"The current schedule at Astronomy is 6:00am – 11:59pm, 7 days a week, Sunday – Saturday, which is the COVID schedule that we are running on units across campus." -David Hardin (11-17-2021)

According to F&S, Management Engineer, Mike Halm:

1. Currently, this unit is in occupied mode on weekdays, 6AM to midnight.  Normally the occupancy schedule will more closely follow the hours the building is open, but runtimes were extended across campus as a precaution during the pandemic.

2. When the building was originally designed, there likely wasn’t a set amount of air changes per hour applied to every classroom.  Typically for classrooms the heating and cooling airflows are determined based on the specific loads in each room, rather than applying a flat rate based on the volume of the room.  If it would help, we could share the original ventilation drawings from 1989.  Regarding the ASHRAE standards, any new construction or renovation work on campus should have mechanical ventilation provided in accordance with ASHRAE 62.1.  However, there were different codes and standards in place when this building was constructed 30 years ago.  The current version of ASHRAE 62.1 may have slightly different requirements than the codes in place when the building was built.

In Fall 2021, the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) announced that it has successfully acquired or facilitated $34.7 million in external grants from various agencies during the past several months. Some highlights:

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced funding for a new project led by iSEE Interim Director Madhu Khanna to optimize design for “agrivoltaic” systems — fields with both crops and solar panels — that will maintain crop production, produce renewable energy, and increase farm profitability.

This $10 million, four-year project, funded through the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Sustainable Agriculture Systems program with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as the lead institution, will study agrivoltaics in a variety of land types and climate scenarios in Illinois, Colorado, and Arizona. The goal is to maintain or increase crop yield, improve the combined energy and food productivity of the land, and diversify and increase farmers’ profits with row crops, forage, and specialty crops across a range of environments

• iSEE has helped facilitate funding to enable geospatial data-driven scientific discovery at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the resulting research will lead to better understanding of the risks and impacts of climate change and disasters

The $15 million Institute for Geospatial Understanding through an Integrative Discovery Environment (I-GUIDE) will receive the funding over five years as part of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Harnessing the Data Revolution, which establishes five institutes across the United States to explore questions at the frontiers of science and engineering. Shaowen Wang, Professor and Head of Geography and Geographic Information Science and Founding Director of the CyberGIS Center for Advanced Digital and Spatial Studies, will lead the institute. Collaborating scientists and institutions will work with the CyberGIS Center in partnership with iSEE and the U of I’s Discovery Partners Institute.

• $2.1M in additional five-year funding from the Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation for U of I researchers, led by Evan DeLucia (Emeritus Professor of Plant Biology), Carl Bernacchi (U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service), and new co-PI Lisa Ainsworth (USDA ARS) to extend the campus’s enhanced weathering experiments using basalt rock on farm fields.
• $2M+ from NSF’s Smart & Connected Communities program for a team led by Crop Sciences Assistant Professor Andrew Margenot to build a “Nutrient Management Community (NuMC)” to help farmers adopt effective and trusted tools that will help address critical water quality issues.
• A $1.7M USDA NIFA subaward for Margenot and Crop Sciences Professor Emily Heaton to help identify ways to diversify the corn belt ecosystem and increase rural prosperity.
• A $1M, two-year grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to bolster an iSEE 2020 seed-funded project to turn ash into energy. The Rapid AI-based Dissection of Ashes using Raman and XRF Spectroscopy (RADAR-X) Project is led by Civil & Environmental Engineering Assistant Professor Nishant Garg.
• Several other awards of $1M or less.

See the attached file for the iQ Fall 2021 to read this article in its original form.

After piloting two successful workshops in Spring 2021, iSEE is launching its new Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) this fall. Designed to prepare Illinois undergraduates for leadership roles in the sustainability field, the ELP focuses on developing students’ communications skills around environmental problems, mobilizing social resources, and implementing plans for sustainable change.

In the Spring 2022 program, participants will learn about the policy-building process at the local and state levels, develop real-world environmental policies linked to the current legislative session, engage with local and state government officials, and present policy proposals to legislative staff and decision-makers in Springfield and Urbana-Champaign.

Applications opened Oct. 4 and closed Oct. 31. Participation is free, including travel expenses for the trip to Springfield during spring break — thanks to a generous gift from the Baum Family Fund. iSEE has encouraged interested students from all backgrounds, class standings, and majors to apply.

See the attached file for the iQ Fall 2021 to read this article in its original form.

In October, iSEE was proud to present a set of new Sustainability Training Videos designed to help students, faculty, and staff incorporate sustainability into their everyday lives and support Illinois Climate Action Plan goals in all their actions.

Interim Director Madhu Khanna sent out a campus massmail on Oct. 20 — Campus Sustainability Day— asking all members of the campus community to join us in becoming more sustainable and maintaining the University of Illinois reputation as a worldwide leader in commitments to carbon neutrality and climate resilience.

The videos highlight the extensive progress campus has made as well as specific steps each individual can take to be more sustainable, from recycling to biking to water conservation.

The Institute tailored videos to individuals’ role on campus as students, faculty/researchers, or staff/administration/community members. All are asked to take a brief survey to let iSEE know what campus is doing right and what should be prioritized. Additional helpful links are included below each video as well. As our narrator says, “Let’s show the world what it means to be sustainable Illini!”

See the attached file for the iQ Fall 2021 to read this article in its original form. And, view the videos on the iSEE webpage!

iSEE planned a series of events throughout October to celebrate Campus Sustainability Month.

The main attraction was Campus Sustainability Celebration on Oct. 20, at which iSEE’s new Sustainability Training Video debuted (see more details, page 6). More than 50 people attended the event at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, and more watched the livestream.

The campus community was also invited to take part in iSEE’s monthlong Waste Reduction Challenge by cutting the amount of waste sent to the landfill. Participants received a weekly grid with a point system to help track waste and any positive actions to reduce it. More details on the Challenge webpage.

Additionally, iSEE took part in Green Quad Day and hosted Illini Lights Out (see more details, page 6) and “TED Talk: Eco-Edition” (see box at left). And student groups hosted dozens of other events. More info on iSEE’s annual events webpage.

See the attached file for the iQ Fall 2021 to read this article in its original form.