You are here

Projects Updates for key objective: No name

  1. EPA Waste Management Webinar Presentation

    Meredith Moore (iSEE) and Sydney Trimble (F&S) presented at the EPA Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Web Academy Webinar: University Best Practices in Waste Stream Management on 4-28-22. The presentation is attached. 

    Click here for more information.

    "This webinar session will highlight best practices in university materials and waste stream management, including reduce, reuse, and recycle principles. Participants will learn about the excellent waste reduction programs at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Colorado State University, and The Ohio State University. Our speakers will share proven practices that help colleges and universities minimize waste generation and promote materials reuse. Attendees will also learn about ongoing university case studies and projects involving waste characterization as well as other programs assisting campuses in achieving sustainability goals."

  2. iCAP update presented at Senate Committee on Campus Operations

    These iSEE representatives presented an update of key efforts underway for the iCAP 2020: iSEE Associate Director for Campus Sustainability Dr. Jennifer Fraterrigo, iSEE Associate director for Education and outreach Dr. Luis Rodriguez, Sustainability Programs Manager Meredith Moore, F&S Associate Director for Sustainability Morgan White, and Sustainability Academic Advisor Eric Green. the key topics were:

    • Earth Month
    • Clean Power
    • Plastic Waste Reduction
    • Environmental Leadership Program
    • Sustainability Gen Ed efforts

    The following links were also sent to be shared with the committee:

    Also, if anyone is interested in participating in one of the Topical iCAP Teams, as a faculty member, please let us know. The topics are listed on the iCAP Portal at https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project/topical-icap-teams.

     

  3. April Energy iCAP Team Meeting 4-27-22

    The Energy iCAP Team met on April 27th at 9:00 A.M. for an update on an ongoing student-run study of CO2 district heating and cooling feasibility as well as to discuss two recommendations pertaining to ensuring compliance of new campus buildings with existing state energy codes and F&S energy use standards. One draft recommendation that would use students in architecture or energy related disciplines as a means of ensuring compliance was tabled, while a second recommendation requiring new buildings to more carefully comply with existing standards will undergo further conversation for potential submission as a recommendation over the summer or in the early fall.

  4. Cell Phone and Electronic Waste

    A team of Design for America students worked on a year-long project diving into cell phone and electronic waste. The attached poster is the culmination of their work across the '21/'22 school year. We wish the DFA student team luck in all their future endeavors.

    DFA Team: Koshal Raghavarapu, Ananya Barman, Pooja Tetali, & Aashi Tyagi

  5. Introductory meeting with Robert O'Daniell

    I met with Robert O'Daniell on Wednesday, April 27, 2022. We covered several topics, including the electrification trend, Federal and State tax credits for EVs, but majority of the time was dedicated to learn about the EV charging stations in Champaign County as compared to other cities.

    Robert also shared his own experience as an EV owner and the survey he is currently conducting to gauge interest in increasing the number of public-use EV charging and possibility of introducing DC Fast Charging to the campus and Champaign County.

    I will create the survey on Google Forms, and then help deploy it on-campus. We also discussed where to promote this survey.

    See attached the documents that we covered during this meeting.

  6. New iSEE Green Event Certifications

    Congratulations to the newest recipient of our Green Event Certification Program!

     

    Chancellor's Office for Special Events Illinois Promise Welcome Lunch, Certified April 2022

    Chancellor's Office for Special Events University-wide Commencement ceremony, Certified April 2022

    Chancellor's Office for Special Events Commencement Dinner, Certified April 2022

    Chancellor's Office for Special Events Bronze Tablet Reception, Certified April 2022

     

    Keep up the great work!

     

     

  7. Residence Hall Research Site Email

    Below is an email sent by Dr. Edwin Herricks to Morgan White regarding a research site to study stormwater mitigation designs.

     

    Morgan,

     

    You may not know, but some time ago I led a project to create a research site on the parking lot across from the residence halls to study parking lot stormwater mitigation designs.  Of importance we installed a weir for a gauging capability for the lot discharge.  Unfortunately, the U did not proceed with the lot improvements so the weir simply sits.

     

    Art Schmidt is aware of this and over the years I have encouraged him to take advantage of the infrastructure. 

     

    Hopefully if you know about this capability you may find some use for it.

     

    Ed

  8. Invitation to HCL and NCEB event on 05/25/22

    Associated Project(s): 

    Below is an email invitation to an event at the Hydrosystems Laboratory:

    Hello all,

     

    On behalf of Illinois Solar Decathlon, I would like to invite you to our event, Reimagining HSL and NCEB, where our Concept Team will be presenting their semester-long projects to UofI Facilities and Services. Feel free to invite other faculty as well. More details below.

     

    Title of the event: Reimagining HSL & NCEB

    Venue: Hydrosystems laboratory, Room 1017

    Time : Monday, 25th from 5:00 pm

    Everyone is invited.

     

    Schedule 
    5:05 - 5:25 PM: Photovoltaics and Green Roof Team
    5:25 - 5: 45 PM: Building Automation Systems Team
    5:45- 6:05 PM: Sustainable Landscapes Team

    *15 mins for each team's presentation and 5 mins for Q&A*

     

    We hope to see you there!

    Attached Files: 
  9. Illinois Green Infrastructure Inventory Update 5/9/2022

    Stacy Gloss attended the Urban Stormwater Working Group meeting on 4/19/22 led by Lisa Merrifield.

