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Projects Updates for key objective: No name

  1. News Release - Solar Farm one year anniversary

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Farm 1.0
    Use Clean Power

    In its first year of commercial operation from December 11, 2015, to December 10, 2016, the Solar Farm generated 7,284 megawatt-hours (MWh) of clean, renewable energy for the Urbana campus, successfully meeting expectations.

    solar farmUnder a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Phoenix Solar South Farms, LLC, the university acquires all of the power generated by the Solar Farm and all associated renewable energy credits and carbon credits. Notable first-year production achievements of the Solar Farm include:

    • Provided 1.95% of projected FY17 annual electricity consumption1
    • Supplied almost 14% of the campus electrical demand at noon on April 3, 2016
    • Delivered 900 MWh of power to the campus grid in June 2016, the highest month of production
    • Frequently generated over 4 MW of power; system capacity is 4.68 MWac
    • Reduced the campus carbon footprint by more than 6,000 metric tons of CO2e

    The Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP), the Urbana campus’ strategic sustainability plan, set a goal of obtaining at least 120,000 MWh of power per year from low-carbon sources by FY20. With the Solar Farm’s electrical production and the university’s wind PPA with Rail Splitter Wind Farm LLC, the campus is 25% of the way toward meeting this goal.

    Hourly information on the Solar Farm’s energy production and impact to campus since first-connected in November 2015 is available at: http://go.illinois.edu/solar.

    Attached Files: 

  2. Final Report by Logan Ebling

    Associated Project(s): 
    Departmental Bike Sharing
    Sustainability Minor

    Logan’s final paper. Pretty fun.

     

    Highlights:

    • “[Bicycle fleets] promotes positive social interactions.”
    • “..I think most of these worries go away [about bike fleets]… one issue that  I saw coming up almost every time a discussion …was money. While totally understandable, it is also frustrating that there is a lack of desire to spend even a low amount of money to purchase one bicycle for employee use.”
    • “…If they [departments] truly don’t have the money to spend, then perhaps the University as a whole should be assigning a sustainability budget specifically to each department that they can spend at their discretion in the name of sustainability.”
    • “Bicycling on campus is the fastest mode of transportation; however, that would not be the case if the bikes are not located conveniently right outside your door or at least at a building next door. For bike sharing dock-style to match the convenience of a dedicated bicycle at the department’s building, the docks would have to be ubiquitous across campus, quite literally outside every building. Financially and logistically, I don’t think that is possible. To me, departmental bicycle fleets would be entirely more convenient for staff needing to get around campus quickly and efficiently.”

     

    And, lastly, “In my opinion, the benefits are so numerous [for bike fleets] that the University should be aggressively funding and initiating bicycle fleets on campus.”

    ~per Lily Wilcock

    Attached Files: 

  3. Sarthak Prasad Final Report: Independent study with Morgan Johnston ENG 573 (fall 2016)

    Associated Project(s): 
    LED Campus
    LED Exterior Lights
    LED Exit Signs
    Sustainability iCAP Portal

    Sarthak Prasad completed his independent study with Dr. Rizwan Uddin in fall 2016. Please see attached the final report from this study.

    Attached Files: 

  4. Idea for LEED transportation credit

    Associated Project(s): 
    Decrease Emissions from UI Fleet
    LEED Certification
    Support Zipcar in Champaign-Urbana
    Use Electric Vehicles (EV)

    The LEED transportation credit for encouraging low emission vehicles can be obtained if there are dedicated spaces for low-emission vehicles near the building in question.  In general, the University is not adding new parking spaces for new buildings, so it is difficult to achieve this LEED point.  One method is to add a Zipcar space for the building, and another is to add an Electric Vehicle charging station.  Grant Colella, a Project Manager at F&S, suggested a long-term plan to change all of the campus fleet to low emission vehicles, so the dedicated service vehicle spaces would also be low emission vehicle spaces.

  5. News Release - Wind PPA signed

    Associated Project(s): 
    Wind Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)

    CHAMPAIGN, IL –  A 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) between Prairieland Energy, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the University of Illinois, and Rail Splitter Wind Farm LLC, a subsidiary of EDP Renewables (EDPR) North America LLC, will significantly increase the amount of renewable energy used by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

    For 10 years, through October 2026, the Urbana campus will receive a percentage-based portion of the wind-generated electricity and associated environmental attributes from the Rail Splitter Wind Farm located north of Lincoln, Illinois. The PPA specifies that 8.6% of the total wind generation from the farm will be sold to the university, which is expected to be an annual amount of more than 25,000 megawatt-hours (MWh).

