You are here

Projects Updates for theme: all

  3. archived info - previous project description

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability iCAP Portal

    Sustainability is: Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

    The Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) outlines a path for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to achieve carbon neutrality as soon as possible, and no later than 2050. The campus committed to this ambitious goal when in 2008 it signed the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) — later to be renamed the Second Nature Carbon Commitment for its emphasis on emissions.

    In 2016, Illinois took on an even greater leadership role when Interim Chancellor Barbara Wilson signed its sister pledge, the Second Nature Resilience Commitment, which charges campus to examine the vulnerabilities of its landscapes and infrastructure in the face of an already changed climate. Together, these two commitments form Second Nature’s comprehensive Climate Commitment. As a charter signatory of the Climate Commitment, Illinois continues its dedication to being on the forefront of sustainable future planning.

    This site is a repository for summary information about each iCAP project, both to share the information publicly and to assist in collecting information for reporting purposes. These projects are organized into ten themes: Education, Energy, Funding, Land & Space, Outreach, Procurement & Waste, Reporting Progress, Research, Transportation, and Water.

    The Objectives page is a dashboard of 2015 iCAP metrics. Each Project page provides details and background information. The Map page can be filtered by associated theme. If you would like to recommend a new project or are aware of an existing project that is not listed on this site, please use the “Suggestions” tab to let us know.

    Read the approved 2015 Illinois Climate Action Plan.

  4. RightCycle End of Year 2018 metrics

    Associated Project(s): 
    Glove Recycling

    Hello Shantanu,

    Congratulations on your outstanding waste diversion accomplishments in 2018!  By participating in the RIGHTCYCLE* Program, University of Illinois- Urbana Champaign has diverted 10,086 pounds of glove waste from landfills. Thank you for your commitment to corporate social responsibility and your continued efforts to reduce your impact on the environment.

    9/12/2018

    University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign

    RC4016

    Gloves

     

    8/27/2018

    University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign

    RC3983

    Gloves

    9515

    10/1/2018

    University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign

    RC4226

    Gloves

    71

    1/17/2018

    University of Illinois Urbana- Chemistry

    RC3362

    Gloves

    500

    Please remember to email rightcycle@kcc.com to request a release number prior to shipping your waste and to clearly display this number on your shipment.

    It all adds up to zero landfill and a more efficient workplace. 

     

    Thank you,

    Erika

  5. Week 1 Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Water Audit / Inventory

    Good evening everyone,

    My name is Austin Jung and I am a senior in chemical engineering with a minor in the iSEE Fellows Program. I will be helping Morgan White and Sarthak Prasad with the 2015 iCAP objective #5.3 water audits for my SEE Fellow’s senior capstone. After the first successful meeting, the following will be addressed through the semester:

    • Create a water audit program/process for an existing building that will be the basis for the campus wide water audit.
    • Quantify and reduce the distribution and line losses for steam by measuring the steam/condensate loss. Then compare this to the national and peer averages.
    • Develop a list of buildings that have and need to have their water fixtures upgraded.
    • Find out a metric to measure the water consumption of our power plant and water cooling plants to develop a way to record this data for further analysis.
    • Continue support to help F&S meet their water consumption goals.

    These will be the main objectives focused on during the capstone and any changes will be stated in one of the following weekly updates. I am excited to do my part and begin my investigations.

    Thanks,

    Austin Jung

     

    Attached Files: 

  7. Final Report submitted to SSC - Speech and Hearing Solar

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Speech and Hearing Rooftop Solar PVs

     

    This project was originally proposed by Mechanical Engineering students for Abbott Power Plant in spring 2016.  At that time, the SSC members did not want to support solar on the co-generation power plant because it uses fossil fuels.  They asked if we could use it on a different campus roof, and we considered all the large or medium campus roofs.

     

    The SSC asked us to identify a building that could have solar added, so I reached out to Applied Health Sciences in 2016 for approval to use the Speech and Hearing Sciences Building.  Since that time, Kristine Chalifoux confirmed that the roof is strong enough for solar panels, due to a previous change in the insulation materials.  Brian Finet completed design drawings for installing solar on the full available roof, and the Architecture Review Committee confirmed the building is allowed to have solar added.  

     

    After the engineering design work, the remaining funds were about $35K.  This fall, we received a construction estimate from Jeff Holt for upgrading the electrical system to handle a 70 kW solar PV array.  It would cost about $42K if done in conjunction with your capital project, just to get the wiring up to the roof and ready to punch through and install panels later.  Rather than ask the SSC for additional funding and an extension, I am returning the remaining dollars and putting this project on indefinite hold. 

     

    The overall campus goals for on-campus solar generation are listed in the 2015 Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP), which will be updated for 2020.  The current objective is to generate 25,000 MWh/year of on-campus solar, and we are currently at about 7,000 MWh/year.  Per the direction received from Chancellor Jones, we are working on a second large-scale solar farm to meet the goal, rather than several smaller-scale projects. 

