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Projects Updates for key objective: No name

  2. Sustainability Career Panel Newsletter

    Associated Project(s): 
    Students for Environmental Concerns (SECS)
    Sustainability at Career Fairs

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    SECS Newsletter 02/13/2022

    WHEN: Wednesday, February 15, 2022

    TIME: 5:30 - 7:30 PM

    WHERE: Campus Instructional Facility, Room 2035 (1405 W. Springfield Avenue)

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    Happy Monday! I hope you guys are enjoying the sweater weather outside! We will take a break from our projects this week as our sustainability career panel will take place on Wednesday at the CIF. The panel will feature leaders from the Illinois EPA, Illinois Environmental Council, Prairie Rivers Network, Urbana Park District, Sola Gratia Farm, and more. This event will be broken into two 50-minute sections separated by a break, and there will be plenty of time for a Q&A session. Food will be provided (👀), with vegetarian-friendly options available.

    Also, don't forget about our Valentine's Day fundraiser this Tuesday! Stop by our table at the quad from 12-4 to buy some V-Day cookies, brownies, cupcakes, and roses! If you want to bake out or help, it's not too late - use this link to sign up. Thank you!


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    We hope to see you on Wednesday! Go green or go HOME!

     




     

     

    Join the Discord!

     

  3. Funding Approval for Micro-Agrivoltaics - Salvage of Equipment

    Associated Project(s): 
    Carbon Credit Purchasing Program (C2P2) with Second Nature
    Agrivoltaics: Crop Production and Solar Panels on the Same Land
    Ground Mounted Solar PVs BRC Research Test Bed [ARCHIVED]

    Ehab Kamarah and Madhu Khanna approved $10,000 in funding to support Agrivoltaics projects on campus.

    Tim Mies sent the following email excerpt to Madhu Khanna on Feb 7, 2023:

    I would like to update a bit on how this project might go forward, and ask for your thoughts on possible funding to complete this project (connect to campus grid).

     

    Carl to date has purchased 3 solar frames which can hold up to 72 of the size panel I have in storage (from the 2007 Solar Decathlon house).  Unfortunately I have only 40 panels, which will lead to a gaps in shading with only 12 panels per structure.

     

    My initial intention was to apply to SSC for funding to fill the space, purchase inverters, and hire electricians to connect to the campus grid.  This application would occur after the initial goal, shading research plots, is complete.

     

    Since this last email, I was contacted by Brent Lewis at F&S regarding potential surplus panels available immediately due to a demolition project under way for the failed building the panels connect to.  The picture below shows 60 panels of larger capacity (245 watt instead of 180) that would be able to fully populate the footprint of Carl’s frames.  In addition, there are inverters and ancillary connection parts that can likely be reused to allow these panels continued production on the campus grid.

     

    A ballpark estimate from F&S would be 5-10K to salvage all of the panels and equipment.   Do you think there would be support from Ehab to utilize carbon credit funds to at least salvage the panels and reinstall on the new frames?  I would be willing to apply to SSC again for the final connection if carbon funds could not cover this all.

  4. It's official! ECE is Net Zero Certified!

    Associated Project(s): 
    ECE Net-Zero Energy Building

    https://ece.illinois.edu/newsroom/news/net-zero-certification

    The Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Building at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has become the university’s first zero energy certified facility through innovative facility design and clean energy produced on campus. All of the operational energy associated with the building is now offset through a combination of on-site solar production and solar renewable energy credits (SRECs), which earned the 238,000 gross square foot facility official Zero Energy (ZE) Certification from the International Living Future Institute (ILFI).

    According to ECE department head Bruce Hajek, “achieving net zero energy was an aspirational goal of everyone who contributed to the project and is the embodiment of the teaching and cutting-edge discovery excellence taking place in this world-class facility. The ability to meet this goal—in less than 10 years since the building’s opening—by using solar energy generated on campus showcases the relentless campus focus on reducing carbon emissions and what is possible through collaboration and leadership in this critical area.”

    The ECE Building produces about 11 percent of its energy through its rooftop array, a 300 kW setup featuring 970 panels. The rest of its consumption is supported through SRECs from Solar Farm 2.0, a 12.32 megawatt (MWdc) utility-scale installation on south campus bordering the Village of Savoy.

