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Projects Updates for key objective: No name

  1. ECBS SWATeam meeting minutes

    At the ECBS SWATeam meeting the report from student capstone project on attitudes toward fume hood energy conservation was discussed. There is a need to sign up the labs for the Freezer Challenge project before January 15, 2017. The last in the fall semester, the Illini Lights Out project is expected on December 9. The Status of Green Labs recommendation was discussed. 

  2. Archived - previous project name and description

    Associated Project(s): 

    Previous project name: Charge True Costs to Campus Users including Carbon Offsets

    Previous project description: Several externalities exist for campus operations and business practices, and these are not fully captured in the every-day cost charged to campus users.  For example, purchasing an item from the iBuy system does not include the cost of disposal for that item in the future.

  3. Funding Tracking System Feature - Retired

    Associated Project(s): 

    The original iCAP Portal included a robust Funding tracking system, as described in the attached document. This tracking became too cumbersome and the iCAP Portal Administrators decided to leave the financial tracking to the University’s Banner Financial System instead of working to replicate it in the iCAP Portal.

     

    See the Funding tracking system in the attached files.

    Attached Files: 
  4. EGEN SWATeam Meeting (12.2.16)

    The EGEN SWATeam held their final meeting for the Fall 2016 semester. Topics covered include:

    • Guest presentation by Niharika Kishore regarding rooftop solar on campus
    • Potential recommendations to Working Group
    • Potential solar: greenspace vs. rooftop vs. parking lot cover
  5. archived info - previous project intro

    Associated Project(s): 

    A key piece of the Institute’s mission is to prepare the next generation of leaders in sustainability. To that end, its first education initiative is the development of a campuswide undergraduate minor in sustainability.

    This minor, named the Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (SEE) Fellows Program, will promote systems-level thinking about issues of sustainability. Students will develop an integrative understanding of sustainability and understand the trade-offs, barriers, and implications for sustainable decision making. The minor will replace the existing Environmental Fellows Program and provide a broader opportunity for interdisciplinary education, internships, and capstone research projects in the area of sustainability.

  6. Status update for purchasing offsets

    iSEE is working with the Purchasing Division to publish a Request for Proposals (RFP) to purchase carbon offsets.  These will include replacement offsets for the 2015 Carbon Credits (CCs) sold, and an option to purchase an additional 10,000 CCs to start an internal virtual storeroom for voluntary departmental offsets.

  7. FY 16 RCx Progress Report

    Associated Project(s): 

    The Retrocommissioning (RCx) team has completed nine years of operation on campus in more than 60 campus buildings covering over 8 million square ft. of campus space, having begun our work in Aug. 2007. We have avoided utility costs of over $47M considering the campus fully loaded utility rate or $39M considering the campus variable utility rate. We have also secured millions of dollars in DCEO grants in the past years, including $1.5 million in FY16. We continue to accrue and maintain significant energy usage reductions (average of 27%) on our retrocommissioned buildings. This rate of energy reductions has been generally maintained for 8+ years. More investment in larger projects will be needed going forward to achieve larger energy conservation results.

    Attached Files: 
  8. EGEN SWATeam Meeting (11.9.16)

    The EGEN SWATeam held their fourth meeting for the Fall 2016 semester. Topics covered include:

    • Guest presentation by Yu-Feng Forrest Lin to discuss his work on investigating campus geothermal properties
    • View draft recommendation for Petascale offsets
    • Review draft recommendation for on-campus solar
  9. Urban Legend - debunked

    "As the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign considers installing more solar photovoltaic modules on the roofs of buildings, the discussion turns to the type of mounting systems to consider. This discussion often elicits the tale of the modules that were originally installed on the roof of the Business Instructional Facility (BIF) using a ballast-mounted system, that is, a mounting system held down using heavy weights such as concrete blocks. The story goes that a few of the PV modules blew off the roof of the building, and this subsequently led to the modules being installed with a racking system attached to the roof of the building.

    This story is an urban legend..."

    Read file for more information and photos.

     

    Attached Files: 
  10. SWATeam assessment for FY16

    Associated Project(s): 

    Status: In Progress
    • Several initiatives underway focusing on student engagement — including Illini Lights Out and Eco-Olympics.
    • Initiatives are continuing for staff and faculty engagement — Certified Green Office Program, Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP).
    • Forming a plan to work toward a Green Labs program that would focus on reducing energy consumption in labs (e.g. fume hoods, refrigeration).

    Attached Files: 
  11. Biomass Boiler at Energy Farm

    Construction is underway in Fall 2016 to install a 200 kW biomass boiler at the Energy Farm. This system will initially satisfy all heating needs for the greenhouse onsite, and will replace the current propane heating system. In the future, more buildings may be added to the boiler system.

  12. Geothermal Profile Project

    Beginning Fall 2016, a team at the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS, a division of the prairie Research Institute) led by Illinois Professor Yu-Feng Forrest Lin is conducting a series of detailed observations of the geothermal profile on campus - including high-resolution temperature profiling and thermal analysis. The team will drill to 330 ft and install a geothermal loop and fiberoptic cables. Results will help determine the feasibility of implementing geothermal systems on campus by identifying costs and possible challenges.

    Professor Lin has coordinated with faculty from the University of Wisconsin to incorporate lessons learned from their implementation of a geothermal exchange system at the nearby EPIC health care systems campus in Verona, WI.

    Professor Lin's team began drilling on 9/19/16. Daily drilling progress is logged and can be found by clicking this link.

    Attached Files: 

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