You are here

Projects Updates for key objective: No name

  1. UIUC student carbon footprint questions

    Associated Project(s): 
    Internal price on carbon [ARCHIVED]

    Hi Mr. Helmink,

     

    My name is Kendall O'Keefe and I am a freshman at UIUC. I am a journalism major, and for one of my final projects for my reporting class we were instructed to write a series of three stories that have to do with a specific category. My category is history, and my final story is about how we preserve historic buildings on campus and what that mainly entails. I am focusing on the differences between Lincoln Hall, Altgeld Hall, the CIF, and the ECE. I emailed Robert Roman with some questions about energy sources in new buildings compared to older buildings, and he copied you on his response saying that you would have more information for me. If you saw that, I would love to email you a couple questions about energy/conservation in new buildings compared to older ones, and what changes are often made to historical buildings in order to make the energy there more preserved/sustainable. Let me know if this is possible, thank you so much!

     

    Kendall O'Keefe

    Journalism 

    -------------------

    Kendall,

     

    Please send your questions in.  Paul, I’ll want your help on this one.

     

     

    Thanks,

     

    karl

    -------------------

    Here are my questions:

     

    How is energy conservation/sustainability in new buildings different from older ones?

     

    New buildings typically have a much more inclusive portfolio of temperature control systems.  We can see all of the room temperatures and systems remotely from our command center.  Older buildings likely have aged pneumatic control systems with no remote visibility on whether these systems are working or not. We also typically have occupancy sensors in the newer buildings and we can tell how often a room is occupied or not and the HVAC system adjusts accordingly. Data trending is very important on the newer systems so we can see temperature trends over time and as well as airflow rates etc.   Lots of data to manage and store in computer servers.  The newer buildings are built to LEED, ASHRAE, and campus energy standards.  These have not always been around.

    The building infrastructure and systems may be different as Karl pointed out, but energy conservation and sustainability are pursued the same across campus.

    Noteworthy are heating and cooling methods have evolved to include heat recovery systems and chilled-beams for cooling.

     

    What changes are often made to historical buildings in order to make the energy there more preserved/sustainable?

     

    I’d  say that typically more insulation needs to be added to the walls and roof areas.  The R values in the wall of old buildings is astounding low. New windows get considered.  Steam systems get retired. More hot water is used.  The mechanical systems of the 1960’s thru 80’s are pretty inefficient.  We typically see energy reductions of 50% plus in these buildings.  We have a billion dollars of deferred maintenance on campus, there probably is not nearly enough money coming in fast enough to make upgrades.  Interestingly some of the older buildings with steam radiators and window air A/C units are some of the most efficient  buildings on campus.  People tend to shut off the window a/c units.

    We are also working to incorporate clean energy systems in new building designs which helps with LEED and leaning toward net-zero such as in the ECE building.

     

    I also would like to know how energy is managed in places like Altgeld and Lincoln compared to the CIF and ECE.

     

    Not a lot different.   There is utility metering on each campus building that measures water, chilled water, steam condensate, electricity, and sometimes natural gas and hot water where needed.  The monthly data is reviewed and exceedingly low and high energy usage numbers are checked.  The CIF project is not out of the warranty phase yet I don’t believe. The project is still making adjustments up there, so this one is different, so far.

     

    As Karl mentioned previously, technology makes it easier to monitor the new/upgraded systems and therefore we have more visibility when part of the system deviates from the setpoints or optimized building parameters. This helps catch maintenance items before they become costly problems or require more resources to resolve.


    Thank you so much, I really appreciate your time!

     

    Kendall O'Keefe

    -----------------------------

    FYI  I’ll let Paul add to this as he sees fit.

     

     

    Thanks,

     

    Karl

    -----------------------------

    Hello Kendall,

     

    Let me start off by pointing out the obvious, but often overlooked!

    Today’s lifestyle demands peak comfortability, access to the latest and greatest technology, and everyone wanting to be connected to everything worldwide instantly.

    This statement alone drives intense energy consumption and often from antiquated inefficient systems.

     

    With that understanding at hand, the older buildings were not designed to accommodate the requirements of newer technology and mechanical systems.

    For example, the ductwork and fan sizing have a big impact on proper airflows and efficiency within the buildings spaces.

    From a greenhouse gas perspective, we are looking more toward renovating older structures vs building new structures simply for the advantage of capturing the benefits from embedded carbon, not to mention reuse of natural resources and waste removal and recycling.