     

    The second solar farm is planned to be about 12,000 kW in name-plate capacity, significantly more than the 70 kW rooftop array for Speech and Hearing.  Rooftop solar is still an option, and several departments continue to install them at the building scale. The design drawings are posted online through the iCAP Portal, at https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project/speech-and-hearing-rooftop-solar-pvs, for future use.

     

    Attached Files: 

  8. Final Report submitted to SSC - Illini Bikes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Illini Bikes

     

    The goal of this project was to support installation of high density bike parking in an area of campus with high needs for additional bike racks, and provide an amenity for campus cyclists with a unique shelter structure protecting parked bikes from the winter elements at the Main Library.  This funding purchased the bike shelter and high-density racks.  The shelter will be installed at the Main Library, after completion of the MCORE construction work on Wright Street and Armory Avenue.

     

    Attached Files: 

  10. 18F Semesterly Report - CornCrete

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    CornCrete

    The most significant development to date is that two buildings have been identified in which the material the team is work with will be installed, one is a single-story building of approximately 400 sq/ft the other has a double height space and a footprint off approximately 1,600 sq/ft that will be enclosed using the material in development.

    Attached Files: 

  11. Weekly Updates for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn,

    Zero waste activity for the past week is as follows:

    • I am arranging a conference call with Morgan and the Kimberly-Clark representative to discuss the glove recycling program. I am seeing if Shantanu Pai can join us.
    • I have an email out to Morgan to approve proposed changes to the iCAP portal glove recycling page to reflect the program changes that took effect Dec. 31.

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

  12. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Last week picked up a little. Sold a refurb bike—first of the year! Sold a B-a-B as well.

    I interviewed two potential staffers last week as well. They’ve both been volunteering for 10+ hours at the Bike Center and pretty excited about what we do and working here.

    I also got some feedback from former student staff about the manual I’ve been working on, as well as feedback from TBP. It’s pretty close to ready for distribution.

    I’ve got a backlog of safety checks to perform this week on bikes that the student staff have been churning out so far this semester. Unfortunately the weather isn’t helping.

     

    Numbers:
    Visitors: 41
    Sales: $397.50

    Memberships: 1 for $30

    Refurb Bikes: 1 for $190
    B-a-Bs: 1 for $69

     

    Thanks!

    Jake Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Manager

  16. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All ,This past week was a very slow one. Averaged only a visitor or two per day. New hires Kelly and Jacob started and I spent the majority of the week training them. They both show good promise in their ability to understand and apply the techniques and principles of bicycle repair.

    We received a new coat rack/storage shelf for people to hang their coats and drop their backpacks. Also received a snow shovel and salt to clear out in front of the door. Not having to bug the shop next door to borrow their shovel will be a welcomed change.  

    This week I have two interviews for a couple more student staffers. While I have roughly the same number of staffers as usual and could get by with that, the students’ availability this semester isn’t cutting it, especially once we get busy in the warm months. I am also trying to plan better for the constant and inevitable staff turnover.

    Regular shop duties abound: builds, safety checks, organizing, inventory.

     

    The numbers:
    Visitors: 41

    Sales: $87
    Memberships: 2 for $60

     

    Thanks!

    Jake Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Manager

  18. 18F Semesterly Report - Baler Conceptualization

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Increase Recycling through the WTS

     

    On March 1, 2018, Morgan White, Pete Varney, and Shawn Patterson met with capital planner Trent Beane, a representative of the engineering firm, and a manufacturer’s rep from Dehart Recycling.  We discussed the project needs, and the current status of the WTS equipment.  Some notable points are listed below:

    • The existing baler was installed in 1996
    • Design of balers has changes a lot, with lower labor costs and alternatives to the perforator currently used at WTS.
    • The power supply is probably similar to the existing power demand.

    After the meeting, the engineering firm was asked to provide a formal proposal to F&S to approve and begin the design work.  Unfortunately, this process was delayed due to emergency family medical issues for Mr. Beane. 

     

    In August 2018, a new planner was assigned, Chris Anzelmo. Anzelmo finalized the agreement with the engineering firm and arranged a kick-off meeting.  In November 2018, the engineer visited the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) to examine the Styrofoam densifier and gathered additional information from the WTS.

     

    Then on December 13, 2018, preliminary drawings were shared with F&S. At that meeting, discussions included the needs for modifying the “pit” at the base of the baler entry system, adjusting the pathway width between the baler and the north wall, and recognition that locating the Styrofoam densifier at the WTS would require a building addition. Information about the HVAC system and required code updates were also reviewed.

     

    On January 2, 2019, a baler vendor representative met with us at the WTS. They are going to look at an alternative baler that could provide the needed walkway space on the north end and use the existing pit.

     

     

    Attached Files: 

Pages