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Projects Updates for key objective: No name

  1. Archived iCAP page information

    Associated Project(s): 
    Large-Scale Food Waste Composting

    The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is pursuing development of a large-scale food waste composting facility on the University’s property, in order to compost food waste from University dining halls.  This interest is precipitated by the commitment made by the University in the 2010 Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP): “The University will commit to… a large‐scale food composting project by 2012.” The new facility will initially receive and process all acceptable pre- and post-consumer food waste from six dining halls on campus, as well as supplementary landscape waste as necessary carbon bulking material from Campus Grounds. In the future, if needed, the system may accept additional landscape waste from the city of Champaign as well as livestock bedding and other animal-related organic waste from the University’s Agricultural and Animal Sciences Departments. The finished product will provide rich compost material to agricultural projects on campus such as the Sustainable Student Farm, as well as to campus grounds and athletic fields.

    Background

    The University of Illinois is dedicated to composting across the board.  There are three main academic campuses at Urbana, Springfield, and Chicago and two medical campuses at Peoria and Rockford.  We are in communication with all of these sites about the future of composting at the University.  This is an exciting opportunity for the sustainability contacts to work together and support each other in a major sustainability initiative.  Additionally, the University Extension office has a long history of supporting sustainability and has numerous resources for composting operations that we can call upon as the project progresses. 

    In 2008, the Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, pledging to become carbon neutral by the year 2050.  As part of this commitment, the University published “Illinois: A Climate Action Plan (iCAP)” in May 2010, describing several projects related to various aspects of campus sustainability.  This document is available online at http://sustainability.illinois.edu/iCAP.html.  

    The Procurement and Waste aspects of campus sustainability are highlighted on page five of the iCAP.  It states “The University will commit to a Zero Waste campus policy by 2012, a large-scale food composting project by 2012, and target an increase in the University’s waste diversion rate to 75 percent by 2020.”  The specific project is listed on page 34 item 4 under Agricultural targets, as “Incorporate a large-scale food composting project by 2012.” 

    The composting project also has significant support from campus leadership represented by Associate Chancellor Pradeep Khanna, Facilities & Services as represented by Tracy Osby the Waste Management Coordinator and Jack Dempsey the Executive Director, and the students as represented by the Student Sustainability Committee.  The Office of Sustainability works closely with Facilities and Services to assist with the various projects in the Climate Action Plan, and will assist with project implementation and promotional information.

    Currently, approximately 1411 tons of food-waste is collected annually from the five major Dining Halls on campus.  Unfortunately, all of this waste is sent to the Clinton Landfill.  There was a small pilot composting project which diverted about five percent of this waste during the short pilot test phase, but it has not been in operation for the last year.  The proposed Large-Scale Food Waste Composting Facility will divert 100 percent of this food-waste and utilize Grounds department landscape waste to generate approximately 2,822 tons of high-quality compost annually.  The compost material will be used solely on University land, including the campus grounds, athletic fields, and the Sustainable Student Farm project.  Future expansion of composting operations could incorporate the animal waste at the Beef and Sheep Facility, which is directly south of the Compost Facility.   At that time, the finished product may be used on certain crop sciences lands.

  2. Bousfield Hall receives Platinum LEED status

    Associated Project(s): 
    LEED Certification

    Bousfield Hall LEED® Certified: Bousfield Hall, which opened in Fall 2013, became the third university facility to achieve LEED Platinum status, the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest certification level, joining the Business Instructional Facility and Lincoln Hall.

  3. Updated RFP schedule from PEI

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

    I am providing an updated schedule for the RFP related to a wind-power PPA for UIUC.  The change reflects a request by one vendor to extend the response period by one week.  Because of that, we have made other slight modifications to target dates for some of the milestones, but the original completion date of April 30, 2015 is maintained.

    If you have any question, please let me know.  Dan Mortland

    Attached Files: 

  4. revised schedule

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

    Morgan,

    I understand the deadline for submitting the RFI was extended until September 5 based on the requests from some vendors for more time to prepare their responses.

    UA / PEI will be forwarding more info and will be looking to keep the overall schedule from being extended.

    Thanks

    Kent

  7. August 2014 SSLC Meeting notes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Sustainability Leadership Council (SSLC)
    Zero Waste Gameday Challenge Fall 2014
    iSEE Congress
    Illinois: A Climate Action Plan (2010 iCAP) [ARCHIVED]

    iSEE leaders provided an introduction to the SSLC

    Six Objectives: Facilitate communication, facilitate collaboration, provide a forum for student leaders to voice their opinions to iSEE and thereby to the campus administration, help identify students who can serve on iSEE working groups or advisory groups, help identify potential interns, encourage more awareness about sustainability among student body

    Unofficial objective: Create political will/pressure to implement sustainability initiatives

    Topics covered:

    • 2010 iCAP progress toward 2015 objectives
    • iSEE Congress
    • Zero Waste Game Day
    • SSLC organizational structure
    Attached Files: 

  13. LEED Lab information for EBOM

    Associated Project(s): 
    LEED Certification

    LEED Lab

    This multidisciplinary immersion course which utilizes the built environment to educate and prepare students to become green building leaders. In the course students assess the performance of existing facilities on campus and chose one building where they will facilitate the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (LEED EB:O&M) process with the goal of certifying the facility. At the close of the semester the students are prepared to sit for the LEED EB:O&M professional credential exam. To learn more visit LEED Lab. Under “How” the Welcome Packet and LEED Lab Timing Chart are available for download. To express interest please complete this form.

