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  1. EGEN SWATeam Meeting (3.30.17)

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    Solar Power on Campus
    Geothermal on Campus
    Biomass Boiler at the Energy Farm
    Clean Power Agreements Off-Campus
    Carbon Capture

    The EGEN SWATeam held another bi-weekly meeting. Topics covered include:

    • Performing preliminary assessment for clean energy PPA
    • Fact sheet using solar farm as basis to estimate land needs and costs of additional solar farm to meet iCAP goal
    • Update on biomass boiler at energy farm
    • Identifying opportunities to purseu implementation of ground source heat pump (GSHP) technology on campus.
    Attached Files: 

  2. ECBS SWATeam meeting minutes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Eco-Olympics
    Green Lab Program
    Earth Week
    Illini Lights Out
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam

    On the agenda at the ECBS SWATeam meeting:

    1) Final review of Illini Lights Out (ILO) recommendation;

    2) Scott Willenbrock visiting April 14 meeting;

    3) Updates:

    - iCAP Portal.  Work of Morgan and Chenxi Jiang;

    - Earth Hour photo;

    - Eco-Olympics;

    - Green Lab Coordinator

    4) SWATeam next meeting time and date:  April 13th, from 3:30 to 5 pm. 

    Attached Files: 

  3. Water & Stormwater SWAT Meeting Minutes 3/30/2017

    Associated Project(s): 
    BIF Greywater Pipe System
    Reduce Cooling Tower and Chiller Plant Water Use
    Water Audit / Inventory
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam
    Agriculture, Land Use, Food, and Sequestration (ALUFS) SWATeam

    Updates and discussion of greywater meter, greywater design standards, cooling tower cycles of concentration, water use dashboard, and student outreach. 

    Attached Files: 

  5. iWG meeting agenda March 28, 2017

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Green Lab Program
    Topical iCAP Teams
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Agriculture, Land Use, Food, and Sequestration (ALUFS) SWATeam
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam
    2015 Illinois Climate Action Plan (2015 iCAP) [ARCHIVED]
    Sustainability Council

    see file

    Attached Files: 

  6. iWG meeting minutes March 28, 2017

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Topical iCAP Teams
    Agriculture, Land Use, Food, and Sequestration (ALUFS) SWATeam
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam
    2015 Illinois Climate Action Plan (2015 iCAP) [ARCHIVED]
    Sustainability Council
    Green Lab Program

    see file

    Attached Files: 

  7. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, the shop was closed for Spring Break, so going back two weeks to 3/13 – 3/17: Visitors totaled 60. We grossed $839.20. We sold 4 memberships for $120; one refurbished bike for $180; and one build-a-bike for $134.

    This week I will be prepping for summer staff, building bikes, organizing/cleaning, getting in touch with the new supply representative, and attempting to streamline the reporting of stolen bikes.

    Additionally, the Bike Project is hosting a bike light giveaway at Douglass Park in Champaign on Sunday (April 2nd;  2 - 5pm) that I will promote this week.

    Sincerely,

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  8. Let the games begin!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Eco-Olympics

    Hey all!

    The competition has begun! It will run until 4/17. We are close to having the live results up so you can check how your hall is doing. I'll send out a link when that is complete.

    You are competing for a catered banquet or a $200-500 prize of your choice. Start saving energy, signing people up for Eco-Olympics, and having events.

    For your convenience, I have attached the participation outline that specifies how to win points for that $200-500 prize.

    Reach out with any questions and good luck!

    Best,

    Jessica Mondello

    Eco-Olympics | Director

    Think Globally. Act Locally.

    Attached Files: 

  9. Green Labs Coordinator Recommendation - Assessment with all comments

    Associated Project(s): 
    ECBS Recommendations Summary
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Green Lab Program

    The iCAP Working Group (iWG) met on Dec 6, 2016. They supported the Green Labs Coordinator recommendation. The Assessment was completed with comments from all the iWG members on March 27, 2017. The iWG's official comment for this recommendation was:

    "The iCAP Working Group strongly supports the creation of a formal and campus-wide Green Labs program, led by a full-time coordinator and assisted by a team of student interns and a faculty advisory committee.  Many of our peer institutions have successfully implemented such programs.  Such a program is almost certain to lead to significant cost savings: for example, if the program led to the decommissioning of just 1% of our campus's 1700 fume hoods, the recurring energy savings would pay for a full-time position.  However, we anticipate that a much larger fraction (perhaps 10-20%) of hoods could be decommissioned, and there would be additional cost savings from behavior changes, freezer and refrigerator management, and other improvements.  The fiscal benefit to the campus as a whole, in addition to the sustainability benefit, is clear.  However, given current uncertainties about budgets and even budget models, it is not obvious which unit(s) stand to realize the cost savings over the long term.  We therefore suggest that this position be supported centrally, by the Office of the Provost, as a cross-cutting cost-saving strategy.  In terms of organizational placement, we suggest that the OVCR is the natural home for this program, because this office already oversees many programs related to the responsible conduct of research, including safety, compliance, and animal care.  As suggested by the SWATeam, this program could also receive communications/marketing support from iSEE staff."

    See attached the iWG assessment complete with official comments from all the iWG members.

    See SWATeam recommendation ECONS004 Green Labs Coordinator.

    Attached Files: 

  12. Water Use and Cycles of Concentration (COC) in a cooling tower

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reduce Cooling Tower and Chiller Plant Water Use
    Land and Water iCAP Team

    Below is information provided by Jeremy Overmann, B.S. Ch. E., Water Treatment Specialist, on the water use and cycles of concentration (COC) in a cooling tower, as requested after a Land and Water SWAT meeting. 

    "

    Water SWAT members,

     

    Here is some more information regarding the cooling tower discussion at today’s meeting.

     

    This first graph shows how much water a typical 100 ton Cooling Tower uses per hour, and how this changes when the tower is operated at various Cycles of Concentration (COC)

    NOTE:  a 1 ton cooling tower can remove 15,000 BTU/hr of heat.

     

    2Q==

     

    Most standard chemically treated Cooling Towers use unsoftened water and operate between 4 – 6 COC, depending on the source water quality (also called Make-Up water) and the efficacy of the chemical treatment program.

    As COC increases, the potential for formation of calcium scale (and possibly other types of scale) increases.  Scale deposits reduce the energy efficiency of the chiller and the cooling tower, and result in the need for labor intensive cleaning to remove the scale.

     

     

    The following table shows the relationship between volume of Cooling Tower blowdown (bleed), blowdown rate (% bleed), COC, and total water usage.

    Cycles of Concentration is controlled by choosing the rate of blowdown.  This is done by controlling the blowdown (bleed) valve at the bottom of the tower.

     

    COC

    BLOWDOWN

    TOTAL USAGE (Makeup)
     

    Gallons

    Percent

    Gallons

    Percent

    1.5

    10,000

    100%

    15,000

    100%

    2

    5000

    50%

    10,000

    66%

    3

    2500

    25%

    7500

    50%

    4

    1667

    17%

    6667

    44%

    5

    1250

    13%

    6250

    42%

    6

    1000

    10%

    6000

    40%

    7

    833

    8%

    5833

    39%

    8

    714

    7%

    5714

    38%

    Note: Evaporation = 5000 Gallons

     

     

     

    In a “Zero” blowdown cooling tower, softened water is used, and cycles of concentration ranges from 20 – 100 or higher.  To achieve proper water chemistry to provide corrosion protection, usually need to operate at > 20 COC. 

    During the Champaign Regional Office Building study, the highest COC achieved was 51.  The blowdown valve is turned off, however some water is lost from leaks in the tower, and from droplets of water that escape with the air that is drawn through the tower.

     

    COC

    BLOWDOWN

    TOTAL USAGE (Makeup)
     

    Gallons

    Percent

    Gallons

    Percent

    1.5

    10,000

    100%

    15,000

    100%

    5

    1250

    13%

    6250

    42%

    10

    555

    6%

    5550

    37%

    25

    208

    2%

    5208

    35%

    50

    102

    1%

    5102

    34%

    75

    66

    0.7%

    5066

    34%

    100

    51

    0.5%

    5051

    34%

    200

    25

    0.3%

    5025

    34%

    Note: Evaporation = 5000 Gallons

     

    "

     

  13. Stormwater Utility Fee overview

    Associated Project(s): 
    Rainwater Management
    Identify funding for projects without payback
    Green Infrastructure
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam

    The University pays a stormwater utility fee to both the City of Urbana and the City of Champaign.  The fee is based on total impervious area that drains into city-owned storm sewers. If stormwater drains into university-owned sewers then directly discharges to a receiving stream, there is no fee assessed.

    • The current rate for the City of Champaign is $5.24/3,478 sq ft.
    • The current rate for the City of Urbana is $5.14/3,100 sq ft.