    Aerial view of Solar Farm 2.0 south of campus.Aerial view of the Solar Farm 2.0 south of campus. (Photo courtesy of Jim Baltz)

    The IFLI standard for meeting ZE certification includes accounting for all heating, cooling, and other energy a facility uses. Any non-electrical consumption is converted to a kilowatt-hour electricity equivalent to assess the efficiency performance and necessary offset. The certification process required a full year for verification and guarantees for continued zero energy operation into the future. Offsite renewable energy production must also be located within the same regional power grid and linked to building energy usage.

    Ehab Kamarah, associate vice chancellor and executive director of Facilities & Services, said, “Being an active partner with ECE on these types of projects is an example of why the university is a recognized leader in sustainable building design, construction, operations, and on-site renewable energy production. Finalizing this certification is a credit to the U of I’s expertise in solar innovation and expanding clean energy portfolio.”

    Reaching energy conservation and clean energy targets as a part of overall sustainability efforts is fundamental to Illinois’ land-grant university mission. The Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) is the university’s strategic plan to meet the Climate Leadership Commitments, including becoming carbon neutral as soon as possible and building resilience to climate change in the local community. The Urbana campus renewable energy portfolio already meets more than 12 percent of annual electricity needs.

    The ECE building is a sustainable learning laboratory with features that reduce energy consumption and help make zero energy a reality. In November 2019, the building achieved LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for advanced energy efficiency features, such as LED and fluorescent lighting, intelligent systems to optimize energy usage, excellent space configuration, recycled materials incorporation, and other green design attributes. The facility was designed with most windows facing south for optimal daylighting, heat recovery chillers, chilled beams, exhaust heat recovery wheels, and occupancy sensors. Also, following the opening, the F&S Retrocommissioning team worked to enhance building control systems for peak efficiency by modifying programming, set points, and some controls.

    <<see video of solar panels at https://youtu.be/iU4SqjMxB1A>> 

    Many characteristics of the ECE Building directly contribute to research and educational use. A section of the rooftop solar array connects to a major research laboratory in the building and provides hands-on experience with photovoltaic technology. There is a weather station on the roof for collecting data about conditions that affect solar production, like wind speed, temperature, humidity, insolation, and cloud cover. For all visitors, interactive digital signs show updated energy usage and a power dashboard in the building’s atrium.

    More information about the ECE building is available at: https://ece.illinois.edu/about/buildings/energy-efficiency

  5. Energy Farm Mini Agrivoltaics

    Associated Project(s): 
    Agrivoltaics: Crop Production and Solar Panels on the Same Land
    Carbon Credit Purchasing Program (C2P2) with Second Nature
    Ground Mounted Solar PVs BRC Research Test Bed [ARCHIVED]

    Below is an email from Madhu Khanna regarding the energy farm mini agrivoltaics. 

     

    From: Khanna, Madhu <khanna1 at illinois.edu> 
    Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2023 3:37 AM
    To: Kamarah, Ehab <ekamarah at illinois.edu>; White, Morgan <mbwhite at illinois.edu>
    Subject: Energy Farm mini agrivoltaics

     

    Hi Ehab

     

    While we are waiting for doing the agrivoltaic experiments at Solar Farm 2 and build our own AV farm, Carl Bernacchi has been working on creating a small AV experiment at the Energy Farm with a few solar panels that can be set up to grow vegetables underneath. This project will generate solar energy that will be connected to the campus grid.

     

    Tim Mies and Carl Bernacchi have sent the following information.  Carl has used his USDA funds to purchase solar frames. They have been able to acquire panels from storage and  Brent Lewis at F&S.  But need $5-10K to salvage the panels and reinstall them.

     

    Can we approve up to $10K funds from the carbon credit fund to cover these costs? Tim plans to apply for SSC funding as well and if he gets funding then these costs can come down. We can justify it as a project that will contribute to increasing renewable energy generation in the future.