    The LEED Lab Timing Chart is organized in such a way to help with sequencing of the coursework. Faculty can choose to start with campus credits first before focusing on an individual building or go straight to the building level credits.

    The LEED v4 O&M Candidate Handbook can be found here. Pages 12-14 outline the job tasks of a LEED AP and what type of information GBCI will be testing. Information in the candidate handbook could be used to establish student learning outcomes for the course.

    Jaime Van Mourik
    Director, Higher Education
    U.S. Green Building Council

  14. Zero Waste Event at State Farm Center

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste
    RecycleMania
    Zero Waste Gameday Challenge Spring 2014
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    “Zero Waste” is a common term that refers to the desired outcome rather than any expectation. The goal of the Zero Waste Event at State Farm Center as stated to the SSC was to change to the habits of fans, starting with a single basketball game as part of the national Recyclemania competition. The desired outcome is for the State Farm Center to move from a single bin system to dual bin system. The new system will be accompanied with new signage for clarification.

    Attached Files: 

  15. Allerton Park Solar Array-Phase II

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Power on Campus
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    Allerton Park already has a solar array located near its Visitors’ Center. The second phase of the Allerton Park Solar Array project involves working with a Learning In Community (LINC) class to construct a second ground-mounted solar recharge array. This second phase builds on the success of the existing array with the adjacent construction of an additional 60 panels. The design of the Phase 2 array utilizes an innovative floating foundation system that allows for portability of the array if necessary. The total array provides 14.7kW of peak power, which translates to a projected annual output of 14,653 kWh(about 15-20% of total apCAP solar goals). Power at the panel and array level can be monitored remotely and be publicly viewable via an online dashboard which displays the impact of the solar power contribution in terms of energy equivalents: gallons of gasoline, light bills, tons of coal, barrels of crude oil, and planted trees.

    Attached Files: 

  16. Coffee Ground Repurposing

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reduce Foodwaste
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    The Coffee Ground Repurposing Project, spearheaded by University Housing, seeks to create a coffee ground recycling network on the University of Illinois campus. Rather than discarding used coffee grounds and sending them to a landfill, University Housing will offer used coffee grounds from the dining halls to the public for composting and re-use. The project has two main goals. First, the project will further minimize the amount of food items being directed to the landfill from University Dining Halls. Second, and more importantly, the program will be an educational tool to demonstrate to UIUC students how nearly every item they dispose of has an alternative use as opposed to being sent to the landfill.

    Attached Files: 

  17. Element House at the Energy Farm

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illinois Solar Decathlon
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    The 2007 Solar Decathlon house is coming home to Champaign Urbana to a permanent foundation at the University Energy Farm. Funds have been secured for its transportation, placement on a permanent foundation, utility hook ups, and inspection of current systems to ensure safe working order. Funding from the Student Sustainability Committee will defray the costs of upgrading the systems and bringing the house up to code. To meet these goals, the solar array will need to be redesigned and reconstructed; the electrical, lighting, and HVAC systems will need to be updated; and new monitoring equipment will need to be installed. Ultimately, the goal of this project is to have a fully functioning net negative energy residential model home. Student groups are assuming the responsibility for all design, construction, and monitoring tasks as they are able.

    Attached Files: 

  18. SECS Re_home landscaping

    Associated Project(s): 
    Students for Environmental Concerns (SECS)
    Illinois Solar Decathlon
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    In 2011, students at faculty from the University of Illinois develop the Re_Home for the Solar Decathlon Competition. As a result of a new landscaping and beautification plan, the Re_Home has found a permanent place on campus. In maintaining a “sustainability ideology”, the landscaping plans for this project are geared toward sustainability with the use of native, low maintenance plants as well as vegetables, edible herbs, and fruit trees. The Re_Home is an exemplary embodiment of sustainability and its permanent home will serve as a showcase in sustainability education.

    Attached Files: 

  19. Composites in Aviation

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reduce Emissions from Transportation
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    Student Aircraft Builders (SAB) is an organization dedicated to teaching students from all across campus how to work together as a team to successfully construct a flyable airplane. The goal of the Composites in Aviation project has two phases. The first phase constructs a quarter scale glider powered by alternative energy. The second phase graduates from a model to a full-sized glider. Through the use of composite materials and an innovate design from an aerospace engineer, the finished glider will exemplify the future of more fuel-efficient long-range flight.

    Attached Files: 

  20. Zero Waste Plan has been drafted

    Associated Project(s): 
    Establish a Net Zero Waste Plan and Policy

    A Zero Waste Plan has been drafted for the Urbana-Champaign campus at the Univeristy of Illinois.  The plan is currently being reviewed by the Purchasing and Waste SWATeam.  Once agreement is reached, the document will be forwarded to the Sustainability Working Group for consideration of implementation.

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