    This acquisition of wind power — in conjunction with energy generation from the utility-scale 20.8 acre Solar Farm (7,863 MWh/year) brought online last December, and other solar installations on campus — raises the amount of Urbana campus clean energy to approximately 33,200 MWh/year, or 8.9% percent of projected FY17 annual electricity consumption.

    Director of Utilities & Energy Services Kent Reifsteck said, “Obtaining wind power on this scale is a tremendous next step in diversifying and optimizing the university’s energy portfolio to meet future campus demand for more than 54,000 students, faculty, and staff. This long-term contract for low-carbon energy produced in Illinois reinforces the university’s commitment to achieving sustainability goals and developing partnerships for statewide economic development.”

    Since the Illinois Renewable Portfolio Standard was passed in 2007, EDPR has invested more than $1.5 billion in new Illinois wind farms. EDPR is the largest owner of wind energy in the state with an operating fleet of the Rail Splitter Wind Farm, the Top Crop I & II Wind Farms, and the Twin Groves I & II Wind Farms.

    “The PPA with the University of Illinois marks a new path forward for college campuses to play an important role in building a clean energy future,” Tommy Greer, EDPR Director of Energy & REC Sales, said. “We are excited to partner with the campus on a long-term agreement to produce clean, renewable energy in Illinois. This is the first time we have signed a long-term PPA with a university, and we are eager to see other academic institutions follow Illinois’ lead.”

    The Rail Splitter Wind Farm began commercial operation in 2009 with 100.5 MW of installed capacity, which can power roughly 35,000 average U.S. households. The farm’s annual environmental benefits are equivalent to taking more than 45,000 cars off the road.

    The Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP), the Urbana campus’ strategic sustainability plan, contains specific clean energy targets, including an objective to obtain at least 120,000 MWh per year from low-carbon sources by FY20.

    The idea of signing a wind PPA was supported by a formal recommendation from the Energy Generation, Purchasing, and Distribution (EGEN) Sustainability Working Advisory Team (SWATeam). These SWATeams, created by the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE), are charged with tracking progress on the iCAP targets and making recommendations to advance campus sustainability goals.

    The new Provost Fellow for Sustainability, Physics Professor Scott Willenbrock, was previously the chair of the EGEN SWATeam and led the development of the wind PPA recommendation. “It was a natural recommendation to make, but we did not appreciate at the time how nuanced the PPA would be. Many people worked hard to make this a reality,” Willenbrock said.

    Pursuing additional renewable energy projects and power purchase agreements to achieve clean energy targets was one of the recommendations of the Utilities Production and Distribution Master Plan released in September 2015.

    The university is proactively shaping its energy enterprise through improved utility production, distribution, and monitoring methods and systems. Through dedicated energy conservation programs, such as Retrocommissioning, Energy Performance Contracting, campus-wide lighting retrofits, and building system upgrades, the campus has reduced energy consumption by 28% since 2008.

    The university’s good work to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions has allowed the Urbana campus to sell approximately $1.5 million in verified carbon credits since 2014 to fund additional emission reduction and energy conservation projects.

    Wind PPA Factsheet
    Wind PPA news release

     

  6. archived info - previous project description

    Associated Project(s): 
    Wind Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)

    The campus is investigating options for a Wind Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).  There are various potential energy providers, and the costs of such power is currently unknown.  Therefore, the UI is starting with a Request for Information (RFI) which will give campus decision makers an idea of the cost of the wind energy.  Once the information is received, the UI may elect to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP), which would be the first step toward signing a Wind PPA.

  8. ECBS SWATeam meeting minutes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam [ARCHIVED]
    Illini Lights Out
    Green Lab Program
    Fume Hood Shut the Sash Campaign

    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. 

    Attached Files: 

  11. Archived - previous project name and description

    Associated Project(s): 
    Utilize Carbon Credits

    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.

  12. Funding Tracking System Feature - Retired

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability iCAP Portal

    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: 

  13. EGEN SWATeam Meeting (12.2.16)

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam [ARCHIVED]
    Rooftop Solar Potential
    Solar Power on Campus
    Explore Options for 100 Percent Clean Campus Energy

    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
    Attached Files: 

  14. archived info - previous project intro

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability Minor

    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.

  15. Status update for purchasing offsets

    Associated Project(s): 
    Carbon Credit Purchasing Program (C2P2) with Second Nature
    Virtual Storeroom for Carbon Offsets [ARCHIVED]
    Utilize Carbon Credits

    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.

  19. FY 16 RCx Progress Report

    Associated Project(s): 
    Retrocommissioning (RCx)

    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: 

  20. EGEN SWATeam Meeting (11.9.16)

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam [ARCHIVED]
    PPA for National Petascale Computing Facility
    Rooftop Solar Potential
    Geothermal on Campus

    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
    Attached Files: 

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