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Projects Updates for key objective: No name

  1. Indoor Air Quality info

    Associated Project(s): 
    Building-Level Energy Efficiency

    The Radiation Safety Section of the Division of Research Safety addresses all matters relating to radiation safety on the campus.

    About campus radon policies, our approach is to use the EPA action levels as the standard for radon exposure. We do not have an ongoing testing program on campus, but when the issue was first raised many years ago there was a comprehensive testing program in campus buildings and they showed low radon levels. - David Scherer, Associate Director of the Radiation Section at the Division of Research Safety

  3. Notice to selected buildings

    Associated Project(s): 
    Waste Stream Characterization Study Phase 1

    From: "Rients, Seth M" <rients@illinois.edu> Date: November 4, 2013 at 2:13:15 PM  Cc: "Johnston, Morgan B" <mbjohnst@illinois.edu>, "Osby, Tracy L" <tosby@illinois.edu>, "Jacobson, Debra F" <djacobso@illinois.edu> Subject: Building Waste Stream Characterization                   I am pleased to announce that your building has been selected by Facilities and Services to be one of the four buildings in a pilot waste stream characterization study for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This study is designed in support of the campus wide Zero Waste policy which aims to increase the waste diversion rate to 75% by the year 2020. Facilities and Services has partnered with the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC), a unit of the Prairie Research Institute at U of I, to perform this waste stream characterization study.                   ISTC will begin examining solid waste outflows from your building during the week of November 11th, for a period of one week. During this time all discarded materials from your building will be collected, sorted, weighed, and documented in an effort to create a baseline measurement for waste diversion activities. The first step in this process is to have a kickoff meeting at your facility so we can discuss in person any thoughts, cares, concerns, or questions that you may have. We would like to schedule a meeting for this Thursday, November 7th at 2 pm. This meeting shouldn’t last more than 30 minutes. Attached to this sheet you will find some questions and answers that have been previously asked of ISTC.   Thank you for your time,   Seth Rients, PSM Project Manager for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign waste characterization study Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (217) – 300 – 4494  

  4. F&S electronics shutdown policy

    Associated Project(s): 
    Update and Enforce Campus Computer Policy
    • Electronic Devices Shutdown Policy – Effective Immediately

    As an energy conservation method, F&S is implementing a policy for all individuals to turn off any electronic devices in your office before leaving for the day.  This includes desktop computers, printers, monitors, etc.  Be advised that when you reboot your computer and a patch or update is waiting, it will load and may request a system reboot.  This policy does not include mission critical systems.

  5. FY13 ECIP Award Winners Announced

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP)

    Energy Advancement Category

    1. Atmospheric Sciences Building            53.3%
    2. Spurlock Museum                                      44.5%
    3. Main Library                                                 43.1%
    4. Grainger Engineering Libra                    41.3%

    Occupant Action Category

    1. Undergraduate Library                            35.2%
    2. Law Building                                                  35.1%
    3. Christopher Hall                                          30.6%
    4. Henry Administration Building             28.4%

  6. Approval to hire Zero Waste Coordinator

    Associated Project(s): 
    Establish a Net Zero Waste Plan and Policy

    The Executive Director of Facilities and Services approved hiring a Zero Waste Coordinator today.  This will be a half-time academic hourly position, working with Tracy Osby at the Waste Transfer Station and Morgan Johnston in Sustainability.  The candidate has been selected, and the job description is attached here.

    Attached Files: 

  7. Explanation of calculations

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP)

    We take total energy usage by building (electricity, Steam, Nat Gas and Chilled Water) convert all of those to one common unit, MMBTU (million British Thermal Units) and after adjusting for the weather differences between years, compare each building's annual usage with the year before.  We then convert the change into a percentage and then rank all eligible buildings by percentage saved.  The top four in each category win first through fourth.     Having won in FY13 does not disqualify you from winning in the future.  The goal is to encourage individual contributions to saving energy.   Mike Marquissee

  8. Agriculture Bioprocess Lab

    Associated Project(s): 
    Lighting Retrofit #5 [ARCHIVED]

    As part of the Lighting Retrofit #5, 436 T-12 fixtures in the Agriculture Bioprocess Lab were replaced with more energy-efficient T-8 fixtures. This switch will incur an Annual kWh Savings of 68,289 hours. The simple payback for this project is 3.62 years.

