CHAMPAIGN, IL (October 22, 2014) – Eight facilities on the Urbana campus will win funding for facility improvements as recipients of the 2014 Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP) awards on Wednesday, October 22 at 3:00 p.m. in Illini Union 314B as a part of the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) Forum.

Last year, the ECIP awarded more than $250K in pre-approved energy conservation projects.

The list of FY14 winning facilities is attached.

Dear Al,

Attached please find a reply from the iCAP Working Group regarding the wind PPA process.

By the way, thanks so much for your participation in iSEE's Roundtable this week...sorry we didn't get a chance to chat!

Cheers,

Ben

--

Professor Benjamin J. McCall

Associate Director for Campus Sustainability Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus-sustainability@illinois.edu

Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) Water Audit Webinar – Oct. 21 at 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. (web only)

“Water Use and Conservation on Illinois College Campuses: The Ripple Effect”

The Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN) and the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) are partnering to train college faculty and staff to conduct water audits on their campuses, increasing knowledge about water on college campuses, and furthering ISTC’s goal of reducing water consumption in Illinois by One Billion Gallons. To do so, IGEN and ISTC will implement a three-phase program. In the first phase of the program, IGEN will cohost a webinar with ISTC to educate interested colleges on the basics of water audits. The webinar will cover the following information:

• Details of what a comprehensive water audit encompasses: the built environment, the campus landscaping, and the local topography/watershed;
• Where to find specific information on water use on a college campus: what bills, what departments have information, what is metered, etc.;
• Potential benefits of water audits: how to save money, water, and energy, and the environmental impacts; and
• Overview of the next phases of the program and how to participate.

Speakers will be: Megan Chery, Manager of Alliance for Water Efficiency; Aaron Dunbaugh, Director of Sustainability at Loyola University Chicago; and Michelle Maddaus, Founder and Civil Engineer with Maddaus Waste Management.

Please register to attend the webinar at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/154690976. For additional information visit http://www.igencc.org/node/1115.

In the second phase of the program, IGEN and ISTC will arrange regional training sessions at several Illinois community colleges to train stakeholders on how to conduct a comprehensive water audit on campus. In the third phase of the program, colleges will conduct water audits on their campuses and make recommendations that will reduce water consumption and apply for grants to implement the projects.

ISTC is a division of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

From: Lage, Stephanie M
Sent: Friday, September 26, 2014 2:50 PM
To: Bender, Karen L; Vanhoy, Roger; Fruehling, Amy; Goodlad, Lauren M E; Hodson, Piper; Chakraborty, Arnab; Johnston, Morgan B; Ben McCall
Cc: Kokini, Jenny; Rosenbery, Amy Nichole; Mancuso, Anthony D; Khanna, Madhu
Subject: Roundtable October 7

Good afternoon,

We are finalizing some details for the Roundtable Discussion on Tuesday, October 7, 2014.

As you can see on the attached agenda, the event begins at 9:30 and will be finished up by 4:00.

We have 12 visitors coming from corporations, government and non-government agencies. We hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to interact with them and stay for the whole day, particularly for the roundtable discussion, and the small group discussion. 

Please confirm your attendance for lunch and the afternoon discussions so that we can finalize lunch counts and appropriate seating arrangements.

Thanks!

Stephanie 

Stephanie M. Lage

Assistant Director

Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment

Attached here are the agenda and other relevant materials for the September 25, 2014 meeting of the iCAP Working Group.

This letter is in response to the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) Working Group (iWG) recommendation #EG001, which Facilities & Services (F&S) received on August 28.  F&S agrees that the campus should investigate the feasibility of entering into a Wind Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to increase the use of renewable energy for campus. 

Regarding the EG001 general statements about campus energy use, data points, and assessments of anticipated financial impacts, F&S will need more time to compile a useful response.  Regarding the three specific EG001 recommendations, I have consulted with Al Stratman, Kent Reifsteck, and Mike Larson to provide the responses below. 

1. Recommendation: “The campus should undertake a Power Purchase Agreement for wind energy. Based on currently available information, we recommend that the amount be at least 119 million kWh per year (25% of our total electrical usage), but we should aim to purchase as much as we possibly can, given any technical, financial, and contractual constraints.”

From this recommendation, we understand that the iWG recommends entering into a Wind PPA for at least 25% of the FY15 electrical demand.  However, the campus cannot make an informed decision about whether or not to undertake a PPA until the financial impact is fully understood.  A key component of the financial impact is the fully burdened cost of the purchased wind power, which will not be known until after the successful completion of the Request for Proposal (RFP) process.  Therefore, F&S does support pursuing a PPA so the feasibility can be evaluated, but we do not support making a final decision to undertake a PPA until completely evaluating the financial implications.

1. Recommendation: “The effort to secure a PPA should be pursued as quickly as possible. The campus should inform PEI that this is a top priority, and that the review of RFI submittals and the issuance of the RFP should be expedited by all necessary means.”

During this summer, F&S worked with PEI to define a schedule for issuing a Request for Information (RFI) and a subsequent Request for Proposals (RFP).  This schedule shows a completion date of April 2015, so that the PPA could commence with delivery of power on July 1, 2015, at the start of FY16.  We have informed PEI that this is a top priority, along with safety and reliability of the overall campus energy system.

1. Recommendation: “The iCAP Working Group should be kept informed and advised during the process of pursuing the RFI, RFP, and PPA, and given the opportunity to provide recommendations before key decisions are made about the PPA, to ensure that technical and financial considerations are appropriately balanced with our campus sustainability objectives.”

F&S values the advice and input from sustainability advocates on campus.  Therefore, we suggest developing a set of interim checkpoints for keeping the iWG informed as the process unfolds.

To meet our Climate Commitment and achieve carbon neutrality, there is a lot of work that needs to be done.  I look forward to working with the iWG and the SWATeams as this recommendation is pursued.

Sincerely,

Morgan B. Johnston

Associate Director of Sustainability, F&S

From: Miller, Kristina Ruth
Sent: Friday, September 12, 2014 8:43 AM
To: Lage, Stephanie M
Cc: Strater, Darren; Alexander, Franklin S
Subject: RE: Air Travel dollars

Hi Stephanie,

Darren Strater asked me to provide you with the information you requested. 

For FY14 Airfare for Chart 1 (UIUC) totaled $14,014,590.  This included extra charges for baggage fees, changed ticket fees and booking charges. 

With JUST the price of the Airfare ticket, the total for Chart 1 (UIUS) totaled $13,671,434.

If you need a formal breakdown, please let me know.

Kristina R. Miller

Analytics and Operations Support Coordinator

University of Illinois

OBFS University Payables