The Energy iCAP Team Met on 2/27/23 to discuss the progress of submitted recommendations and develop new recommendations.
Watch the recording here: https://mediaspace.illinois.edu/media/t/1_klua4vf2
The Energy iCAP Team met on January 30th, 2023 to discuss recommendations on building energy efficiency and revitalizing the energy scholars council at UIUC.
Link to meeting recording https://mediaspace.illinois.edu/media/t/1_2dwlpz7l
Project Description
The Illini Energy Dashboard provides clearly visible understandable information data and information to students and staff of selected University buildings describing energy consumption rate (electrical, chilled water and steam) so that users can make educated choices about the way they can affect energy consumption and conservation. The biggest challenge in successfully creating a campus-wide goal of energy reduction is being able to evoke a behavioral change resulting in energy conservation and sustainability efforts. This project aims to achieve such a change by showing energy consumers at the University how they're consuming energy in a clear way.
The Energy Dashboard Project is a multi-part project that includes implementation of a website, connection of existing real-time energy meters, and installations of additional real-time energy meters throughout campus. With support from the Student Sustainability Committee, this project funded the purchase of the website module for the campus' energy data historian program, through Insight. F&S staff oversaw the implementation of the module, and ECI staff developed the look and reference content of the site. The website went live in early 2012, and existing real-time meters have been connected. At this time, additional metering is underway.
Project Background
The conversion factors used in the dashboard display are:
Previous Related File is attached
A file containing information regarding the 2022 Campus Wide Space Survey is attached below.
The Energy iCAP team met at 9:00 A.M. on Wednesday, January 26th and discussed updates on recommendation ideas as well as agreed to move forward with the submission of two recommendations to the iCAP Working Group. Progress is currently being made on a feasibility study of CO2 District Heating and Cooling which will be undertaken by a group of engineering students during the Spring Semester, and progress on a new recommendation for Building Envelope Commissioning will take place.
The Team also agreed to move forward with a recommendation that the Office of the Chancellor commission a report on the Safety and Security of a proposed MMR Nuclear Reactor on campus property as well as another recommendation that would seek to charge Facilities & Services with developing a comprehensive energy plan that will bring the University to net-zero emissions by 2050.
Further Details on the meeting can be found in the attached agenda which also contains meeting minutes.
“In summary, there will be 2 slides taking turns to be displayed on the digital screen in CIF. The first slide is primarily composed of the 3D GSHP system schematic (Ground loops, heat pump and building) and the key parameters & features. The second slide shows the results from building energy modeling, including annual outdoor temperature variations, heating/cooing loads and other energy consumptions. This may [help] visualize the impact of CIF geothermal and give public a better understanding on the renewable resources.”
-John Zhao (11/14/2022)
PhD. Candidate
Research Assistant
Agricultural & Biological Engineering
Research field: Ground Source HVAC System/Subsurface Heat Transfer
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Energy iCAP team combined its November and December meetings for the fall of 2021 into a single "Winter Meeting" This meeting was used to discuss 12 different recommendation ideas, a select amount of which will be developed into recommendations in the near future.
Additionally, the team discussed a short note to the iCAP Working Group asking that the Comprehensive Energy Plan not have its name changed to '"lean Energy Plan"
Notes from the meeting are attached.
After discussions with Michael McKelvey at MSTE and Aaron Mason and Ian Bonadeo at Hawkeye Energy Solutions, since Morgan White put them in contact back in April, the ECE building’s energy dashboards are now available without requiring a login and via domain name rather than IP address! Here are the dashboards:
ECE Building – Energy Dashboard
ECE Building – Net Zero Energy Dashboard
You can view the listing of dashboards currently available at the U of I Building Energy Dashboard Home Page.
Joyce Mast is working with Patricia Franke to refine the ECE energy displays to include the effect of local weather on the solar panels. F&S Utilities and Energy Services is connecting Joyce with the contact people at Hawkeye Energy Solutions, who incorporated real-time energy data in the ECE energy dashboard, using campus data provided by F&S.
From: McKelvey, Michael L
Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2021 10:10 AM
To: White, Morgan
Subject: ECE building energy dashboards
Hi Morgan,
You may already be aware of this, but I wanted to let you know that, after corresponding with Aaron Mason and Ian Bonadeo at Hawkeye Energy Solutions since you put us in contact back in April, the ECE building’s energy dashboards are now available without requiring a login and via domain name rather than IP address! Here are the dashboards:
ECE Building – Energy Dashboard
ECE Building – Net Zero Energy Dashboard
You can view the listing of dashboards currently available at the U of I Building Energy Dashboard Home Page.
They’re now ready to be linked from the appropriate iCAP Portal entries!