     

    Best

    Madhu

     

     

     

    Madhu Khanna

    Pronouns: she, her

    Alvin H. Baum Family Chair & Director, Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment

    ACES Distinguished Professor in Environmental Economics

    Co-Director, Center for Economics of Sustainability

    University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

    1301, W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801

     

    email: khanna1@illinois.edu; phone: 217-333-5176; fax: 217-333-5538

     

    http://ace.illinois.edu/directory/madhu-khanna

    https://ceos.illinois.edu/bio-khanna

    https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LPH4gbUAAAAJ&hl=en

     

    https://illinois.zoom.us/j/2173335176?pwd=Ri8rTzQ0S1RxZHpiY2tEWVdaSlhtZz09

     

    _____________________________________________________________________

    From: Mies, Tim <tmies at illinois.edu> 
    Sent: Tuesday, February 7, 2023 1:50 PM
    To: Khanna, Madhu <khanna1 at illinois.edu>
    Cc: Bernacchi, Carl J <bernacch at illinois.edu>
    Subject: Energy Farm mini agrivoltaics

     

     

    Good Morning Madhu,

     

    I would like to update a bit on how this project might go forward, and ask for your thoughts on possible funding to complete this project (connect to campus grid).

     

    Carl to date has purchased 3 solar frames which can hold up to 72 of the size panel I have in storage (from the 2007 Solar Decathlon house).  Unfortunately I have only 40 panels, which will lead to a gaps in shading with only 12 panels per structure.

     

    My initial intention was to apply to SSC for funding to fill the space, purchase inverters, and hire electricians to connect to the campus grid.  This application would occur after the initial goal, shading research plots, is complete.

     

    Since this last email, I was contacted by Brent Lewis at F&S regarding potential surplus panels available immediately due to a demolition project under way for the failed building the panels connect to.  The picture below shows 60 panels of larger capacity (245 watt instead of 180) that would be able to fully populate the footprint of Carl’s frames.  In addition, there are inverters and ancillary connection parts that can likely be reused to allow these panels continued production on the campus grid.

     

    A ballpark estimate from F&S would be 5-10K to salvage all of the panels and equipment.   Do you think there would be support from Ehab to utilize carbon credit funds to at least salvage the panels and reinstall on the new frames?  I would be willing to apply to SSC again for the final connection if carbon funds could not cover this all.

     

    Please let me know if you have any additional questions or clarifications that we can provide.


    Best,
    Tim

     

    Attached Files: 

  6. Alec & Sarthak Meet to Discuss Alec's progress on the BFU App

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Friendly University Status
    2014 Campus Bike Plan [ARCHIVED]
    Reduce Driving on Campus

    Alec McKay & Sarthak Prasad met on 1/30/2023 and 2/8/2023 to discuss Alec's progress on reading over the Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) related materials.

     

    Alec read and took notes on the 2015 BFU application and the 2015 BFU Feedback. His notes are attached below.

    Attached Files: 

  7. Weekly capstone meetings: Meeting from 1/25 and 2/1

    Associated Project(s): 
    2024 Campus Bike Plan
    Independent Student Projects

    1/25 Meeting Recap:

    • Sarthak introduces the project to Ethan in their first meeting via zoom. They are expected to develop the planning process for the development of the 2024 Bicycle Plan, which is expounding upon the former 2014 Bicycle Plan. Next school year, Ethan would work alongside Sarthak in developing the plan itself. 
    • Firstly, Sarthak wants Ethan to read all of the relevant readings for understanding the context of this project, especially the 2014 Bicycle Plan and report/updates on that plan since then. Sarthak introduces the iCAP portal to Ethan and grants him access to the reports/to make edits to the developing projects. 
    • Ethan to start the readings before the next meeting on (2/1).

     

    2/1 Meeting Recap

    • Sarthak and Ethan met via zoom to discuss Ethan’s progress in familiarizing himself with the 2014 Bicycle Plan and its other relevant documents and reports. 
    • Ethan read 30 pages of the 2014 Plan so far, and had two questions for Sarthak. One was in regard to the scope of the 2024 Plan’s recommendations. Specifically, Ethan was wondering to what degree will their 2024 Plan discuss campus connectivity with the greater Champaign-Urbana areas. Sarthak said that he would need to get a confirmation from his colleagues, but he believes that the scope of this plan should only encompass the campus district. This considers the main campus, but also the adjacent northwest area that contains mostly residential and commercial spaces. This campus district stretches to the northbound-southbound railroad tracks west of campus and up to University Avenue. 
    • Ethan’s second question was in regard to the goals listed in the executive summary versus the desired outcomes listed in the introduction. The executive summary lists the primary goals of the entire plans while the introduction’s outcomes describe the specific goals of the bikeway network improvement project. 
    • Sarthak shows Ethan how to post updates to the 2024 Bicycle Plan on the iCAP portal. Ethan will begin posting his weekly updates based on their weekly meetings there. 
    • Sarthak advised Ethan to finish reading the 2014 Bicycle Plan by next week’s meeting (2/8) and to finish the rest of the relevant readings/reports by the end of the month (February). 
    Attached Files: 