  9. Videos

    Associated Project(s): 
    Install Solar PVs on NCPD [ARCHIVED]

    We are pleased to provide the two animated files discussed at yesterday’s final presentation of the N. Campus Parking Deck Solar Array Conceptualization:

    • Hanno Weber’s ramp-up animation
    • Time lapse showing the construction of a parking garage solar installation

    Please click the following link to access these two items, and feel free to forward the link to colleagues who would be interested but were not at Thursday’s meeting.     https://pepractice.box.com/s/suegtnts53iasbhvvohp

  12. data about our avoided electrical costs

    Associated Project(s): 
    Use Clean Power

    To really understand the cost avoidance from clean energy, campus needs to compare the renewable electricity costs to the specific costs for buying electricity from the grid.  To do that we need to know that AMIL.peic is the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign MISO Node.

  13. Meeting with Madhu's team, Morgan, and Mike

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Dashboard Project

    Mike Marquissee and Morgan Johnston met with Madhu Viswanathan's team. The students were Doug, Julie, Ophelia, Tim, Colin. Colin is the point person and James scholar.

    They said their goal is to raise awareness with students about the power going to buildings and how we could be more efficient and more sustainable.  They have gathered feedback from some students about the current website (illinienergy.illinois.edu).

    Mike explained that Illinois has had a successful conservation program.  We have hit all the low hanging fruit, including retro commissioning, tightened facility standards, building controls replacements, and better monitoring.  We have already reaped the benefit of those major projects. Next phase is to identify and find ways to influence behvaior change...  How can we make people aware and how can we make people commit to... Get them behind our goals and use the tools?

    Deliverable from Madhu's team would be a website, a display app, and a business plan for implementing the dashboard. First, just getting a website to try it out.  More accessible and understanding.  Tips on how it works.

    The students will learn by doing.  Also a display going in Wohlers or BIF.  Mike brought examples of three versions of similar websites.  Arizona State University uses Lucid and they have an extra section that shows what can be done to reduce energy in a bedroom or an office.  Penn State uses Excelsius and runs their dashboard in flash... It has dials, et cetera.

    Our website uses Html5, soap commands, scrape websites.  F&S can provide the source code for our dashboard to access the source data.  Mike's team hasn't tried it yet, but they know the data is accessible.  Tim and Mike can work together to get the data.

    Morgan noted that the audience needs to include faculty and staff, not just students. Madhu agreed.  They are just starting with the students.

    Doug asked what sort of information should be included on a poster. Morgan said that the Energy Liaison presentations would be good starting points.  They are on the iCAP Portal, which the students had not yet seen.

    The website design has multiple options, which the team will evaluate and suggest best layouts.  Also, the physical display itself will be considered. BIF has a proprietary display. Also the campus has digital signage options. Typically it is a continuous display, rather than interactive.  Mike said F&Sdoes not have the data set up to push it out, but we can give access for it to be pulled out.

    Todd Sweet from the College of Business communications office joined us.  They are looking into developing mobile apps for the college.  One could be an App about energy consumption in BIF and such.  Students are looking at how the website can be designed.  Also what would the display potentially have?  

     

     

  14. Illinois joins EPA's SmartWay Transport Partnership

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reduce Emissions from Transportation

    The University of Illinois recently became the first academic institution to join the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay Transport Partnership.  "As the first-ever academic institution to register in SmartWay, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign leads the way for universities and other institutions to work as shippers in SmartWay and engage with their carriers and suppliers to improve freight efficiency, reduce greenhouse gases and other emissions from goods movement while also helping enhance our nation's energy security,” said Christopher Grundler, director of EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality.

  15. Composting at Espresso

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reduce Foodwaste

    From: Johnston, Morgan B
    Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2013 9:22 AM
    To: Fee, Casey A
    Cc: Mueller-Soppart, Marlon Anthony; Jones, Maria
    Subject: RE: Expresso Green Team

    Hi Casey and Marlon,

    How is this going?  Are you having some success?  I added Maria Jones to this email list, since she is the SSC Food and Waste Working Group chair.  The SSC could not allocate funds to Espresso, but there may be other opportunities for collaboration.  Of course, Marlon could bring that up as well.

    Thanks!

    Morgan

    From: Casey Fee [mailto:fee2@illinois.edu]
    Sent: Monday, September 09, 2013 8:15 PM
    To: Johnston, Morgan B
    Subject: Re: Expresso Green Team

    Hi Morgan,

    Thanks for contacting us, we're currently figuring out logistics and we will be communicating with the haulers you suggested. We just had a meeting with an Expresso Royale employee and we are going to get measurements about how much compost they produce a day, which we want before contacting the haulers. After that, we will definitely be contacting you again. 

    Thanks again,

    Marlon and Casey

    On Mon, Sep 2, 2013 at 7:08 PM, Johnston, Morgan B <mbjohnst@illinois.edu> wrote:

    Hi Casey and Marlon,

    This is the Espresso at Goodwin and Oregon, right? They have no direct connection to the UI, so it would make sense to give the compost to a local group rather than a campus group. (Also, the SSC recently funded vermicomposting at the Sustainable Student Farm, so they shouldn't need additional compost.)