     

    Regardless of the vintage, campus does it’s best to make sure everyone is comfortable, has all of the amenities and technology necessary to perform at university today’s fast pace.

    P.S. See below in green font

     

    Best

    Paul Foote

    ---------------------------

    Hi, 

     

    Thank you so much for your responses! They were extremely helpful to my story. If possible, I was wondering if you happened to know how much the annual power bill for the university is. I would also like to know what the current carbon footprint of the university is. Let me know if you can help me with these. Thank you again for all of your help!

     

    Kendall O'Keefe

    ----------------------

     

    Hi Tony,

    Can you share the information with Kendall?

    See the beginning of the thread for who Kendall is and what she is looking to do with the campus utilities information.

     

    Best

    Paul Foote

    --------------------

     

    Kendall,

     

    When you say power bill do you mean the total cost of generated and purchased electricity for the Urbana-Champaign campus?

     

    On the carbon footprint question, I will need to check with our sustainability folks.

     

    Regards,

     

    Tony

     

  2. 5-1-23 Internal Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    "Don't Waste" with Coca-Cola
    Green Sports Alliance (GSA)
    Tailgate Recycling
    Welcome Celebration Recycling

    On May 1, UIUC sustainability representatives met and discussed the following:

     

    Attendance: Julie Wurth, Marty Kaufmann, Shawn Patterson, Thurman Etchison, Bryan Johnson, Steve Breitwieser, Jen Fraterrigo, Daphne Hulse

    Agenda:

    • External meeting with Coca-Cola canceled last week

      • Daphne to meet with Jake Slager Wednesday to discuss:

        • Heavy-duty bins to replace ‘cardboard’ bins for outdoor events (Welcome Week).

        • Football tailgate recycling plan. Make this a Fighting Illini, Fighting Waste expansion.

        • UIUC Materials Recovery Facility - Detroit Airport (DTW) wants to hear about UIUC operations.

    • Dump & Run

      • F&S and Housing communications

      • iSEE communications

    Attached Files: 

  3. DIA & GSA

    Associated Project(s): 
    DIA Green Team [ARCHIVED]
    Green Sports Alliance (GSA)

    That is my vote as well.

     

    My boss approved the Green Sports Alliance membership as well as a plan for recycling in our tailgate lots.  A couple of “wins” I wanted to share.

     

    Tim Knox

    -----------------------------

    Good news

     

    Morgan White

    -----------------------------

    Thanks for the update Morgan, DIA involvement in Green Sports Alliance, that is great news!

     

    Safety & Compliance paid the annual GSA membership fee in October 2022 if needed for reference. If I receive any email reminders from them I will let you know. It would be great if DIA/Tim could also stay in touch when they renew so we know the process is complete.

     

    Also to recap Daphne, Meredith, Colleen and I had a meeting with GSA rep Brad Vogel in October and they were supposed to get back in touch about their Executive Director speaking with the athletic department contact to help explain opportunities & get them involved. I haven’t heard anything more about this, not sure if others did.

    Thanks again,

    Betsy

  6. Campus Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC) spring 2023

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC)
    2014 Campus Bike Plan [ARCHIVED]
    Reduce Driving on Campus
    Commuter Program: Bus, Bike, and Hike
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Pedestrian and Bicycle Counts
    It's Your MTD Too!
    Bicycle Registration
    Collection and Donation of Abandoned Bicycles
    Bicycle Counts
    Bicycle Friendly University Status
    2024 Campus Bike Plan
    Bike Share with Veo
    ADA Transition Plan and 2017 Supplement

    Please see attached the final presentation for the CTAC spring 2023. Watch the meeting recording here: https://uofi.box.com/s/mid9gjqnhyziake9txcdf9jee08rgx6h

    Attached Files: 

  7. ASHRAE Publishes First Zero Energy and Zero Carbon Building Evaluation Standard

    Associated Project(s): 
    Building-Level Energy Efficiency
    Energy iCAP Team

    News

     

     

    ASHRAE Publishes First Zero Energy and Zero Carbon Building Evaluation Standard

     

    ATLANTA (April 27, 2023) – ASHRAE has released a new standard to measure zero net carbon and energy goals in buildings.

     

    ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 228-2023, Standard Method of Evaluating Zero Net Energy and Zero Net Carbon Building Performance, sets requirements for evaluating whether a building or group of buildings meets a definition of “zero net energy” or a definition of “zero net carbon” during building operation. The standard draws from ASHRAE Standard 105, among others, to address energy and carbon flows across a site boundary, their measurement, and their balance.

