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Projects Updates for key objective: No name

  3. RE: carbon credit sales fund

    Associated Project(s): 
    Utilize Carbon Credits

    Hi Rob,

     

    We have about $1.4M in Carbon Credit Sales Funds, and (as just one of the potential uses) we would like to know the most impactful energy project this could support in terms of maximum emission reductions.  Could I talk with Sylvia about that, or do you have someone else I should contact?

     

    Thanks,

    Morgan

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

    Morgan,

     

    We have a stack of project requests that we can look at to see where the best use of the funds could be. Please let me discuss with Tony, and we will reply with our recommendations.

     

    Thanks,
    Rob

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

    Hello Morgan,

     

    Thanks for your patience. I have worked with the others in UES to develop the attached list of recommended projects. The file is sorted by the mtCO2/$ to show the projects with the most carbon emissions reduction for the money.  We recommend to use the $1.4M to fund the first three projects and partially funding the fourth or the fifth project (the fifth project has higher energy savings and is slightly less on the mtCO2/$). 

     

    Thanks for reaching out to us with your inquiry. I hope that you find these projects acceptable. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

     

    Best Regards,
    Rob

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

    Hi Rob,

     

    Thank you for this list.  Could your team please provide an estimated life in years for these projects?  If we say the Controls Upgrade at the Conference Center will last 30 years, then the footprint reduction cost is $32.44/mtCO2e.  We can assume 30 years for all the projects, but that is just a WAG from my perspective.

     

    Thanks,

    Morgan

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

     

    Morgan,

     

    I have attached an amended table to this email with a new column for life expectancy as defined by ASHRAE. Generally, ASHRAE indicates 15-20 years for each of the projects.

     

    Thanks,
    Rob

    Attached Files: 

  4. iSEE building feasibility study committee

    Associated Project(s): 
    Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)

    Sending on behalf of iSEE Director Madhu Khanna:

     

    Morgan,

     

    The Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) is exploring a dedicated building to raise the profile of iSEE on campus and provide space for the institute to grow and expand sustainability research, education and operational support. I would like you to be part of the committee we are assembling to give feedback during the building feasibility study.

     

    This committee will help shape the way the physical space can facilitate building multi-disciplinary research teams, hosting classes for the sustainability minor, supporting sustainability student groups, and overall, being a hub for sustainability activity on campus.

     

    The feasibility study was recently approved and a design firm has been selected. We anticipate meeting monthly through the Spring semester.

     

    If you accept this invitation then you will receive a formal charge letter from VCRI Martinis. You may also delegate this to a colleague or staff member if appropriate. Please respond by December 22. Thank you for your consideration.

     

    Elizabeth A. Murphy

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

    Sure, no problem.

    Morgan White

  5. IACT - Energy for Service and Source Well Procurement

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainable Procurement
    Use Clean Power

    Good morning, Mike!

     

    Great to hear from you.  Absolutely can provide you with some additional information on both of those procurement pathways:

     

    1. Sourcewell:

     

     

    The University is a member of a purchasing co-op which provides pre-negotiated pricing for a variety of solutions – including microgrids – which enables them to purchase directly through Sourcewell without needing to go out to bid.  Please see attached for an example of the Siemens Sourcewell contract offerings and below for the University’s member information:

     

    1. Energy as a Service:

     

    Siemens could design, develop, own, implement and maintain a turn key energy system allowing the University to avoid capital investment and simply pay a “subscription cost” if you will for all their energy needs for I-ACT.  This would also enable them to stay up to date on new technologies as they come on line.  Please see attached “4-Steps for Integrating EaaS” for additional information.

     

    Again, we would be very happy to get on a call to walk through how to customize either of these offerings to meet their needs in cooperation with the work they are doing with AECOM.

     

    Could be a really exciting collaboration!

     

    I warmly welcome your thoughts.

     

    Thank you and

     

    All the best!

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

    Kevin,

     

    Here is the info I received from Siemend for your review.


    Thanks

     

    Mike

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

     

    Hello,

     

    Regarding the ongoing discussion of the electrical microgrid design (including PV panels on site) for U20029:IACT the PSC has wondered if UIUC has ever participated in either of this type of programs for procuring such systems by what appears a more design/build method?

