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Projects Updates for theme: all

  3. CR2ZW 2022 Week 1 Reporting, Week 2 Begins, Plastics Reduction Certification & More!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Race to Zero Waste

    The following message was sent on behalf of Kristy Jones, the Director of Higher Education Programs and RecycleMania Manager of the National Wildlife Federation:

    Hello Campus Race to Zero Waste 2022 Participants,

     

    Thank you for participating in the 2022 Campus Race to Zero Waste competition!

     

    The CR2ZW team is excited that so many campuses are joining us for this year’s competition. This year’s competition will be flexible; we are encouraging campuses to track your waste and report as much as you can. If you are unable to track waste on campus, please consider hosting an online education and engagement campaign during the competition timeframe. Please reach out to me anytime with questions. (respond to this email, or call 703-438-6262). Please see attached for the CR2ZW 2022 participant badge (two file formats). Please post this on your websites, and share via social media to highlight and celebrate your participation in the 2022 Campus Race to Zero Waste!

    FEATURED NEWS:

    • Week 1 ends tomorrow, Saturday, February 5, 2022
    • Week 2 begins Sunday, February 6, 2022
    • New Plastics Reduction Partner Certification Program (see details below)
    • Graduate Student Fellowship Opportunities (see details below)

     

    UPCOMING DEADLINES, AND OTHER KEY INFORMATION AND RESOURCES:

    • Week 1 reporting is due Wednesday, February 9. Check out the 2021-2022 calendar for upcoming deadlines. To report for Week 1, go to ReTRAC log-in at https://connect.re-trac.com/login and click on Week 1 report. Be sure to click Complete and Save at the bottom of the report.
    • Week 2 begins Sunday, February 6 through Saturday, February 12. Reporting for Week 2 is due, Wednesday, February 16, 2022.
    • New Plastics Reduction Partner Certification Program – The National Wildlife Federation and the Campus Race to Zero Waste are excited to announce the launch of a new certification program for colleges and universities taking action to reduce the purchase and use of plastics on campus.  There are three levels of certification available: Bronze, Silver and Green. Campuses will be asked to report on actions in the following categories: Building Awareness, Support Behavior Change, Assess and Implement Operational Change and Demonstrate Institutional Leadership. This is a FREE program to participate in. Participation in this program is eligible for AASHE STARS innovation credit. Learn more at Plastics Reduction Partner.
    • Graduate Student Fellowship Opportunities: National Wildlife Federation Graduate Student Fellows help to inform and strengthen NWF Education and Engagement programs through dedicated research projects. Monetary fellowship grants are awarded to graduate students working with NWF staff on research that helps to expand the content and development of a variety of efforts across NWF's Education and Engagement programs. Fellows join a national network of current and alumni fellows, many of whom have gone on to lead new businesses, agencies, and programs for sustainability all across the U.S. NWF is currently accepting applications for the six graduate student Fellowship Positions. Learn more and share this opportunity with your network.

     

    More 2022 CR2ZW Competition Resources:

     

    • Check out CR2ZW Guide: Ideas and resources for hosting an online education and engagement campaign. If you are participating in the competition online only, please choose “special category > case study competition” during registration; if you need to make changes to your registration, please reach out to me.
    • Student/Staff FTE: During registration, campuses are asked to enter in their student and staff numbers. We provide a link to a data sheet with this info; however, this information is from late 2020/early 2021, so if you have more current numbers please enter those numbers in. We can update these numbers anytime during registration. We understand that campuses may not be at full capacity.
    • Quick Links – Check out key resources and information for Campus Race to Zero Waste 2022 campus participants including the 2022 Scoreboard, downloadable templates, info on volume to weight estimates, and more. The 2022 Scoreboard will be updated with real-time report links in time for the beginning of the competition.  
    • Competition Tracking and Reporting Webinar Recording – You can watch all webinar recordings from the fall at this link. If you have any questions about tracking and reporting, please do not hesitate to contact me.