     

    “Achieving a zero energy building has been viewed by many as a difficult goal to meet, with unforeseeable roadblocks and differing guidance,” said Keith Emerson, P.E., Life Member ASHRAE, chair of the Standards Project Committee 228. Standard 228 provides a consistent method for determining whether new and existing sites have reached zero energy. We hope this standard will become a helpful resource for building professionals in strategic decarbonization planning.”

     

    Additional features of Standard 228 are as follows:

     

    • Allowances for sites that lack the opportunity to produce adequate renewable energy, while placing additional requirements on the use of external carbon and renewable energy in the calculation.
    • Defined calculation of energy in terms of source—a multiplier on the energy crossing the site boundary to include energy used or lost in extraction, generation and transit to the site.
    • The main energy calculation made in terms of annual average factors. Allowance is made for the calculation of individual hours where data is available.

     

    Standard 228 does not apply to the establishment of building energy performance goals or limits; design guidance or design requirements; embodied energy of building materials and systems; and transportation to and from a building. The standard is also not intended to circumvent any safety, health, or environmental requirements.

     

    To purchase Standard 228-2023, visit ashrae.org/228 or contact ASHRAE Customer Contact Center at 1-800-527-4723 (United States and Canada), 404-636-8400 (worldwide) or fax 678-539-2129.

     

    Standard 228 has been published on continuous maintenance. A Standing Standard Project Committee (SSPC 228) has been formed to update the standard through the publication of addenda or revisions to any part of the standard. SSPC 228 is chaired by Dr. Paul Torcellini. Instructions for how to submit a change can be found on the ASHRAE website at ashrae.org/continuous-maintenance.

     

    About ASHRAE

    Founded in 1894, ASHRAE is a global professional society committed to serve humanity by advancing the arts and sciences of heating ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration and their allied fields.

     

    As an industry leader in research, standards writing, publishing, certification and continuing education, ASHRAE and its members are dedicated to promoting a healthy and sustainable built environment for all, through strategic partnerships with organizations in the HVAC&R community and across related industries.

     

    The Society is showcasing integrated building solutions and sustainability in action through the opening of the ASHRAE Global Headquarters building in metro-Atlanta, Georgia.

     

    For more information and to stay up-to-date on ASHRAE, visit ashrae.org and connect on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

     -------------------------------------

    Big news from ASHRAE:

     

    Ralph DiNola

    ---------------------------------------------

     

    Hi Team,

     

    Came across this announcement from ASHRAE this morning and pertains to our recent discussions.

    I don’t have access to the full standard. Maybe Damon has access to the full pdf.

     

    Best,

    Andy

     --------------------------------------

    Saw this too, pretty interesting and worthwhile read!

    I don’t have the full PDF yet but have access to the site to purchase it as a member, but perhaps F&S would be willing to do so?

    DM

    ------------------------------------------

    It would be great to have it. I also interested to know more.

     

    Best

    Yun

     

  9. Education iCAP Team May Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Education iCAP Team
    Sustainability Internship Program
    Curriculum

    Education iCAP Team had its final meeting of the 2022-2023 academic year on Tuesday, April 25th, at 4 PM. The team further discussed initial thoughts on implementation of sustainability to Business College recommendation idea, sustainability workshop recommendation idea, and next steps for sustainability internship coordinator recommendation draft. The meeting recording can be found here. 

  10. iCAP Resilience Team May Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Resilience iCAP Team
    Develop Local Carbon Offset Program [ARCHIVED]

    iCAP Resilience Team had their last meeting of the academic year on Tuesday, April 25th, at 1PM. The team edited the Carbon Offset Statement. The team will send this this statement as a recommendation format to the iWG. Afterwards, with the approvals of iSEE, iWG, and F&S, the team will send this statement to Chancellor Office. Attached is the meeting recording. 

     

     

  11. Connecting about Carbon Credits

    Associated Project(s): 
    Utilize Carbon Credits

    Hi Morgan!

     

    It's Brandon--blast from the past!....

     

    In the working world, I'm at Nori, a carbon removal marketplace.  We are working on cutting-edge carbon removal methods and we are looking for relevant folks to interview.  We're looking for anyone who buys carbon credits, especially for their organization.  Do you or anyone you know jump out as a good fit?  Thanks in advance for any info.  And I hope Spring is treating you well there!  Warm regards,

     

    -Brandon Bowersox-Johnson

    ----------------------------------------

     

    Hi Brandon!!