     

    Kevin

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

     

    Good Afternoon Aaron and Graham,

     

    Can you advise if the attached Sourcewell Contract is one that we can utilize, if not, is there an IPHEC contract that would provide this type service? I tried to research the existing IPHEC vendors.

     

    Thank You

     

     

    MARIA THOMPSON

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

     

    Hi, Maria

     

    The awarded contracts on the flyer all appear to be expired per the Sourcewell website.

     

    #031517-SIE for building technologies

    #051017-SIE for EV supplies and equipment

    #030817-SIE includes HVAC systems and mechanical

     

    Which contract were you interested in using? We may have something already.

     

    Also, IPHEC must adopt a consortia award first before a member can leverage it.

     

    Thank you

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

    Graham,

     

    I am not really sure. Morgan or Kevin can you advise on Graham’s question?

     

    Thank You

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

    Hello Graham,

     

    I’m the F&S-CP Project Manager for the U20029: IACT track and fleet building project.  This is an automated and connected track for testing autonomous vehicles and anticipates having renewable energy production from wind turbines and PV panels on the large track site.

     

    The question which launched this email chain was received from the track designers who became aware of the existence to programs such as Sourcewell when discussing the PV design with potential sub designers for that portion of the track design.  I’m afraid I am not familiar enough with the three projects to know for sure but from the thumbnail descriptions perhaps the first one might be most similar to what is involved here, although this project would involve a large system covering both site elements producing renewable energy and only one building.  Their questions were really if the UIUC had interacted with Sourcewell in the past, and if Sourcewell might be an avenue to explore further as part of their design work.

     

    Would it be acceptable to share your contact information with the designers so that they could determine if your program could help provide some of the elements required for the IACT track and fleet building?

     

    Thank you,

     

    Kevin

  6. iCAP Portal Admin Meeting - December 15, 2023

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability iCAP Portal

    Done:

    Discussion:

    • Discuss Christina's iCAP Portal Header Page Layout designs
    • 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? Or an image gallery?
    • Should we link to "Take Action" project from homepage?
      • Replace map link in Highlights?
      • Need to finish Take Action page content
    • Continue discussion of Fancy Page Layout (see the 4 mockups in the October 21, 2022 meeting notes)
    • Continue discussion of improving site's aesthetics
    • Archiving projects
      • Add "Archived" checkbox?
      • Add "Archived" to Visibility options?
      • Add "Archived" to Project Status options? (probably not - this mixes the status of the project itself with whether we still want it to show up on the site)
      • Remove from nested listings, still publicly available?

    TODO:

    • Main map:
      • See CSU's campus map (Sustainability section) for inspiration
      • Campus boundary, like ArcGIS Bicycle Map
      • Improve mobile filter?
      • Use heatmap when zoomed out, switch to markers when zoomed in?
    • (long term goal) look into importing information from another source, e.g. SSC students without iCAP Portal access can put together info in a structured format for automatic import into iCAP Portal
    • Look into Collection embedding again, à la Drawdown Solutions Library Sammy had found ("Filter by sector or area of action" section)
      • SSC project embedding: add category filtering options
    • Metric search/display:
      • Theme (via connected Project, i.e. Theme -> Project -> Metric)
      • Most recent updates as of: (list of years) -> can we query Tracking data?
      • (Internal only) Last updated before (list of years) -> can we query Tracking data?
    • (Low Priority) Make column headers click-sortable on Projects by Project Status page
    • 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

    Ideations:

    • Map brainstorming:
      • What if we had a separate Campus Sustainability Tour expandable section, alongside Collections and Themes? Perhaps with a specific order to the locations and information about each location in the infowindow popup? We might have to hand-craft it rather than using Collections, but it might be worth it if we want an interface more like the CSU sustainability map. This could also work for any other bespoke sections we might want to include in the future.
      • Are there other things we'd like to highlight on the map beyond Themes and Collections? If we can think of them, Michael can try to figure out how to make it happen.
      • Michael is working on trying to make the map queries work asynchronously so each filter doesn't require a new pageload. This would make interactions with the map much snappier.
      • Would we like to provide the ability to view individual projects for each section in the sidebar, à la CSU's map?
      • Are there other categories we would like to include, either in addition to or instead of Collections and Themes? Is that information already in the iCAP Portal? If so, perhaps there's a way we can use it... If not, perhaps a new tagging system specifically for the map might help us achieve it?
      • Sarthak: would like to create a Biking Tour
      • Reed: highlight things students can see/experience
    • SSC projects
      • May want to use this Archive of Funded Projects on old SSC site (2019) as a reference for showing SSC project info
      • Discussed using iCAP Portal projects for SSC projects page vs. maintaining own project pages directly on SSC website.
      • One possible challenge - SSC sometimes funds part of a project or provides funding for a period of time (e.g. 1 year) for a longer-term project, so only the project updates for that period of time are relevant, not all updates in perpetuity. How do we handle that?
      • Decided to start with map embed from Student Sustainability Committee Funded Projects collection, then look at adding card-based project embed as well.
      • SSC project integration discussion on 11/30/2023:
        • New projects need to be approved and located appropriately in portal hierarchy
        • Codie considers an SSC project worth adding once it has a CFOAP
        • Projects can be updated w/SSC info by SSC students/employees once they exist in portal
        • How to show projects with multiple funding allocations over time? (e.g. $100K in spring 2020, $100K in fall 2020)
          • Is it the same project over time? Sometimes it is, but sometimes the leaders change and the direction changes significantly
          • Discussed dusting off the Project Funding feature we'd deprecated several years ago. It looks promising for showing SSC's funding of projects!
        • Michael and Codie will meet next week to discuss specifics about what SSC needs the iCAP Portal to be able to do in order to use the iCAP Portal for the SSC website's project listing.

  8. RA Tax Credit - CDB IGA

    Associated Project(s): 
    Facility Standards

    All

    Per our discussion from the meeting on 12/8/2023 I reached out to Ebone White and Angela Jacobs with your concerns that language be included to the current IGA template that is being produced to ensure that CBD cannot file for the IRA tax credit due to property being owned by the University. Ebone informed me that they will add it to their working draft for discussion with CDB and legal.

     

    Thank you

    Angie

  9. Small Solar at Energy Farm

    Associated Project(s): 
    Carbon-Neutral Energy for Campus

     

     

     

    Energy Tax Credit Form

    Webtools Form 447240223 submitted by:
    Tim Mies 
    College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (KL), Department of Crop Sciences (802), Staff
    11/09/2023 11:52 A.M.

    Thank you for submitting the Energy Tax Credit Form. The applicable University Liaison will contact you after it has been reviewed.

    1. Location:
    UIUC

    2. Applicant College/Department:
    Crop Sciences

    3. Project number and/or building (if applicable):
    near Energy Farm

    4. Anticipated beginning of construction date:
    2/1/2024

    5. Anticipated placed in service date:
    6/1/2024

    6. Total project budget (basis or cost):
    91,000

    7. Estimated construction costs (only include total energy project cost, including contingency):
    81,600

    8. Will the property be owned by the university as a depreciable asset?
    Yes

    9. Will the property be financed with tax-exempt bonds?
    No

    10. If yes, what percentage of the property is financed with tax-exempt bonds?

    11. Is the energy property funded by a restricted grant or restricted forgivable loan**?
    No

    12. If yes, what amount is funded by a restricted grant or restricted forgivable loan?

    13. Provide a brief description of the project and the energy component that may qualify for the tax credit:
    Project will connect existing 15kw solar panels to campus electrical grid.

    14. Briefly describe the proposed intended use of the tax credit funds:
    Funds will be used to support campus ICAP efforts

    15. What tax credit is applicable for the project?
    Investment tax credit IRC Section 48: qualified energy property or technology (Appendix A)

    16. Is this energy property funded by a grant made under Section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment of 2009 (The 1603 Program: Payments for Specified Energy Property in lieu of Tax Credits)?
    No

    17. Which of the following options describes the property?
    equipment which uses solar energy to generate electricity, to heat or cool (or provide hot water for use in) a structure, or to provide solar process heat, except property used to generate energy for the purposes of heating a swimming pool, or