    Please contact me with any questions.

     

    Thanks, take care,

    Kristy

     

  4. ABE469 Student Support on iCAP Objective 3.5 - Local Carbon Offset Program

    Associated Project(s): 
    Develop Local Carbon Offset Program [ARCHIVED]

    Meredith Moore and Stacy Gloss are working with ABE469 - Capstone students in the spring 2022 semester.

    Students will obtain (be provided) green house gas emission data for this consulting project such as: .

    • Urbana GHG Air  Emissions
    • U of I GHG  Emissions
    • U of I GHG Air-Travel Emissions
    • **maybe** Champaign Emissions

    For purposes of this project, the U of I client is aiming to eliminate emissions for air travel by FY30.  This project is aimed to offset emissions by 30,000 tons per year by FY 30, related to iCAP objective 3.5. 

    The client should research the Illinois Climate Action Plan carbon reduction goals related to unavoidable air-travel.  The client would like for the consultants to analyze technologies appropriate for campus and our surrounding community; and make recommendations based on this analysis. 

    Technologies that may reduce carbon, or offset carbon on the local scale are listed below.  

    • -solar pv
    • -green roof + roof top solar
    • -solar water heating
    • -geothermal heating
    • -prairie restoration
    • -tree planting
    • -waste to energy from campus farms
    • -compost to energy
    • -water-saving measures (on the heating side reducing fossil fuel use)
    • -cold-climate air-source heat pumps for residential homes
    • -replacement of gas/diesel vehicle with electric vehicles for campus fleet
    • -deep energy retrofits – air sealing & insulation
    • -small wind turbines

    The consulting team should evaluate the scope and project size for technology adoption. Including the anticipated GHGs avoided or offset with project adoption.  What is the cost of installation, including labor costs?  Provide data about cost effectiveness, with breakdown on cost of project per pound or tonne of GHG emissions saved. The projects should be ranked with most cost effective to least effective.  Your research, analysis, and recommendations will be presented by the client to the iSEE Resilience Team and other campus stakeholders to inform a local carbon offset program.

     

  5. Walkability audit: Spring 2022, Meeting 2

    Associated Project(s): 
    Walkability Study

    On 27th Jan, 2022, Sarthak and Sutapa met to discuss the scores of the general Walkability Questionnaire. The draft of the same was sent to all members involved in the audit. They will get back with suggestions/ corrections by the end of February when there will be another group meeting to finalize the scores.

    We also prepared an excel spreadsheet with each question and scores next to it for analyzing the data- attached.

     

    Attached files:

    1. [DRAFT] Updated scoring system- editable document

    2. [DRAFT] Scoring system and priority map

    3. Spreadsheet of General Walkability Questionnaire

  6. Walkability audit: Spring 2022, Meeting 2

    Associated Project(s): 
    Walkability Study

    On 27th Jan, 2022, Sarthak and Sutapa met to discuss the scores of the general Walkability Questionnaire. The draft of the same was sent to all members involved in the audit. They will get back with suggestions/ corrections by the end of February when there will be another group meeting to finalize the scores.

    We also prepared an excel spreadsheet with each question and scores next to it for analyzing the data- attached.

     

    Attached files:

    1. [DRAFT] Updated scoring system- editable document

    2. [DRAFT] Scoring system and priority map

    3. Spreadsheet of General Walkability Questionnaire

  8. Energy Model for Children's Research Center

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Models for Campus Facilities

    The following email chain describes Professor Yi requesting energy data and building layout.

    Professor Yi also notes a student's report on the Children's Research Center Building (which is attached below).

     

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    From: Yi, Yun Kyu

    Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2022 10:34 AM

    To: White, Morgan

    Cc: Keller, Thomas Jeffery; Villanti, Joe

    Subject: Re: energy data request

     

    Hi All,

     

    Hope you had a nice break. I like to update you on building modeling.