     

    Glad to hear from you!..... 

     

    Would the interview be with you, or someone in your team?

     

    Thanks,

    Morgan

    -------------------------------------

    Hi Morgan,

     

    The interview would be with me along with our co-founder, Alexsandra.  It would be fun to see you! 

     

    -Brandon

  12. offsets and landholdings as C sink in SIMAP

    Associated Project(s): 
    Carbon Credit Purchasing Program (C2P2) with Second Nature

    Greetings Carbon Offsets Workshop Attendees, and those looking to stay engaged with us!,

     

    Thank you so much for your participation at our workshop on Tuesday April 18th 3-4pm EST, and thank you as well to those who couldn’t attend but are looking to follow-up on the information we shared. We are grateful for the variety of perspectives represented in the meeting space, and the questions and comments we were able to address in the time we had. Moving forward, we’re looking to get your feedback on if there is a collective appetite for diving further into this topic, and what resources are still needed. 

     

    Please feel free again to email Meredith directly with your questions and to get involved directly with our Carbon Offsets Network, C2P2 Initiative, and advisory council....

     

    For those of you looking to gain support with your climate action and resilience work in the southeast...

     

    Please visit this link to share your thoughts and feedback on this workshop by Friday April 28th. Please see links to resources included in the survey.

     

    View Meredith Leigh’s presentation linked here. 

    View our recorded zoom meeting video here. 

     

    See below our Q&A of questions and comments institutions and attendees had:

     

    Q&A with Meredith Leigh:

     

    Sandra Van Travis, Morehouse College’s Environmental Health and Safety Officer asks:

    Please send information on how to calculate offsets using trees.

     

    Campuses have hired arborists to determine sample areas and measure trees. These measurements require tree height, diameter at breast height, and species identification. Arborists are positioned to do this work. 

    If hiring an arborist is not possible, new remote sensing technology providers offer phone apps that can be used by students or faculty to calculate tree data and categorize by species. One company in particular is interested in partnering with HEIs. If you are interested in connecting with this company, email Meredith. 

     

    Christina Kwauk Asks:

    I am curious if any of the members of the working group are familiar with carbon offsets that go toward non-mitigation activities but rather to climate adaptation activities that may benefit climate resilience outcomes of environmental justice communities (i.e. instead of carbon removed, what about respiratory illnesses averted/reduced?). This may be totally out of scope for carbon offsets and this workshop, but I wanted to join to listen for these connections today. 

     

    This is a great question and a badly needed type of offset! Right now these kinds of values are considered “co-benefits” of carbon offsets, and people don’t put a dollar value on them like they do on MTCDE reductions, but offset projects are more attractive to buyers when they list these kinds of co-benefits. Campus participation in the Offset Network is a great way to develop projects uniquely suited to your campus, especially when your goals are to serve co-benefits and you have less pressure to just produce quantifiable offsets. An example of this is Clarkson ISE’s recently avoided forest conversion project through the Offset Network. Their main goals were to create student involvement in forest inventory and carbon project development, and to protect a piece of land and the endangered species of turtle that lives on it. The offsets generated from the project are small, and will count toward Clarkson’s Scope 3 emissions, but the co-benefits were what really made the project worthwhile for them. 

     

    Dr. Maria Boccalandro asks:

    If you are in a community college setting where you work with tax payer’s money how do you justify buying these credits? I think narrative matters... are there any best practices for community colleges you can share?

     

    A great question, and one that Second Nature is still working on as we diversify the institutions we support. I think the key to this is transparency- communicating to stakeholders both the intentions of the offset purchase and its impact. To this end, it would be advisable to make space for community input when the school develops its offsets strategy. This way taxpayers can provide feedback on whether they see value in the college purchasing offsets as a way of becoming climate neutral, and if so, what types of projects would feel valuable to them. Furthermore I think engagement in the Offset Network, where faculty and students can create local projects with high co-benefits would be a good fit for community colleges. The projects can be designed for community involvement and high community co-benefits so that the expense of engaging is co-owned and the positive impacts are felt beyond campus. 

     

    Thank you all again, and we look forward to reviewing your feedback!,

     

    Blythe Coleman-Mumford (she/her/hers)

    -----------------------------------

    Hi Morgan, Madhu, and Elizabeth –

     

    Given that we have been discussing offsets and Second Nature’s role, I thought you might find the slides linked below (Meredith Leigh’s presentation, highlighted) of interest. They provide an overview of the topic of offsets and several examples of what various HEIs are doing in this space.