    There are credits and incentives that the university can apply toward the stormwater utility fee. By maintaining compliance with the university’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES), the university receives a 5% credit from each city. Additionally, each city has their own Credit and Incentive Manual (attached) which provides an opportunity for the university to reduce their stormwater utility fee by reducing the impact of the runoff from their properties by methods such as installing sustainable storm water practices that allow stormwater to infiltrate into the ground. The manuals have specific guidelines on how to calculate the credits based on the particular stormwater practices that are employed.

    Attached Files: 

  14. Pricing Breaks for higher quantities

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Urbana-Champaign

    Hi Solar UC Advisory Committee,

    The Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) has accepted the Solar Urbana-Champaign Advisory Committee’s recommendation and contracted with New Prairie Construction to install solar arrays for the second round of our group buy program.  MREA and New Prairie Construction have agreed to an amended fee schedule whereby New Prairie will be providing a rebate which will be paid to program participants who sign a contract for services by August 31, 2017 according to the following schedule: $.03/watt if the program reaches 50-150 kW of total capacity; $.06/watt for 150-250 kW; $.09/watt for installed capacity in excess of 250 kW. 

    Please keep an eye on solarurbanachampaign.com as we will be announcing Solar Power Hours very soon.  Please share these event announcements through your networks and let us know of any ideas for additional public engagement.

    Thanks!

    Scott

     

    Scott R. Tess

    Environmental Sustainability Manager

    City of Urbana, IL

    P: 217-384-2381   -   F: 217-819-3167

    706 S. Glover Ave. Urbana, IL 61802

    Walk Score® – 61 out of 100

    Bike Routes – www.urbanaillinois.us/bike-urbana

    Plan Your Bus Trip – http://www.cumtd.com or 384-8188

  15. Rates of participation in Eco-Olympics by residence hall

    Associated Project(s): 
    Eco-Olympics

    Hello Eco-Olympic followers!

    It's not too late to sign up! For those who have their team up and running, I highly encourage you all to meet before spring break begins. Once we get back, the competition is on! If you let me know the time and place, I can bring shirts to hand out.

    Here is the count of participants signed up for each hall:

    Remember that each person signed up gives your one point towards the participation price! Have some tabling events to get people interested!

    Best,

    Jessica Mondello
    Eco-Olympics | Director

    Think Globally. Act Locally.

     

  17. PWR SWATeam Minutes 3/15

    Associated Project(s): 
    Use Landfills with Methane-capture Technology [ARCHIVED]
    Recycled-Content Paper Policy in CAM
    Establish a Net Zero Waste Plan and Policy
    Achieve Zero Waste

    At the PWR SWAT Team meeting on March 15th, the team debated over the message in the new Ethics Compliance Message concerning recycling standards and rules. The team decided that two videos should be created, one with base instructions for recycling, the other for explaining the commonly misunderstood paper policy. The team will look more into the paper policy draft and suggest a new paper policy for the campus. 

    Attached Files: 

  18. Sustainability interns continue work updating iCAP Portal project pages

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability iCAP Portal
    Topical iCAP Teams
    2015 Illinois Climate Action Plan (2015 iCAP) [ARCHIVED]

    CEE students Chenxi Jiang and Shuang Chen are working with Morgan Johnston to edit the iCAP Portal project pages for each iCAP objective.  Chapters 8-12 do not have SWATeams, and the background research on these chapters has been completed.  The edited project pages are scheduled to be online by the end of March.  The next step is editing the iCAP objectives for each SWATeam chapter in the iCAP.  Chenxi and Shaung will be meeting with SWATeam representatives over the next few weeks to gather information, and then the project pages will be edited to reflect the latest info.  We expect to be able to complete this before Earth Day on April 22, 2017.

  20. South Campus Afforestation Recommendation - Assessment with comments

    Associated Project(s): 
    ALUFS Recommendations Summary
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Increase Agroforestry on Campus [ARCHIVED]

    The iCAP Working Group (iWG) met on Feb 16, 2017. They supported the South Campus Afforestation recommendation. Their official comments for this recommendation was:

    "The iCAP includes an objective to add 50 acres of trees on campus, and this SWATeam recommendation suggests one potential location. The iWG suggests the College of ACES work with the Campus Master Planning committee to identify appropriate locations for additional trees. Another option to consider is parallel to the Embarras River."

    See attached the iWG assessment complete with comments from all the iWG members.

    See ALUFS003 South Campus Afforestation Recommendation

    Attached Files: 

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