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  2. suggestion for community gardens

    Associated Project(s): 
    Orchard Downs Community Gardens

    In 2013, the Student Sustainability Committee received this project suggestion: "Community gardens built on the farmlands at Orchard Downs would benefit direct participants, households, and the community. Main participants in the project would be university students, local residents, and children from an after-school program nearby. The participants would not only benefit from the food produced, but the agricultural knowledge, environmental consciousness, and community interaction associate with working on a community farm.

    The gardens will be designed in a biointensive way, meaning they will be organic agricultural plots that focus on yielding maximal produce on a small plot and maintaining the quality of the soil. The gardens may be implemented in greenhouses, hoop houses, or outdoors depending on the seasonal limitations decided upon in the final designs of the garden.

    Students can register to do volunteer work at the community garden that would be counted toward course credit. Students and their relatives can also request plot to farm on, from which they can use  the produce themselves or sell it to school organizer of the program."

    Housing Services has already established community gardens, which have been in effect since at least the 1990s.

  5. IBI team considering trailer for equipment location

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illinois Biodiesel Initiative (IBI)

    Amanda Lietz met with Stephanie Lage and Morgan Johnston to discuss the next steps for the Illinois Biodiesel Initiative (IBI).  They are looking into the possibility of purchasing an all-inclusive bioreactor trailer which would handle the entire reaction needed to change the waste vegetable oil into biodiesel and soap.  The IBI students are going to identify the exact trailer specifications they are looking for and work with F&S to identify an appropriate location for the trailer.

  6. Building Priorities

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Dashboard Project

    The ECI and SSC identified the following list as the building priorities for the metter upgrades.

    1)      Residence Halls: Allen/LAR, FAR/PAR, ISR, SDRP

    2)      Illini Union

    3)      ARC

    4)      CRCE

    5)      Siebel Center

    6)      BIF

    7)      Loomis Lab

    8)      English

    9)      Psychology

  7. InStep Licensing

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Dashboard Project

    We received the invoice for the software and license for the Energy Dashboard project through August 31. The next licensing period will be from September 1 through December 31. Beginning January 1, 2013 licensing will be on an annual track. The software for the Energy Dashboard from Instep will cost $40,000, with the discount given to the University. The annual support for the Dashboard will be $6,750.

  9. Solar Installations - preliminary list

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Power on Campus

    Facilities & Services created a list of existing and planned Solar installations on campus:

    a.       Installed:

    i.         #1206 BIF – Approx. 3,700-4,000 s.f. on a building roof.

    b.      Active:

    i.        Approx. 20”x20” panel for a fixed speed radar detector near lot E-15.

    ii.       Approx. 20”x20” panel to power lights for pedestrian crossing on Springfield Avenue.  Lights have been removed due to maintenance issues.  Panel remains.

    iii.      Approx. 20”x20” panel for a mobile speed radar detector on Lincoln Avenue.

    iv.      Approx. 20”x20” panel for an electric tractor/mower charger.  Item is off the grid.  Location?

    c.       In Planning:

    i.         #0052 KCPA

    ii.       #0409 Electrical and Computer Engineering along with #1094 NCPD

    iii.       South solar farm

    iv.       Housing

    v.        #0118 ARC - Solar Thermal

                    vi.       Residence Hall #3

                   vii.       College of Engineering discussing something at MNTL with grant funds. 

     

  11. Racquetball Court Energy Reduction Project

    Associated Project(s): 
    Occupancy and Daylight Sensors

    Twelve racquetball and three squash courts at the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) were retrofit with 193 fluorescent and 96 mercury vapor light fixtures. The project was funded by the Student Sustainability Committee through an interest-free loan of $75,000.

    Once the lighting retrofits were completed, occupancy sensors were installed in all 15 courts.

    The overall cost of the project ended up at $61,203.69 -- $13,796.31 less than the original quote. Campus Recreation requested that the remaining balance stay with the division and be used to further fund energy reduction projects within their facilities.

    The total average reduction in power consumption is 129,226 kWh. This is a 75.7 percent decrease in consumption, which translates to an annual savings of $9,020. The simple payback for this project is 6.78 years.