    We have four Energyplus (DesignBuilder) models that I can share with you.

     

    I had to review the model made by students to make sure they are close to the actual building.

    Currently, I am adding detailed HVAC systems to the model that can be more realistic.

     

    Would you like to get access to the file? I can share the folder with you all. Also, would you like to discuss the next step?

    Here is one of a report done by a student. 

     

     

    Best

    Yun

     

     -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On Oct 19, 2021, at 9:06 PM, Yi, Yun Kyu wrote:

     

    Hi Morgan,

     

    Thanks to your help, today my class was able to site visit the new Campus Instructional Facility building and new Mech. building.

    Here is a photo of today's visit. Students learned a lot today and I got great feedback today.

     

    Also, I like to discuss some findings from initial energy modeling.

    The BNAACC building is one of the buildings that we are analyzing the energy consumption data. While we compare meter data to energy consumption from simulation results. We observed that the electricity meter is projecting energy consumption exponentially higher than what an average building of such size should be consuming.

     

    I am not sure this building is still in calibration on meter data or something but I will advise having the meter checked. If you need I can send you some of our findings or talk further on this.

     

     

    Best

    Yun

     

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On Aug 12, 2021, at 11:53 AM, Yi, Yun Kyu wrote:

     

    Hi Morgan,

     

    It will be good to get basic drawings like floor plans, elevations, and more specific drawings like HVAC schedule, zoning, section detail, etc.

     

    Many thanks

    Yun

     

     

     -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    From: White, Morgan

    Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2021 10:19 PM

    To: Yi, Yun Kyu

    Cc: Keller, Thomas Jeffery; Villanti, Joe

    Subject: RE: energy data request

     

    Hi Yun,

     

    I need to know what building documents you are seeking.  What specifically do you want to see?

     

    Thanks,

    Morgan

     

    ======================================

    MORGAN B. WHITE

    Associate Director of F&S for Sustainability

     Facilities & Services | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

     

     -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    From: Yi, Yun Kyu

    Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2021 12:48 PM

    To: White, Morgan

    Cc: Keller, Thomas Jeffery; Villanti, Joe

    Subject: Re: energy data request

     

    Hi Marge

     

    I am wondering if we can get these buildings' documents before the semester starts.

    I can ask TA to go over the documents and select documents that need for the class.

    So that we can reduce the number of documents to get approval.

     

    Also, I send an email related to meter data. 

    The Excel file doesn’t have units, could you help me what units were used for the meters.

     

     

    Many thanks

    Yun

     

     

     

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On Jul 28, 2021, at 1:42 PM, White, Morgan wrote:

     

    Hi Yun,

    Please see attached files. 

    Thanks!

    Morgan 

    -----------

    F&S Sustainability

    iCAP Working Group co-chair

    iSEE Liaison and SSC advisor

     

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Begin forwarded message:

    From: "Ewing, Anthony James"

    Date: July 27, 2021 at 9:13:46 AM CDT

    To: "White, Morgan"

    Cc: "Spurlock, Anthony T"

    Subject: RE: energy data request

    

    Hi Morgan –

     

    Attached is the data you’ve requested.

     

    Thanks,

     

    Anthony

     

     

    ANTHONY EWING

    Utilities and Energy Services 

    Facilities and Services

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

     

     

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

    From: Spurlock, Anthony T

    Sent: Monday, July 26, 2021 3:48 PM

    To: Ewing, Anthony James

    Subject: FW: energy data request

     

    Could you handle this data request?  Thanks

     

    Regards,

     

    Anthony Spurlock

    Associate Director of Budget Resources Planning

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 

    Facilities and Services - Utilities & Energy Services Division

     

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

    From: Spurlock, Anthony T 

    Sent: Tuesday, July 6, 2021 4:27 PM

    To: White, Morgan

    Cc: Yi, Yun Kyu; Roman, Robert Raymond; Keller, Thomas Jeffery; Villanti, Joe; Anthony James Ewing

    Subject: RE: energy data request

     

    Morgan,

     

    End of July should not be a problem.