--Michael--
============== Michael McKelvey ===============
Office for Mathematics, Science, & Technology Education
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
(217) 244-7148
============ mmckelve at illinois.edu ============
Did you know Illinois has the highest percentage of Pre-World War II academic facilities in the Big Ten? This, of course, provides students, faculty, and staff with a sense of history, place, and uncommon beauty while considering the campus.
On the other hand, older buildings require more and detailed maintenance in order to satisfy up-to-date code compliance and hit notable programmatic needs for students, faculty, and staff.
Additionally, design that fits with the pre-war era of the building’s birth is important to maintain a cohesive architectural look for the campus. Assets are managed through different funding sources, including the Academic Facilities Maintenance Fund Assessment (AFMFA), an ongoing fee assessed each semester to students, and the Deferred Maintenance Program. The F&S Asset Management Plan 2021-2025 “illustrate[s] the number of aging facilities… provide[s] definition of the Facility Condition Index, review[s] how deferred maintenance has been tracked historically, and illustrate[s] current funding strategies for addressing asset management at Illinois for the next 5 years,” it reads.
The university plans to renew aging infrastructure through programs like the Academic Facilities Maintenance Fund Assessment, means to ensure building renovations are done to deferred maintenance projects.
This project was previously named "Maintain or Reduce Gross Square Footage" and referred to as "Net-Zero Space."
Joyce Mast met with MSTE and F&S contacts today to brainstorm ideas for energy and atmospheric data to be displayed in the ECE lobby on the digital touch screen.
During a conversation between U of I staff across multiple departments, the following resources were compiled to brainstorm content for the display and kiosks in the ECE lobby:
Objectively, everyone knows you should conserve energy resources, but it is easy to lose track of that goal in the hundreds of other things our brains need to think about each day. One way to encourage people to be more cognizant is to give them a tangible reminder. The local electric company, for example, sometimes send a reminder notice that tells you how well you’re doing with energy consumption compared to other homes the size of yours in the area. In a similar idea, F&S has developed an improved energy dashboard that will be used in campus facilities. Beginning with the Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) Building, Energy Dashboards will be deployed to show the utility use for a specific building. It will also show if that use is above or below average for the last 30 days or one year. The dashboard appears in the rotation of the ECE digital signage in the lobby of the building. The plan is to expand it to other buildings to help promote energy awareness and conservation on campus.
The Energy iCAP Team met on April 14th, 2021 with Brian Bundren, a member of the Illinois Space Advisory Committee, about to learn more about how campus space can be managed more efficiently as a way to reduce energy consumption. The University moving from hybrid learning to more in-person instruction and the new IVCB budget model that assigns bills individual colleges for their energy use will have significant impacts on space usage. The team also discussed our recommendation for Green Labs, or ways to integrate sustainability in research labs and reduce their energy consumption. We will also be moving forward with recommending an Energy Planning document to outline steps towards carbon neutrality by 2050.
Meeting minutes and agenda are attached!
The Energy iCAP Team met on March 10th, 2021 to discuss next steps on a recommendation for a Comprehensive Energy Master Plan after F&S has published their Energy Management Plan that aims for a 50% reduction in energy utilization by 2026. The team also discussed recommendations for a Green Labs Program and ways to manage space usage on campus. Given how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed in-person activites and created a hybrid workforce, the team believes it will be important to study underused spaces on campus to reduce building-level energy use.
Meeting minutes, agenda, and chat log are attached!
As of March 01, 2021, many small edits and content ideas were suggested for ECEB-related project pages on the iCAP Portal. These suggestions to update the pages were provided by Joyce Mast and include the following:
On February 28, 2021, Catherine Somers sent out an email to Professors Bruce Hajek and Philip Krein regarding the ECE lobby displays. As written in the exciting email:
"I have a bit of good news! The Student Sustainability Committee-funded lobby display which will eventually have interactive features to encourage energy savings, is taking shape. The kiosks and the touchscreen panel are installed and rotating informational slides. Joyce Mast continues to make excellent progress on the real-time display of solar energy production." -Catherine Somers
This approval follows suit after the Mast's submitted application for SSC funding for the lobby displays. In Step 2 of the funding application, $30,000 was requested from the SSC for "Electrical and Computer Engineering Building (ECEB) Interactive, Energy Education/Production/Use Display."
See the attached file to view the SSC funding application.
The Energy iCAP Team had a meeting on Feb. 10th where student member, Brinn McDowell, shared a presentation on calculated energy savings from green lab protocols that could greatly contribute towards energy conservation efforts. Updates were give on the Building Envelope Pilot Project, which is anticipated to start in March with several Energy iCAP Team students participating. Among other topics of discussion were ways to enforce compliance with state energy standards, to cooperate with student leaders across the Engineering, Architecture, and Design disciplines, and to condition vacated spaces in a time of distance-learning and -working. The agenda, meeting minutes, and chat log are attached below!
