Hello Ofelia,

It would be great if you would do some research into the most effective conservation tips, and select the best based on that research.  However, if you do not have time, I would like to see these three: turn your computers off at night, consolidate coffee makers and mini-fridges, and as always turn off the lights.

Thanks,

Morgan

-----Original Message-----

From: Ofelia Rodriguez

Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2014 5:33 PM

To: Johnston, Morgan B

Subject: Illini Energy Website

Hello Morgan,

I am working on the Illini Energy website and am in charge of having energy saving tips. I wanted to ask for your opinion on what type of information would be useful or would be best to have on the website. We have a long list of energy saving tips, but wanted to focus on top 3 tips to put not the website.

Look forward to hearing from you!

Best,

Ofelia Rodriguez

ECO OLYMPICS
University of Illinois
Energy Conservation Competition
Think Globally....Act Locally!

ECO-OLYMPICS is an energy competition between 20+ residence halls on campus. 

Our goal is to engage, educate, and motivate students/employees/professors to change their behavior, and have a good time while doing it.

Eco-Olympics is part of a nationwide program called Campus Conservation Nationals 2014, as well as a mini Big Ten competition FMI: www.competetoreduce.org/ccn.  Trophies and prizes will be given to the successful halls.

What you can do to help:

• We need Building captains to organize a team of students to educate, promote, market, and motivate their residence hall.
• Each team will post flyers, hold meetings and create their own winning strategy designed to gain participation throughout the competition and save electricity.
• Register and put your team together (all team members need to register )
• Compete for coveted trophy and prizes 
• Make a difference in the world creating behavioral change for a better future.

You and your team members play a critical role in this incredible opportunity to make a difference in campus energy usage. 

This is the inaugural competition, so we will be creating a yearly tradition to leave behind and impact future students here at UIUC. The participants will also be able to include this on their resume as leadership, volunteering, team building and/or group participation. 

There will be meetings in March leading up to the competition that is scheduled for March 30-April 22, these meetings will train participants, go over the guidelines, and assign buildings to each team.

Thank you for your interest and participation in Eco Olympics, a Great opportunity making a difference locally and globally.

If you have any question I can be reached at gfoote2@illinois.edu

Competition Director

Paul Foote

Business students worked on a fictitious energy dashboard company and created the attached marketing plan.  This document includes insight about potential behavior change strategies for the campus.

See revised drafts.

Saving energy pays off for Christopher Hall

Clayton Glazik 3/5/2014

Since we were little our parents have told us to turn off the lights after we leave a room. That is just what the Christopher Hall residents at the University of Illinois did in 2013. By shutting the lights off in rooms not in use, switching their lights to compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, as well as other sustainable practices, the building was able to cut back its energy usage by 30.6% from the previous year.

The campus Facilities & Services (F&S) hosted a reception at Christopher Hall on February 14 to celebrate the building’s accomplishment in the F&S Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP). A campus-wide sustainability effort, ECIP provides building upgrades to facilities that produce top energy conservation results in energy advancement and occupant action categories. ECIP calculates how much money the buildings are saving in energy reduction and gives it back to the building to pay for upgrades.

Christopher Hall, which houses the Family Resiliency Center (FRC), the Autism Program (TAP), several classrooms, faculty and staff offices, and a family research home, saved nearly $22,000. According to FRC Director Barbara Fiese, a building committee recommended investing the funds in a bike rack since so many people cycle to work, as well as other items that can further reduce energy usage.

In 2010, the University of Illinois published a climate action plan that set aggressive timeliness for reducing energy consumption on campus. Currently, there are more than 300 such active projects, which can be tracked at http://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/projects.

“At the end of the day, if we really want to meet ICAP goals, we have to do more,” says Al Stratman, F&S executive director. “That is why we came up with ECIP, which mirrors the campus goals.”

At the award ceremony, faculty and students pledged to continue reducing energy in their lifestyles by taking public transportation, using natural light in their offices rather than electricity, and shopping more at local food markets instead of commercial grocery stores. With their current sustainable practices and these recent pledges, Christopher Hall will continue slashing their energy consumption, making the Illinois campus a greener place.

(from Family Resiliency Center news http://illinois.edu/lb/article/3493/82438)

Wednesday night marked the first ever involvement with RecycleMania on this campus, and our Illini basketball team were not the only winners that evening.  The event at the Illini-Nebraska basketball game was successful for all involved.  Over 100 student volunteers partnered with various campus organizations and departments to raise awareness about reducing our environmental impact, and to help divert recyclable materials from landfills. Our first attempt, encouraged by the competitive atmosphere of the game, enabled us to divert 31.5% of the waste from landfills. 

By weighing all of the event’s trash and recycling, a baseline data point was established and areas for improvement were identified.  While Illinois' ranking in the national RecycleMania competition won't be known until after March 30, the impact made on the community left many participants feeling like they made a difference and that our Basketball team were not the only winners that evening. 

If you have any questions contact Bart Bartels at bbartel@illinois.edu.

This draft report was prepared by Associate Director for Campus Sustainabilty Ben McCall at iSEE, and comments were provided by Morgan White from F&S.