichen, Ruifeng, and I) has held two weekly meetings and discussed our ongoing project. Below is a summary of the ongoing efforts:​

    • We have filled out the data-request form, and we look forward to hearing back on the data in the near future;
    • We have requested the CEE Department to prepare a news article on our project; we heard that you may be contacted for quotes and comments.​
    • We are in the process of developing suitable mathematical models and solution methods for our project.

    As for the next step, we wonder if there is a good time to schedule a quick interview with you, and/or the stakeholders you mentioned last time? The purpose is to understand the design options and restrictions (i.e., types of barriers, guideways, and/or booth-location choices).​

     

    Thank you.

    ​

    Yanfeng

  2. iSEE Awards Levenick Teaching Sustainability Fellowships

    Associated Project(s): 
    Encourage Course Development or Modification

    iSEE is pleased to announce that eight instructors have been named 2020-21 Levenick iSEE Teaching Sustainability Fellows.

    Funded by a generous endowment from Illinois Alumnus Stuart L. Levenick and his wife Nancy J. Levenick, this second cohort of faculty and teachers from across the University of Illinois campus (and one from University Laboratory High School) will incorporate sustainability into existing classes or create entirely new courses built around sustainability elements.

    Associate Director for Education & Outreach Gillen D’Arcy Wood said applications nearly doubled for the Levenick iSEE Teaching Sustainability program this year, a positive sign of a growing program — and growing interest in adding sustainability thinking in all academic units.

    The 2020-21 cohort and the courses they will undertake:

    • Alison Anders, Associate Professor of Geography, “GIS for Geology and Environmental Science”;
    • Kim Curtis, Adjunct Lecturer in Theatre, “Theater Design and Production”;
    • Sean Kennedy, Assistant Professor of Urban + Regional Planning, “Food and the City”;
    • Eleftheria Kontou, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, “Urban Transportation Models”;
    • Daniel Schneider, Professor of Urban + Regional Planning, “FAA 230: Sustainable Design of the Built Environment”;
    • Andrew Stillwell, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, “ECE 330: Green Electric Energy”;
    • Chiara Vincenzi, Adjunct Instructor in Art + Design, ” ARTS 321: Sustainable Fashion Development & Branding”; and
    • Andrew Wilson, Teaching Associate in Social Studies at Uni High, “World History”.

    Read more about the Fellows and their projects >>>

    The Levenick iSEE Teaching Sustainability Fellowship program consists of four elements to help the 2020-21 Fellows best incorporate sustainability into their courses:

    • a retreat for developing lesson plans, held in Spring 2020 and available via teleconference for interested instructors from other U of I campuses;
    • summer feedback from iSEE and sustainability subject matter experts;
    • a fall progress check-in; and
    • a Spring 2021 debriefing, at which time the cohort will meet the newly named 2021-22 Fellows.

  3. Weekly Update - Happy March!, Fix-a-Flat

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Happy March! Looks like it’s coming in like a lamb for a change.
    Still slow around here as far as visitors are concerned. On Friday of last week we got 7 bikes donated, all of which will be junked or passed along to Salt & Light (3 kids’ bikes). That’ll give the student staff something easy to do this week. Elsewhere: Our grinder wheel bit the dust so we’ll be all analog on filing housing and cleaning parts until that is replaced. Less electricity use = more sustainable!
    This week I’ve got an interview for a student worker, our Fix-a-Flat class on Thursday and on I’ll be setting up some of my staff to have key-access when I’m away.

    The numbers:
    Visitors: 45
    Sales: $132
    Membership: 1 for $30
    Tires/tubes: 4 for $49

     

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Manager, Campus Bike Center

  4. Participants needed: Help Illinois win the Freezer Challenge for third straight year

    Associated Project(s): 
    Freezer Challenge

    Hello 2020 researchers! 

    After winning 1st place internationally in 2018 and 2019, lab researchers who use cold-storage at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are encouraged to register in the 2020 International Laboratory Freezer Challenge to save energy and help the campus win for a third-straight year.

    Sign up HERE!

    Campus efforts in more than 70 laboratories across 15 buildings earned Illinois the award last year. The total energy usage in these spaces decreased by an estimated 438 kWh/day or a combined annual total equivalent of 13.5 homes energy for one year.

    Worldwide recognition

    The University of Illinois research community has received international recognition from a number of organizations and media publications:

    • Lab Manager Magazine, Cold Storage March 2019 Published article with participants quoted for expert advice here

    • Nature Magazine feature published in Oct. 2018 and Sept. 2019 edition 

    • S-Labs highlights our achievements in their short-listed profiles here 

    • iSEE and Facilities & Services published news releases U of I Wins Freezer Challenge 

    Labs that use ultra-ultra low temperature freezers (-150C), ultra-low temperature freezers (-80C), lab freezers (-40C to -20C), refrigerators, or cold rooms can earn points by taking action now.

    For more details on how your lab can save cooling energy, visit freezerchallenge.org. 

    The Freezer Challenge takes place between December 2019 and May 2020. Individual labs self-report and estimate their energy saving on score sheets. These sheets are made available via email upon registration and are due by May 1, 2020.