    Agenda item 1) An Illinois Green Infrastructure Inventory Update was provided.

    Key points:

    • Tracking Best Management Practices:  need to know: where, what, how much, and when
    • Detailed information allows for comparison between practices
    • Practices include projects like:  vegetated filter strips, grass swale, infiltration devices, permeable pavement, porous pavement, wetland detention, dry detention, settling basin, bio-swale, grass swale, wet pond, constructed wetland, green roof, weekly street sweeping, native landscaping, stormwater tree, sand filters, settling basin, WQ inlets, wet ponds, infiltration devices, concrete grid  pavement, sand filter/infiltration basin, oil/grit separator etc. Also new construction and retrofit.
    • Next steps: testing data-sets with NCSA

    Agenda item 2) meeting participants described their work and current projects.

    Update: May 9, 2022

    Stacy Gloss and Eliana Brown will attend the September MS4 meeting to describe projects related to capturing green infrastructure project locations and project information to share best practices with the local community. Campus maintains data about about green infrastructure projects on campus. A pilot project is underway to share green infrastructure project data with communities across Illinois.  Eliana Brown is involved in this effort and NCSA is developing a database platform for information sharing.

    Stacy Gloss will attend the next MS4 meeting in June also.

  10. Campus Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC) spring 2022

    Please see attached the final presentation for the CTAC spring 2022. We also talked about abandoned bicycles and Campus Landscape Master Plan during this meeting. Also watch the meeting recording and read the chat from during the meeting: https://uofi.box.com/s/lv1xbqlcevdp6f2dfmiep2fpx3cq2zde

  11. Illinois ECE Celebrates Earth Week

    Associated Project(s): 

    "Earth Week is a great opportunity for us to reflect on what the extended ECE family has done and can continue to do to make Earth a better place for all living beings." - Illinois ECE

    Illinois ECE has gathered a sampling of the contributions their faculty, staff, and students have made to environmental sustainability.

    The sampling can be seen here: https://ece.illinois.edu/newsroom/earth-week

     

  12. Two 100% all electric 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning trucks purchased for F&S fleet

    From: Varney, Peter W
    Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2022 12:38 PM
    To: FandS Executive Management Team ; Gordon, Malikah Asrayyah ; Breitwieser, Steven
    Cc: Patterson, Shawn L ; Franzen, Neil
    Subject: Ford Lightnings for F&S

    As mentioned this morning, I have been able to secure two of the brand new 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning for F&S. These are all-electric crew cab pickup trucks with a ~200 mile range. The vehicles are equipped with a 9.6kW power system including multiple 120V and a single 240V outlet. Cargo payload is only about 1,600# or 2/3 of a standard F-150.

    These vehicles should allow for my team to gain familiarity with all-electric vehicles in our fleet as well as campus visibility regarding F&S’ commitment to sustainable fleet technology. I believe one of the vehicles would be a good fit in my Transportation Shop but I’m open to suggestions for the second truck. ETA will be in the June/July timeframe.

    Malikah – I want your team to be aware for any story/messaging opportunities. I also think we can use some special signage or wrap on the vehicle exterior.

    Pete W Varney
    DIRECTOR
    Transportation & Building Services
    Facilities & Services
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  13. New iSEE Green Event Certification

    Congratulations to the newest recipient of our Greener Campus Certification Programs!

     

    Green Event: Office of the Chancellor-Special Events Chancellor's Medallion Ceremony, Certified April 2022

     

    They ensured that the event will be held at a location convenient for public transportation, biking, or walking. They also chose locations with natural lighting whenever possible to minimize lighting needs, among other sustainable efforts. Keep up the great work!

  14. This Week in Research - micronuclear

    Associated Project(s): 

    UIUC's plans for a new microreactor were featured in the April edition of "Nuclear News." The article highlights efforts to build a  "research, education, and training facility intended to help advanced reactor technology become a widely deployable, marketable, economic, safe, and reliable option for a clean energy future."

  15. Interview with Paul Foote (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Specialist) and Karl Helmink (F&S Associate Director of Utilities and Energy Services)

    Associated Project(s): 

    A document containing the notes from this interview is attached below.

     

    Summary of the Clean Energy Transition Plan Interview:

    Paul Foote - Energy Efficiency and Conservation Specialist

    Karl Helmink - F&S Associate Director of Utilities and Energy Services

    On 4/8/2022, the team met with Karl Helmink and Paul Foote. They both stressed an emphasis on energy conservation for the energy plan. They stated that a large problem stopping energy reduction is the “billions of dollars” worth of deferred maintenance that exist in campus buildings. This is in addition to the new buildings being constructed despite existing abandoned building space. They also informed us about the retro-commissioning team that they are both a part of. They reduce energy by an average of 25% for each building retro-commissioned and have saved the university over $100,000,000 in utilities since 2007. They do this by focusing on the “low hanging fruit,” this being scheduling, sensors and some maintenance. They roughly estimate that it will cost about 2 billion dollars to make the steam to hot water transition. This would take many years and about 10 boilers for redundancy. They recommend geothermal but warn that the university already has a lot of underground, so it would need to be placed carefully, possibly on the perimeter of campus. It would also still need a backup system (probably Abbott).

Pages