  8. Weekly capstone meetings: Meeting from 2/8

    Associated Project(s): 
    2024 Campus Bike Plan
    Independent Student Projects

    Sarthak and Ethan met in person to discuss Ethan’s updates on his readings on the former 2014 Bicycle Plan. He has completed his review of the 2014 Plan and will delve into the progress reports and updates reports published in 2019, 2022, and 2023 for next week to see which projects have been completed, changed, or left unfinished indefinitely. He will also review the feedback from the League of American Bicyclists based on the University’s Bronze Bicycle Friendly Status awarded in 2019. The goal is to receive Gold Status this August, if not in 2027 because the review is done every 4 years. A main aspect of the 2024 Bicycle Plan will be to achieve Platinum Status by 2031. Sarthak also assured Ethan that many of the projects of the 2014 plan have since been completed which will be seen in the update/progress reports. Ethan’s to do list is to finish his readings relevant to the 2024 Bicycle Plan, such as the update reports. Also, he must begin preparing to consolidate the work he and Sarthak have done. This will then be presented to Sarthak’s bosses which will focus on the plan for this semester and the next two semesters.

    Attached Files: 

  9. 2-6-23 Internal Meeting

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

    On February 6, UIUC sustainability representatives met and discussed the following:

    Attendance: Bryan Johnson, Steve Breitwieser, Julie Wurth, Shawn Patterson, Dominika Szal, Travis Tate, Jen Fraterrigo, Thurman Etchison, Pete Varney, Tony Mancuso, Daphne Hulse

    Agenda:

    1. Housing/Dining: #Don’tWasteWednesday

      1. Housing is prepared for their post on Wednesday.

    2. Housing/Dining: Glass hauling to Midwest Fiber

      1. Thurman reported that Dining does not pay to dispose of (recycle) their glass at Midwest Fiber.

        Tailgate recycling Fall 2023 - exploring glass recycling.

      2. Dominika will follow up with Midwest Fiber.

    3. iSEE: Basketball volunteer sign-up timeline

      1. Daphne to create the sheet, iSEE/Eric to send out/promote.

      2. Volunteer numbers:

        1. 15 sign up spots for 5:00pm-6:30pm (set up, advertisement to those entering)

        2. 35 sign up spots for 6:30pm - 8:00pm (half-time collection, t-shirt giveaway)

        3. 50 sign up spots for 8:00pm - 9:30pm (end-game collection, arena collection, tear down)

    4. iSEE: Earth Week/Month programming - interns/Tony/Eric Green

      1. Office Supplies Collection - check on timing of this. Already a lot is planned!

        1. Bypass Surplus: <$100, no p-tag - loop in Steve Breitwieser/Travis Tate into this conversation.

        2. “Take it or leave it,” allow students, faculty, staff, to take and leave items, donate excess office supplies to local schools.

      2. Arbor Day & Tree Planting - ?

      3. Trash Pick-Up - iSEE interns looking into this.

    5. F&S CRC: F&S basketball communications strategy

      1. Digital signboards across campus - Coca-Cola to provide a digital sign.

      2. Eweek, GradLinks, iNews posts

      3. Other recommendations?

        1. Outreach to media (recap of previous game, segue into long-term direction).

          1. Daphne to send info to Steve.

          2. Jen: Tim Knox says single-ticket and season-ticket holders receive information. Can we raise visibility of this event to them? Highlight reusable bottle policy. Daphne + Jen to work with Marty + Tim.

    6. Group feedback: Game day posters design

      1. Consistent branding with the digital signboards.

      2. Communicate the primary objective of the event.

        1. Feedback

          1. Reduce sponsorship size - remove F&S and iSEE change to general university, move to bottom

          2. Increase size of text, remove “with us,” consider removing “Bottles & Cans”

          3. Increase the size of recycling logo

    7. Group feedback: Post-game survey

      1. Did you notice that this was a recycling-focused game? YES/NO

      2. Did you know State Farm Center recycles bottles and cans? YES/NO

      3. Did you recycle your cans and/or bottles at this game? YES/NO/I HAD NO RECYCLABLES

      4. Would you like to see more recycling initiatives at State Farm Center? YES/NO

      5. Can we use this as a vehicle for messaging re: reusable bottles?

        1. Did you know you can bring your own clear, reusable bottle to [check DIA language] athletic events? YES/NO

     

  12. BTAF Waste Affinity Group asks schools to input their answers into a spreadsheet

    Associated Project(s): 
    Big Ten & Friends Sustainability
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Good morning BTAF,

     Hope everyone’s year is off to a good start!