    Reductions were achieved due to the dedication and creativity of researchers across campus in implementing best practices for cold storage management. They received points for taking actions such as properly maintaining freezers and refrigerators, discarding old samples, and retiring unneeded units.

    Campus-specific highlights from the 2018 competition and 2019 competition are available on the Illinois Freezer Challenge website. 

    In 2019, over 400 labs representing 41 organizations around the world competed, and Illinois was named one of three organizational winners by saving 160,000 kWh/year. The Ming Lab in the Department of Plant Biology, managed by Julie Nguyen, was named an honorable mention winner in the individual lab category.

    The International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) and My Green Labs run the Freezer Challenge. Participants have already saved over 8.5 million kWh since 2017, approximately enough to offset the carbon emissions associated with driving over 15 million miles.

    Past winners were announced at the I2SL conference and their accomplishments published in Nature. 

     

    For more information on the Illinois campus achievements and competition, check out our Illinois-specific website: https://freezerchallengeui.wixsite.com/freezerchallenge

     

    Join us and submit your scoresheet by midnight on May 1st to achieve world-class results!

     

    For help getting started contact:

    Madeline Barone @ mbarone2@illinois.edu

     

    Madeline E. Barone, B.S.

    Environmental Sustainability and Psychology

    Energy Efficiency & Conservation Specialist | UIUC Facilities & Services

    Co-Director | Eco-Olympics

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/madelinebarone/

     

     

    Attached Files: 

  5. solar on parking estimated costs

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Power on Campus

    Good morning Morgan,

     

    I have gathered the numbers that correspond to an acre of solar cover. 

     

    The estimate is that an acre of solar canopy could generate 760,536 kWh annually (this estimate takes into account the weather patterns of our location and possible shading/system inefficiencies).  

     

    I remember you saying that right now the University pays $0.05 per kWh.  Our solar farms are charged $0.045 per kWh that they generate.  This means that $0.005 is saved for every kWh generated.  That can be used to estimate that an acre of solar canopy would save roughly $3,800 per year.  

     

    I thought that I would also include the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s estimate for what a solar retailer would charge per kWh of electricity in our area: $0.036.  This would mean that $0.014 could be saved per kWh on a solar canopy system, or roughly $10,650 per acre.  

     

    Let me know what else I can find,

     

    Ryan Day

  7. EPA SmartWay Program presented infirst-year women in engineering class

    Associated Project(s): 
    EPA SmartWay Affiliate
    ENG 177 GFX Global Sustainability Scholars

    Abby Culloton, a freshman in Civil and Environmental Engineering, put together a project proposal for the SmartWay program and presented it on February 28th. This proposal included why being an affiliate of this program would be beneficial to campus, who/ what departments across campus would be involved, proposed objectives, and other facts that needed to be considered. 

    Attached is the full proposal.

    Attached Files: 

  8. Pollinator Supportive efforts at Extension

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bee Campus USA

    East Central Illinois Master Naturalists just formed a Pollinator Taskforce. They are focused on getting more pollinator plants into the community and planning programs associated with pollinators and pollinator plants.

     

    The Extension team created some wonderful handouts that have native plant suggestions for 5 types of habitat. We have been handing those out like crazy. PDFs can be found at (https://extension.illinois.edu/cfiv/pollinator-pockets).

     

    We have the pollinator pocket program (see link above)

     

    Educational Programs held (just ECIMN, does not include programs organized by master gardener programs):

     

    March 18, 2019 – Making Pollinator Habitat Work on the Modern Landscape

    May 16, 2019 – Wildflowers

    July 15, 2019 – Champaign Prairie Areas

    July 22, 2019 – Buzz on Native Bees

    August 19, 2019 – Illinois Monarch Project

    January 27, 2020 – Native Plants in the Landscape

     

    They just had a table at the Mudpuppy festival and had information on pollinators for children

     

    The Master Gardener program in Vermilion County is mostly organic (unless something crazy happens). The Master Gardeners in Champaign put in a native pollinator garden last year at the IDEA garden on campus.

     

    In the training for MG and MN we talk about pollinators, native plants, and pest management.

  9. Info from Andy Robinson at F&S

    Associated Project(s): 
    ECE Net-Zero Energy Building
    ECE Rooftop Solar PVs
    Retrocommissioning (RCx)
    Electrical and Computer Engineering Building: LEED Platinum

    I am on the team that did the Retrocommissioning project in 2018 and I would be happy to share some of our knowledge from that process.  Below is the link to a presentation of that project that we took to a Big Ten energy conference.   Some of our main takeaways are that the combination of chilled beams, dual HX wheels, coil sizing, occupancy ventilation, and thoughtful building pressurization have led to one of the most efficient buildings on campus.  Also, the heat pumps work well to heat/cool with electricity, but would be optimal if there were more of a reheat load, or a hot water loop to send reject heat to a neighboring building in summer, which campus is looking into in certain locations. 