    18. Is there qualified interconnection property associated with the project?
    No

    19. If yes, what is the basis (cost) of any qualified interconnection property associated with the energy project?

    20. Is the property part of a clean hydrogen production facility?
    No

    21. Does the project meet one (1) of the following requirements (five (5) times base credit amount for a total of 30%)?
    Yes

    22. If yes, which requirement is met?
    Item #1

    23. Does the project meet the domestic content bonus credit**?
    No

    24. Is the project located in an energy community**?
    No

    25. Do you want to proceed?
    Yes

    53. Submission and Liaisons
    Timothy Mies, Director Energy Farm Operations, 11/09/2023

     

     

     

     

     

     

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

    Hi Angie,

     

    I’ve reviewed this form (actually, Tim filled it out while I was with him), and I agree this small solar installation at UIUC should qualify for the IRA Tax Credit.  I understand that the next step is for you to review it, and then forward it to the Treasury Office for their review and processing.

     

    Please let me and Tim know if you have any questions.

     

    Thanks,

    Morgan

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

     

    Morgan,

     

    Is this project actually a solar installation or just the interconnection?

     

    From below:

    “Project will connect existing 15kw solar panels to campus electrical grid.”

     

    If this is not the purchase/construction of solar panels for original use, it is not property as described under Section 48:

    equipment which uses solar energy to generate electricity, to heat or cool (or provide hot water for use in) a structure, or to provide solar process heat, except property used to generate energy for the purposes of heating a swimming pool,

     

    I’m happy to set up a time to discuss if that helps.

     

    Kimberly A. Maxwell, CPA

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

    Hi Tim and Rob,

     

    I’d like your perspective on this question about the small solar at the Energy Farm.  If you would like to discuss it, please let me know who to include in a call with the tax office.

     

    Thank you,

    Morgan

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

    Hi Morgan,

     

    Happy to discuss this further to determine if this project can meet the requirements for the credit.  Do we want to discuss internally first?

     

    Best,
    Tim

  10. Discussion about SSC projects in iCAP Portal - December 8, 2023

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability iCAP Portal

    Michael McKelvey and Codie Sterner met on December 8, 2023 to discuss what information SSC would like to track and display about various SSC-funded projects. Major questions:

    • What fields currently in the iCAP Portal are helpful to show for the SSC project listing?
    • What new fields would be helpful for the SSC project listing?
    • How closely does the current implementation of Project Funding align with what SSC would like to display?
    • Discussion of envisioned listings/displays of information, metadata about projects (e.g. funding dates, status, etc.), and connections between different content types (e.g. project updates - how do we show only a project's updates which are relevant to SSC?)

    See attached Notes document for details.

    Attached Files: 

  11. Education iCAP Team December 2023 Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Education iCAP Team
    Sustainability Literacy Assessment
    Sustainability in Study Abroad
    Sustainability Internship Program

    The Education iCAP team met on Teams from 1-2 PM on Thursday, December 7th. The team discussed Sustainability in Study Abroad, the Sustainability Literacy assessment, and the Sustainability Internship Coordinator recommendation. Meeting minutes are attached.

    Attached Files: 

  12. iSEE Campus Sustainability Team Meeting notes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)

    Notes from our Campus Sustainability team meeting are attached.

    Actions:

    Miriam reaching back out to Ball State for more info on their program

    Jen reaching out to DIA for a mtg-some direct requests for signage, staff support for recycling collection, getting volunteers

    Morgan asked F&S to do an analysis of what could be accomplished with current $$ from carbon credit sales

    Ask Daphne to look into options for SFC bins

    Morgan would like for Madhu to speak to Paul Ellinger for his perspective on the carbon credit sales

    Jen to reach out to Lowa and Alma about water quality testing

    Miriam working to set up time with SSLC in Jan for a touch base meeting

    -Elizabeth

    Attached Files: 

  14. New Greener Campus Certifications - Fall 2023

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

    14 campus events have been recognized by iSEE's Certified Green Events program this fall, and two fraternities were recertified Gold under the Certified Green Chapter program — Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity and the Triangle Alpha Chapter. The events included: August — New Student Convocation, Gov. J.B. Pritzker Visit, Illinois Promise Lunch, Exchange & International Student Welcome Event, Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Visit, Dennis H. May Diversity Conference on Mental Health and Higher Education, ABA TechShow; September — CCFD Kick-off, Illinois News Broadcasters Association Reception, Men's Football Games (Suite and Pregame Events), 2023 Great Lakes Sea Grant Network Meeting; October — Illini Lights Out; November — weSTEM Conference, P&T Bookplate Reception.  