     

    Regards,

     

    Tony

     

    ANTHONY SPURLOCK, CPA

    Associate Director of UES, Budget Resources Planning 

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 

    Facilities and Services 

    Utilities & Energy Services Division (UES)

     

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

    From: White, Morgan 

    Sent: Tuesday, July 6, 2021 1:41 PM

    To: Spurlock, Anthony T

    Cc: Yi, Yun Kyu; Roman, Robert Raymond; Keller, Thomas Jeffery; Villanti, Joe

    Subject: energy data request

     

    Hi Tony,

     

    We need to provide historical energy data to Professor Yi for his work with us this fall to create building energy models for selected buildings on campus, in his Architecture class.

     

    Can you please have someone on your team provide monthly energy data for the following buildings for the last five years, FY20 to FY16?  Also, if hourly data is available, please provide hourly data for these same buildings for the one year of FY19.

     

    ·       Personnel Services Building

    ·       Speech and Hearing Building

    ·       Children’s Research Center

    ·       Bruce Nesbitt African American Cultural Center.

     

    I have created a folder for the related files in Box, which you can access at https://uofi.box.com/s/uc18bm30ysb6fxk7q0e0iwy3hnav99lq.  We would appreciate receiving this information by the end of July, if possible.

     

    Thank you,

    Morgan

     

    ======================================

    MORGAN B. WHITE

    Associate Director of F&S for Sustainability

    Facilities & Services | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

     

     

    Attached Files: 

  9. Request for Historical Energy Data

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Models for Campus Facilities

    Morgan White is requesting historical energy data for Professor Yi in order to create building energy models for selected buildings on campus. Specifically monthly energy data is needed for the last five years, FY20 to FY16. Hourly data for these same buildings are needed for the one year of FY19. The buildings are: 

    - Personnel Services Building 

    - Speech and Hearing Building

    - Children's Research Center

    - Brute Nesbitt African American Cultural Center 

    Additionally, requests for basic drawings like floor plans, elevations, as well as more specific drawings like HVAC schedule, zoning section detail etc. were made.

    The link where this data can be accessed is: https://uofi.box.com/s/uc18bm30ysb6fxk7q0e0iwy3hnav99lq

    Professor Yun observed that the Brute Nesbitt African American Cultural Center's electricity meter is projecting energy consumptions exponentially higher than what an average building should be consuming (potentially due to the building being in calibration on meter data).

  10. Weekly Update: more Build-a-Bike available, Uni High Class

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Surprisingly busy here last week! Sold a bike and if we had more Build-a-Bike frames available, we’d have a quarter dozen or so in-progress. Towards that end I’ll be grabbing some bikes from Urbana this week.

    Our Uni High class is in a couple weeks so we’ll do some internal planning for that event.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 27
    Sales: $357.50
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $80
    Memberships: 5 for $150
    Tires/tubes: 3 for $22

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  13. SSC Semesterly Report: Identifying the Campus Benefits of a Large-Scale Prairie Experiment

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Benefits of a Large-Scale Prairie Experiment

    SSC received semester report for Fall 2021 for Identifying the Campus Benefits of a Large-Scale Prairie Experiment project on 1/23/2022. Please see attached. 

    Attached Files: 

  17. Transportation iCAP Team January Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Decrease Emissions from UI Fleet
    Encourage Ride-Sharing
    Electric Vehicle (EV) Task Force
    Reduce Emissions from Business Travel

    The Transportation iCAP team met on Thursday, January 27th from 4:00-5:00 P.M. The team discussed progress on the EV Task Force Member Recommendation, the fleet replacement plan recommendation, and two returned recommendations: the Carbon Credit program and the Carpool Survey.