     

    https://www.fs.illinois.edu/services/utilities-energy/energy-conservation/rcx-energy-results

    https://webtest2.fs.illinois.edu/docs/default-source/retro/big10-friends-mechanical-energy-conference-2018-09-30.pdf?sfvrsn=7a85cbea_2

     

    Andy Robinson, LEED-AP, CEM

    DDC Specialist, F&S Energy Services - RCx

  11. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, I only worked Monday and Tuesday last week as I had a family emergency out of town. Those two days were slow. I picked up some bikes from the warehouse to keep everyone busy. Those bikes are coming along.
    This week is business as usual. I’ll look to reschedule some of the meetings I missed in my absence, pick up a couple more bikes, and box some more stuff up for our move.

    The numbers:
    Visitors: 27
    Sales: $106
    Membership: 1 for $30
    Tires/tubes: 4 for $23

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Manager, Campus Bike Center

  12. Discussion on geothermal policy options

    Associated Project(s): 
    Geothermal on Campus

    Morgan White, John Summers, Jim Sims, Matthew Tomaszewski, and Kent Reifsteck met today to discuss options for incorporating geothermal information into campus policies.  The best options are to include geothermal in the Energy Use Policy, update the Campus Administrative Manual to support the updated Energy Use Policy, and include geothermal information in the Facilities Standards. A summary of existing policies and the draft iCAP 2020 objectives linked to geothermal are shown in the attached file.

    Attached Files: 

  13. Facilities and Services will lead Dump and Run, collaboratively with YMCA and Housing

    Associated Project(s): 
    Dump and Run

    Hello everyone,

    I am happy to report that our Dump and Run site visit last Wednesday was successful! We will be using the Truck Bay at F&S for this year’s collection space, thanks to Dr. Attalla, Dave Boehm, and Pete Varney.  The address is 1501 S. Oak Street, and Mike Doyle and Marc Alexander said it will serve the collection space needs very well.  Additionally, the Zero Waste Coordinator at F&S, Shantanu Pai, will take on an active role for Dump and Run this year. 

    Our vision is to transition Dump and Run from a “YMCA-run event that campus helps” to a “campus-run event that the YMCA helps.”  Certainly this will take time (more than one year) and there are many details to work out, so please remember that the collaboration for this overall program will only be strengthened by this shift. Shantanu, Marc, and I are meeting this Wednesday, and we will provide a more detailed status update at the next team meeting on March 10. 

    If you have any questions or suggestions in the meantime, please let me know. Thanks again for all the thought and consideration that this group has put in to this program and finding workable solutions.  I’m very excited for the future of Dump and Run!

    Sincerely,

    Morgan

  15. CNG notes from Pete Varney

    Associated Project(s): 
    Develop Scenarios for Converting the UI Fleet to Renewable Fuels

    1.    Would the University be willing to convert some of their vehicle fleet to CNG? If so, how many?
    a.    The fleet is managed at the department/college level. Each unit purchases their own vehicles. F&S would be a prime entity willing to acquire CNG vehicles as part of a normal replacement cycle. Perhaps 8-12 vehicles annually.
    2.    What are the pros and cons of using CNG in campus trucks vs cars?
    a.    The use of CNG is more focused on how the vehicle is used rather than type. Most “cars” are used for travel out of the local area where CNG fueling would pose challenges. Most F&S “trucks” are exclusively used on campus where CNG fueling would be centralized
     

  16. Composting at NSRC and on campus

    Associated Project(s): 
    Compost at National Soybean Research Center (NSRC)

    This week (2/10 - 2/14) I distributed the letter to the offices in the NRSC to inform them of this composting project. We hope to collect the names and contact information in order to conduct a training and inventory how many supplies are needed. I also continued working on the composting guide for future projects. 

     

    Meredith Moore also met with Shantanu Pai, Zero Waste Coordinator, to discuss formalizing our procedures for other campus entities interested in starting composting projects. 

  17. Weekly Update - Build-a-Bike

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Business as usual last week. The Scottish dude finished his build-a-bike. He only came in, too, because his German friend did a B-a-B as well and talked it up. Nothing beats good word of mouth. He was positively giddy about the whole thing and never got discouraged or frustrated by the process. The highlight for me was bending back a canti brake boss using the hole in the end of a crescent wrench. It’s not perfect but it’s functional enough. That’d make a good motto for us.
    I’ll head to the warehouse this week to grab a few more bikes. I’ll also schedule a couple training sessions with my staff to refresh on some repair basics .

    The numbers:
    Sales: $428.50
    Bike (refurb): 1 for $180
    Bike (B-a-B): 1 for $30
    Memberships: 3 for $90
    Tires/tubes: 4 for $17

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Manager, Campus Bike Center

  20. Kent Seminar Series- Kontou

    Associated Project(s): 
    Install Public Use Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations

    The next Kent Seminar is set for Thursday, Feb. 13, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at the Illinois Center for Transportation, 1611 Titan Dr., Rantoul.  Eleftheria Kontou will present “Data-driven modeling of electric vehicle charging pricing and worth.” Pizza and soft drinks will be provided at noon. You can also watch the seminar live via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6ukx7meG90

     

    1611 Titan Drive Rantoul, IL 61866

     

    Noelle Arbulu • Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

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