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Projects Updates for place: ECE Building

  1. Rooftop Solar work to start this summer

    Associated Project(s): 

    The 235,000 GSF facility for the Electrical and Computer Engineering department will integrate instruction and research. This project is to reinforce structural steel members in the building for the future placement of a rooftop solar array. There are 970 modules to install with a total DC power rating of 272 kW.

  2. Project status update

    Associated Project(s): 

    ECE rooftop solar project update:

    1) The original PO bought approximately 500 panels for $240,925.  This was funded with $100K from the DCEO grant, and $140,925 from the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) funding. 

    2) The original funding plan was for a total project cost of $900,000.  It was made up of $225K from the SSC, $250K from DCEO, $100 from the Grainger Center for Engineering, and $325K from the department and college.  When DCEO cut the grant funding with the state budget crisis, the project stalled with just the initial purchase of panels completed.

    3) Current campus project implementation methodology requires this project to go through the Capital Programs process for installation of the panels.  ECE is seeking project funding and approval for the full installation.

    4) ECE has initiated a PO for the remaining 421 panels from a sole source vendor, at a discounted rate. 

  3. Joyce Mast coordinating RFP for the rooftop solar installation

    Associated Project(s): 

    Joyce Mast is coordinating a Request for Purchase to buy and install the solar panels that will go on top of the ECE Building.  The building already has the structural supports for the panels, so the purchase will include the racks, PV panels, and inverters.  Joyce is working with ECE's administrative office, the Purchasing Department, and F&S Capital Programs to facilitate this RFP.

  4. DCEO grant brings building closer to net-zero goal

    Associated Project(s): 

    The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) has awarded a grant of about $250,000 to the Electrical and Computer Engineering Building Solar Panels Project.

    The DCEO grant brings the project’s funding to its goal of $900,000. “This award gives us the final piece that will let us do the solar panels on the building itself,” said Professor Philip Krein, chairman of the ECE Building Committee. ECE ILLINOIS is still seeking funding for the large photovoltaic array that will be placed on the nearby parking structure.

    That array’s power generation, added to power generation from the panels on the building and energy savings from the building’s energy-efficient design, will bring the building’s net-zero energy goal in reach. You can donate a solar panel through the Buy a Bit building wish list.

    • The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) has awarded a grant of about $250,000 for the Electrical and Computer Engineering Building photovoltaic array.
    • The project for the panels on the ECE Building is now fully funded. Funding is still being sought for the large array on the nearby parking garage that will bring the building's net-zero energy goal in reach.
    • The photovoltaic array on the ECE Building will be installed this fall.
    • See the full ECE article for more information.
  5. New ECE Building Project Solar Panels

    The new Electrical and Computer Engineering building (New ECE building) will be operational starting the fall semester of 2014, and will be a unique green building on the University of Illinois campus. It is designed to be the most energy efficient engineering building in the world and is targeting LEED platinum certification, the highest rating for efficiency. With the full planned solar energy complement, the building is projected to achieve net zero energy status. The facility will be one of the two largest net-zero energy buildings in the United States. It will be a facility that supports all its own energy needs – on average over each year – leaving no carbon or fossil consumption footprint. Although the ECE building design itself is intended to achieve LEED Platinum certification, the energy objectives go far beyond this rating to true energy sustainability.

  6. Funding Award and Acceptance Letter_ECE Solar

    The new Electrical and Computer Engineering building (New ECE building) will be operational starting the fall semester of 2014, and will be a unique green building on the University of Illinois campus. It is designed to be the most energy efficient engineering building in the world and is targeting LEED platinum certification, the highest rating for efficiency. With the full planned solar energy complement, the building is projected to achieve net zero energy status. The facility will be one of the two largest net-zero energy buildings in the United States. It will be a facility that supports all its own energy needs – on average over each year – leaving no carbon or fossil consumption footprint. Although the ECE building design itself is intended to achieve LEED Platinum certification, the energy objectives go far beyond this rating to true energy sustainability.

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