  13. RLF Occupancy Sensors FY12

    Associated Project(s): 
    Occupancy and Daylight Sensors

    Ten buildings on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus were selected to receive RLF funding for occupancy sensors in FY12. In order from top priority to lowest priority, the buildings that received funding are Gregory Hall, the Foreign Languages Building, the Agriculture Engineering Sciences Building, Newmark Laboratory, the Rehabilitation Education Center, the Education Building, the Law Building, the Water Survey Buildings, Noyes Laboratory, and Freer Hall. The University will now proceed to implementation of occupancy sensors in all of the above buildings.

    Gregory Hall, the Foreign Languages Building, Newmark Laboratory, the Rehabilitation Education Center, Noyes Laboratory, and Freer Hall have also been selected to receive HVAC occupancy sensors.

  14. Draft 2013 Campus Bike Plan Released for public comment

    Associated Project(s): 
    2014 Campus Bike Plan [ARCHIVED]

    The draft 2013 Campus Bike Plan is now available for public input. The draft plan will be online during a four-week period, March 4-31, and all members of the campus community are encouraged to review the plan and submit their feedback to TDM.  Feedback can be submitted through the online Campus Bicycle Feedback Form through March 31, 2013. 

  15. Registration now open for Bicycle Mechanic Course

    Associated Project(s): 
    Mechanics Classes at the Campus Bike Center

    Registration is now open for the six-week Bicycle Mechanic Course offered by the Campus Bicycle Shop! Space is extremely limited, and there is a $30 course fee.  The class will run from February 6-March 13  and again from March 27-May 1.  Register  in person for either session at the Campus Bike Shop today to reserve your spot!  For more information contact Ken Sutto, Campus Bike Shop Manager, at 217-300-0296 or kensutto@illinois.edu or come by the Campus Bike Shop during open hours (2 to 6pm Monday -Thursday and 2 to 5:30 Friday). 

     

    “So You Want to Work on Bikes” is a six-part course designed to teach you about different types of  bicycles, their components, and how to do most adjustments, maintenance, and overhauls on your bicycle’s major systems.

    This six-week course runs February 6-March 13 and will be held on Wednesday nights, from 6:30 to 8:30pm at the Campus Bike Shop. There are only five spots in the course, and registration is first come, first served until all five spots are filled. There is a $30 course fee, with all the money going towards The Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign. This six-week course will be held again from March 27-May 1, and registration for the second course is also currently open (again, first come first served).

    If you wish to register please come by the Campus Bike Shop to sign up and pay the deposit as soon as you can. For more information contact Ken Sutto, Campus Bike Shop Manager, at 217-300-0296 or kensutto@illinois.edu or come by the Campus Bike Shop during open hours (2 to 6pm Monday through Thursday and 2 to 5:30 Friday). 

  17. Campus Bicycle Feedback Form

    Associated Project(s): 
    Collect Cyclist Feedback

    F&S Transportation Demand Management (TDM) continues to improve efforts to make the Urbana campus more bicycle friendly.
    TDM’s latest initiative is a “Campus Bicycle Feedback Form” that will allow anyone to share their suggestions for bicycle-related improvements on campus.

    The feedback will help inform the Campus Bicycle Master Plan, currently under development, as well as to help determine priorities for bicycle infrastructure and programming improvements in the future. 

    Feedback topics include bike parking, rules of the road, enforcement, fix-it-stations, and the Campus Bicycle Shop. Respondents will be asked if their comments relate to a specific location on campus, to describe the situation, and then to provide contact information if a follow-up is necessary.

    See the Campus Bicycle Feedback Form at http://go.illinois.edu/bikefeedback

  18. Illinois Business Consulting report - economic analysis

    Associated Project(s): 
    Biomass co-firing pilot at Abbott Power Plant [ARCHIVED]

    The central question posed to Illinois Business Consulting (IBC) is as follows: what would be the economic impact of replacing 10% of the university’s coal intake with wood chips?  After extensive research, analysis, and calculation it is the opinion of IBC that the cogeneration of energy with coal and wood chips is not economically feasible.  The initiative has been deemed not economically feasible because wood chips are more expensive on the basis of energy content, transportation costs will increase due to biomass, and infrastructure modification expenses necessary for the operational changes are significant.

    Attached Files: 

  20. Illinois Business Consulting report - carbon impact

    Associated Project(s): 
    Biomass co-firing pilot at Abbott Power Plant [ARCHIVED]

    In 2012, F&S hired Illinois Business Consulting to evaluate the following question for Abbott Power Plant: "Can the overall carbon footprint be decreased by using 10% of biomass in place of 10% of coal?"  The report and executive summary are attached here.

    Attached Files: 

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