    At the last BTAF Waste Affinity group meeting in October, the group members shared many exciting initiatives and programs related to recycling and waste diversion. Over the past few months, a working group has developed a comprehensive benchmarking survey to facilitate knowledge sharing and to organize program information. So, now we need your participation in the Waste Survey [redacted].

     At the suggestion of Nicole Berg, a google spreadsheet format was chosen for ease of use, as well as the ability to update the survey each year. In the link, you’ll find two tabs on the survey:

    1. Waste Survey: Broad swath of questions related to Zero Waste and Recycling, including strategic planning, outreach, waste management operational processes, waste metric tracking, procurement, athletics, organics, medicine/research labs, and surplus. This an “everything and the kitchen sink” approach to enable comparative analysis.  
    2. Diversion Rate Methodology: One question that continues to bubble up from time to time is, “What do you include in your diversion rate?” This survey tab requests that you mark a “x” next to each category that is included as diversion in your annual diversion rate report.   

     Three schools have already filled out the survey, so our hope is that it’s intuitive to follow along and to input your school’s information. If you have any clarifying questions, feel free to shoot me an email. We ask that each school completes the survey by Friday, February 13th.

     Once the data is collected, an intern will compile the data, and we will share the results in another BTAF Waste Affinity Group meeting at a date TBD—probably in March.

     Shout out to the team, including Tony Gillund (Purdue), Patrick Brown (Purdue), Daphne Hulse (Illinois), Dominika Szal (Illinois-intern), Nicole Berg (Michigan), and Alison Richardson (Michigan).

    Mary

     

    Mary Leciejewski
    Zero Waste Manager

    Pronouns: She/Her/Hers 

    Facilities Operations and Development, Sustainability & Strategic Services
    1130 Service Building Annex | 2578 Kenny Road, Columbus, OH 43210
    (O) 614.292.3637
    fod.osu.edu/sustainability

  14. Energy iCAP Meeting 1/30/2023

    Associated Project(s): 
    Clean Energy Plan
    Energy iCAP Team
    Building-Level Energy Efficiency
    Improve Space Utilization

    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

    Attached Files: 

  18. New iSEE Green Event Certification

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

    Congratulations to the newest recipient of our Green Event Certification Program! iSEE Illini Lights Out was certified as a Green Event series in January 2023. The events take place Jan. 27, Feb. 10, Feb. 24, March 24, and April 21 this semester. Students volunteer for an hour and a half on Friday nights by turning off lights in university buildings to save energy and money over the weekend. Keep up the great work! 

  20. iCAP Portal Admin Meeting - January 27, 2023

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability iCAP Portal

    Done:

    • Set up GA4
    • Homepage: make image in Image Gallery go to image gallery (in addition to button)
    • Objectives page: Jump to Chapter migrated to live site
    • (DEV) Currently testing a new way of selecting a Project's location in the menu system. Dropdown list is becoming unmanageable.

    Discussion:

    • Question about a TODO: "Collections page: Add image upload option". At a previous meeting we had this TODO, but what was the context? Was it to have a thumbnail for each Collection? Or a banner image?
    • Should we link to "Take Action" project from homepage?
    • Archiving projects

    TODO:

    • (DEV) Currently testing a new way of selecting a Project's location in the menu system. Dropdown list is becoming unmanageable.
    • Add LinkedIn & Reddit share buttons on Project Updates
    • Can we add social sharing buttons on Projects too?
    • Search: can it be less rigid? e.g. ignore punctuation, understand that "bikes" and "bicycles" are equivalent, etc.
    • Fancy project layout mockups - keep tweaking #3 to improve contrast
    • Discuss metrics
      • Metrics with lots of data
      • Consider how to handle old metrics that no longer track new data. Archive somehow?
      • Fun with math (e.g. combining multiple metrics)
      • Calculated Metrics on Dev site
    • Track down and resolve informational message on full listing page for Project Updates by Key Objective (see, e.g. Projects Updates for key objective: 1.0 iCAP 2020 Illinois Climate Action Plan)

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