     

    Notably, slides 10-11 indicate that C sequestered in trees can be removed from total campus emissions as a “sink” in SIMAP. As you know, sinks are not the same as offsets because they do not require additionality. We know C sequestration for Trelease Woods and have the data to determine C sequestered by campus trees. So I think we should consider listing them as sinks. We could also consider other campus lands where land use/land cover might support C sequestration (cover cropping?).

     

    Based on the public SIMAP report (here), we have reported 0 sinks/non-additional sequestration in the past. When will we complete the next SIMAP report?

     

    Thanks,

    Jen

    --------------------------------------

    Thanks for sharing this Jen. This is helpful to have. I will look over the slides. Can you also send me the write up by Warren Lavey.

     

    We should plan on discussing this at our next CS team meeting unless there is urgency to discuss it sooner

     

     

    Best

    Madhu

    -------------------------------------

    Hi Madhu,

     

    It is not urgent; we can discuss at the next CS team meeting.

     

    The Resilience Team will be discussing the offset policy letter at today’s meeting. I will share once it is finalized. The law student working with Warren presented her findings about the MOU and paths forward at the April meeting. Notes can be found here:

    https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project-update/resilience-icap-team-april-meeting

     

    Jen

  14. iSEE New Green Chapter and Event Certifications

    Associated Project(s): 
    Certified Greener Campus Programs
    Certified Green Event Program
    Certified Green Chapter Program

    I hope everyone had a great Earth Day this past weekend! Congratulations to the newest recipients of our Greener Campus Programs certifications.

     

    -Green Chapter: Phi Chi Theta, Gold, Certified April 2023

    -Green Event:

    iSEE Green Globes, Certified April 2023

    iSEE Kindness Rocks, Certified April 2023

     

    Keep up the great work, happy greening!

  16. Sarthak Prasad and Daphne Hulse present Sustainable Transportation and Zero Waste topics to 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students at Franklin STEAM Academy

    Associated Project(s): 
    Encourage Active Transportation
    Increase Public Transportation Use
    Encourage Bicycle Use
    Achieve Zero Waste
    Decrease Wasteful Practices through Behavior Change
    Zero Waste Outreach & Presentations

    Presentations given during the lunch sessions for each grade in the library. Franklin STEAM hosts sustainability speakers each April in honor of Earth Month.

     

     

    Thanks so much for coming!!!

    We really appreciate your time and energy today speaking to Franklin's future "world rescuers."

     

    I know you cannot attend our Open House this May 11th but do consider if you would like to table at our fall Open House on September 14th.

     

    We really appreciated your clear and important messages.

     

    Zanne Newman

    Magnet Site Coordinator

    Franklin STEAM Academy

     

    Attached Files: 

  17. Wind Turbine Charging Station

    Associated Project(s): 
    Wind Power on Campus

    This morning, I met with Ben Isabel, the Chief of Staff for State Senator Laura Fine.  Ben is moving forward looking for grant money to fund our project at UIUC.  He is talking to the Department of Transportation which we both think should be interested given the interest of President Biden with more EVs.

     

    Ben hopes to hear something positive within a week or so.

     

    Regards,

     

    George

    ---------------------------------

    Good Morning,


    I am forwarding the message I received over the weekend from George.  Cheri, as you have had discussions with George on moving forward with this, who does he consider to be his campus partner when he refers to “our project at UIUC”  Is this research park?   The original turbine on campus was accepted as a donation through isee, but we (Paul Foote and Frank Colacicco) discussed the condition of the unit, challenges and costs as excessive.   Initially, a SSC application was also submitted and not funded in our efforts.

     

    As George is working earnestly in securing funding I am concerned if he is accurately communicating a University commitment / partnership.

     

    Best,
    Tim

     

  18. Resilience iCAP Team April Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Resilience iCAP Team
    Carbon Credit Purchasing Program (C2P2) with Second Nature

    Resilience iCAP Team had its online April meeting on Friday, April 14th, at 1 PM. The team had two guests: Annie Cebulski and Kejsi Ago. Annie presented the carbon offsets that the university has to purchase and gave some recommendations on how to complete these purchases. Afterward, the team discussed next steps for a potential statement and/or recommendation on this carbon offset purchasing. Meeting minutes are attached. 

    Attached Files: 

Pages