    I think that a community garden could benefit from the compost. They may even be able to host the "compost pile." Here are a few I know of in the community:

    http://urbanaillinois.us/posts/2012/08/lierman-neighborhood-community-garden

    http://www.urbanaparks.org/facilities/34.html

    http://www.cu-garden.com/

    http://cufitfamilies.blogspot.com/2010/04/n-first-street-prosperity-garden-cared.html?m=1

    http://randolphcommunitygarden.com/

    http://prosperitygardens.org/

    I grabbed these from a quick web search, and I found more than I expected. Perhaps you could reach out to all of them. If you have trouble hearing back from anyone, let me know and I can make a couple calls. 

    Thanks, and best wishes!

    Morgan


    Sent from my mobile device


    On Sep 2, 2013, at 3:44 PM, "Casey Fee" <fee2@illinois.edu> wrote:

    Hi Morgan,

    During the Friday meet and greet we, Marlon and I, discussed the prospects of getting Expresso to compost. We were wondering if you could put us in contact with people who might be interested in picking up and using the compost. 

    Thanks,

    Casey and Marlon

    --

    Casey Fee

    University of Illinois | Class of 2015

    Chemical Engineering

    Illini 4000 Portrait's Director

     

  16. RSO interested in reducing their food waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reduce Foodwaste

    From: Johnston, Morgan B
    Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2013 9:18 AM
    To: Bressler, Jonathan Louis; Pickert, Diane A
    Cc: Jones, Maria
    Subject: RE: Food Reduction Recommendations

    Hi Diane and Jonathan,

    Were you able to meet and find a solution for the food waste from Tikkun Chambana?  The Student Sustainability Committee has a new working group chair for Food and Waste.  Her name is Maria Jones, and she is copied here.

    Thanks,

    Morgan

    From: Aubrey, Dawn
    Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 1:35 PM
    To: Johnston, Morgan B; Bressler, Jonathan Louis
    Cc: Webb, Olivia Ashley; Pickert, Diane A
    Subject: RE: Food Reduction Recommendations

    Good Afternoon, Jonathan:

    Please contact Diane Pickert at 244-5800 to schedule a time to discuss food  waste reductions. I will not be available until later next week.

    Thank you,

    Dawn

    Dawn Aubrey, Ph.D., MBA, FMP, CEC, CCA
    Associate Director of Housing for Dining Services                                               
    University of Illinois
    407 Clark Hall
    1203 South Fourth Street
    Champaign, Illinois 61820
    Office Direct: 217-244-2997

    From: Johnston, Morgan B
    Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 12:08 PM
    To: Bressler, Jonathan Louis
    Cc: Webb, Olivia Ashley; Aubrey, Dawn
    Subject: Re: Food Reduction Recommendations

    Hello Jonathan,

    Thanks for reaching out. This looks like an important initiative. 

    There is a team working on vermicomposting at the Sustainable Student Farm this fall, with funding from the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC). I've copied the SSC contact from last year for that project, Olivia Webb, here. 

    I believe she can help you in your efforts. I'd love to be kept informed about what you are doing, so please include me in any meetings you have. We can also reach out to Housing to talk with you about possible strategies. I have copied Dawn Aubrey so she can tell us who to meet with from her team. 

    Thanks,

    Morgan

    Sent from my mobile device


    On Aug 27, 2013, at 11:47 AM, "Jonathan Bressler" <bressle1@illinois.edu> wrote:

    Dear Morgan Johnston, 

    Hello, my name is Jonathan Bressler, and I am the president of Tikkun Chambana, a Jewish environmental RSO.  

    We are trying to reduce food waste, as we have many larger scale food events, and was wondering if you could give us some recommedations on what we could do or if we could somehow piggyback onto what Facilities and Management are doing.  I have looked into a few things of the university and found out about the EnviroPure Food Waste Disposal Systems, but these seem very expensive and well beyond our funding capacity,

    Thank you,

    --
    Jonathan Bressler

    Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences 2014

    College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences

    University of Illinois

  18. Allen Hall cardboard box recycling drive

    Associated Project(s): 
    Increase Recycling Rates

    My name is Max Colon, and I am a Resident Advisor in Allen Hall that works with a sustainability group to try and keep Allen green. Every year, we hold a recycling box drive where our organization hands out cardboard recycling boxes that have been given to us by Housing. I have a attached a photo of one of these boxes for identification purposes. I am wondering if it is possible for you to help me figure out who in Housing should be contacted in order to continue this tradition. Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated! - Max

    We had the boxes over 10 years and we have depleted all supplies last year. Sorry- Vonne Ortiz

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