The new Electrical and Computer Engineering building (New ECE building) will be operational starting the fall semester of 2014, and will be a unique green building on the University of Illinois campus. It is designed to be the most energy efficient engineering building in the world and is targeting LEED platinum certification, the highest rating for efficiency. With the full planned solar energy complement, the building is projected to achieve net zero energy status. The facility will be one of the two largest net-zero energy buildings in the United States. It will be a facility that supports all its own energy needs – on average over each year – leaving no carbon or fossil consumption footprint. Although the ECE building design itself is intended to achieve LEED Platinum certification, the energy objectives go far beyond this rating to true energy sustainability.

Energy shade curtains have many benefits for greenhouses including optimization of natural light reaching the crop canopy and reductions in heating inputs and electricity for cooling equipment and lighting. This is the 3rd phase of funding provided to the Plant Care Facility (Turner Hall Greenhouses) for curtain installation and programming, and 7 additional curtains were installed at a total cost of $71,000. Meters installed in rooms with and without curtains continue to track energy savings, and have shown an overall 50% heating use reduction, 30% electricity use reduction, and 30% water use reduction (for cooling) during fall and winter months.

This project involves purchasing and installing a biomass boiler at the Energy Farm, in order to heat a research greenhouse using Miscanthus that is grown on the Energy Farm. The hope for the project is that a successful pilot will pave the way toward expanded use of biomass heating on our campus in order to reduce our campus greenhouse gas emissions.

The Nitrile Glove Recycling Program is an expansion of a preliminary pilot program performed by the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC). The initial pilot program collected gloves used in the laboratory setting in one central location. Gloves were collected from individual ISTC laboratories once a week into a larger collection container, and were stockpiled until there was sufficient volume to ship to the supplier. This project expands the pilot test to several more buildings on campus as a stepping stone to eventually serving the entire campus.

In 2011, students at faculty from the University of Illinois develop the Re_Home for the Solar Decathlon Competition. As a result of a new landscaping and beautification plan, the Re_Home has found a permanent place on campus. In maintaining a “sustainability ideology”, the landscaping plans for this project are geared toward sustainability with the use of native, low maintenance plants as well as vegetables, edible herbs, and fruit trees. The Re_Home is an exemplary embodiment of sustainability and its permanent home will serve as a showcase in sustainability education.

Student Aircraft Builders (SAB) is an organization dedicated to teaching students from all across campus how to work together as a team to successfully construct a flyable airplane. The goal of the Composites in Aviation project has two phases. The first phase constructs a quarter scale glider powered by alternative energy. The second phase graduates from a model to a full-sized glider. Through the use of composite materials and an innovate design from an aerospace engineer, the finished glider will exemplify the future of more fuel-efficient long-range flight.

The Solar Powered Cook Stoves project is an innovative effort to implement cook stoves powered by solar energy. The stoves associated with this project will utilize innovative new technology to overcome some of the key limitations of current solar cooking. Specifically, they will offer high-temperature cooking and grilling while in use while also storing energy for cooking at night or during other periods of reduced sunlight. Once completed, these stoves will provide a clean source for cooking and grilling that does not use fire, gas, wood, or charcoal.