    The team has decided to do further research into what a carpool system would look like at the U of I, and will discuss the matter further with insight from other schools at the next meeting. Progress will hopefully be made on the Fleet Replacement Plan Recommendation, as the team will be meeting with Pete Varney in the Parking Department soon.

     

    Further Information can be found in the attached document.

    Attached Files: 

  18. Zero Waste iCAP Team Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    Achieve Zero Waste
    Food Waste Reduction
    Large-Scale Food Waste Composting

    The Zero Waste iCAP Team met on Thursday, January 27 to finalize the recommendations drafted at the end of last semester, the Water Drinking Behavior Survey and the Water Filter System Tracking. The team also discussed several recommendations they intend to pursue this semester, including: Adopt-a-Highway program, Food Literacy Project, Composting Committee, P Card Training and Sustainable Receipt options. Meeting minutes are attached.

    Attached Files: 

  19. Energy iCAP Team January Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy iCAP Team
    Energy Dashboard Project
    Building Envelope Pilot Project
    Explore Options for 100 Percent Clean Campus Energy

    The Energy iCAP team met at 9:00 A.M. on Wednesday, January 26th and discussed updates on recommendation ideas as well as agreed to move forward with the submission of two recommendations to the iCAP Working Group. Progress is currently being made on a feasibility study of CO2 District Heating and Cooling which will be undertaken by a group of engineering students during the Spring Semester, and progress on a new recommendation for Building Envelope Commissioning will take place.

    The Team also agreed to move forward with a recommendation that the Office of the Chancellor commission a report on the Safety and Security of a proposed MMR Nuclear Reactor on campus property as well as another recommendation that would seek to charge Facilities & Services with developing a comprehensive energy plan that will bring the University to net-zero emissions by 2050.

    Further Details on the meeting can be found in the attached agenda which also contains meeting minutes.

    Attached Files: 

  20. NRES 285 - iCAP Ambassadors - Facility Liaison

    Associated Project(s): 
    NRES 285: iCAP Sustainability Ambassadors

    "Hello Elizabeth and Don,

     

    Thank you again for agreeing to serve as facility liaisons for our NRES 285: iCAP Sustainability Ambassador Course! We look forward to this interdisciplinary, collaborative, and interactive field course. We sincerely appreciate your willingness to participate.

     

    This is the second week of the course and students have begun to learn about the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) 2020 and sustainability best practices. The syllabus with course schedule is attached; please note that the students will not necessarily visit their buildings until the end of February.

     

    Before the initial call or meeting (set up by the student group), we encourage you to assess your building to identify if there are any areas that the students should avoid walking through or areas in which they might need accompaniment. In March, the Thursday class period will be “reserved” as a time for students to work with their facility liaisons and/or assess buildings. If the class period time (Tuesday/Thursday 9:30 – 10:50 AM) does not work for you to meet with the group, the students will work with you to identify another day/time. 

     

    The students will be provided with the building floor plans ahead of time and both you and the student group will receive the “sustainability checklist”. This list will serve as the foundation for their building assessment in which they will base their final report and sustainability recommendations. In summary, the role of you two as facility liaisons are as follow:

    • Work with a student team (4 students), who will be trained on the Illinois Climate Action Plan. Students will hear from various guest lectures throughout the month February.
    • Students will visit their campus building in March and April to observe and gather sustainability information (e.g., number/location of recycling bins) and make recommendations as a final assessment/report. Building floor plans will be provided to the students by F&S/Eric and Meredith. 
    • Facility liaisons are strongly encouraged to have weekly or bi-weekly check-in calls with the student group.
    • Facility liaisons are strongly encouraged to walk the building with them and/or to be there for student teams to assess certain areas, and discuss/answer questions about the building.

     

    Please reach out to Eric and myself at any time throughout the semester if you have any questions or if we can help facilitate communication or expectations between you and the student group. Thank you so much again!"

    -Meredith Moore (01/25/2022)

    Sustainability Programs Manager 
    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
    Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)

    Attached Files: 

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