  16. Zero Waste iCAP Team Meeting Minutes 12/4/2023

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    "Don't Waste" with Coca-Cola
    Green Sports Alliance (GSA)

    The Zero Waste iCAP Team met on 12/4/2024 to discuss updates with our membership in the Green Sports Alliance, the Coca-Cola Buy-Back program, and current hydration station standards. Daphne Hulse provided data from our former Green Tailgate events to show successes and challenges with waste diversion at football games. The Zero Waste Team will be collaborating with the Engagement iCAP Team to discuss how we can better our volunteer outreach. 

    Attached Files: 

  17. EPA funding opportunity?

    Associated Project(s): 
    Addressing Community Health Disparities from Hazardous Waste
    Install Appropriate Waste Collection Infrastructure

    Hi Susan,

     

    I hope this message finds you well after the holiday weekend. I wanted to reach out regarding the recent EPA notice of funding opportunity for the Inflation Reduction Act Community Change Grant Program, which you may have already heard about. I attached the full notice of funding opportunity document to this email. The due date for applications is November 21, 2024. Community-based non-profits can partner with institutions of higher education on a collaborative project.

     

    Track 1 applications, community-driven investments for change, covers a broad area of community conditions that could be assessed. One of the specific objectives covered is “reduce local pollution to improve public health.” I understand that building a HHW facility for the county would address pollutants that may otherwise end up improperly disposed of.

     

    I just wanted to reach out and call your attention to this opportunity in case you hadn’t already heard about it. Do you think this could be useful for funding the HHW facility? If so, I’d certainly be interested in being involved!

     

    Thank you,

    Daphne

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

    Hi Daphne, 

     

    This is definitely the best email I've received recently!!!  OMG. CCES is potentially so very interested. 

    I'll be reviewing this and will touch base with you ASAP.  

     

    Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention. 

     

    Susan Monte

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

    Hi Jen, Morgan, & Pete,

     

    Exciting news – big EPA notice of funding opportunity just released from the IRA for $2B, applications due a year from now. Community-based non-profits can partner with institutions of higher education on an environment justice project. The Champaign County Environmental Stewards have been wanting to tackle our lack of household hazardous waste facility here in Champaign County for some time. This would be a huge win for campus waste, too. Depending on what we scour in the notice of funding opportunity document (i.e. assuming we are eligible), this would be something I’d like to explore pursuing with CCES.

     

    Thank you,

    Daphne

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

     

    Hi Daphne,

     

    I skimmed the RFP (here) and noticed a strong emphasis on environmental justice. The program objective is “redressing environmental and climate injustices for communities facing legacy pollution, climate change, and persistent disinvestment.”

     

    I think iSEE /the Resilience team can help with a proposal. It would be a good idea for us to discuss how best to do this.

     

    One immediate thought I had was whether we could combine a hazardous waste facility with a facility for waste-to-energy conversion and build in job/economic opportunities in the community much like the Green Era Campus in Chicago. It doesn’t need to be an anaerobic digestor (although we certainly have enough organic waste generated regionally to support one).

                                                                 

    Let me know what you think.

     

    Jen

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

     

    Hi Jen,


    Good catch on the environmental justice piece. I like your line of thinking on how we can incorporate additional features into a HHW facility. I think it would be great to chat about this with the CCES and determine a shared direction. I’m waiting to hear back from Susan and would be happy to schedule this.

     

    Thank you,

    Daphne

  20. CCB's year-end gathering this Saturday afternoon.

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reduce Driving on Campus
    Increase Bicycle Use

    You might be a long-time friend of CCB, or someone we just met at the Farmer's Market this summer.  Either way, come hang out for a while with us at the 25 O'Clock Brewing Company.  We will bring the snacks, you bring your stories from 2023 and ideas for 2024.

     

    And you are welcome to bring a cyclist friend with you.

     

    See you Saturday!

     

    Jeff

    Attached Files: 

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