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Projects Updates for Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam

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  1. Thank you to all FY19 SWATeams

    Dear FY19 SWATeam members, As another academic year is about to begin, we want to first thank you for all of your help moving campus toward the goals outlined in the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP). Each of the six SWATeams worked on multiple recommendations last year, and after careful evaluation by the iCAP Working Group (iWG), several recommendations are under consideration now at the appropriate campus units. Additionally, several prior SWATeam recommendations are continuing to show progress, such as the Solar Farm 2.0 project, which is likely to be approved by the Board of Trustees this fall.

    Now, the iWG is gearing up for the drafting of the 2020 iCAP. Last year, we have received a lot of feedbacks from the SWATeams and the student body about the 2015 iCAP, our successes, and our areas for growth. After extensive consideration, we have reorganized the SWATeams as announced in the iSEE newsletter earlier this month. Soon we will be updating the email lists, so please do not be concerned if you are removed from a SWATeam email list and are planning to stay on the new team; all returning members will be added to the new SWATeam email lists, as they are created.

    If you have any questions, please let us know and we’ll be happy to discuss this further. We thank you for your time, your enthusiasm, and your continuous efforts!

    Sincerely,

    Ximing Cai and Morgan White

    iCAP Working Group, co-chairs

  2. ECBS SWATeam Meeting Minutes

    On Wednesday, May 2nd, the ECBS SWATeam had their final meeting of the 2017-18 school year. Eco-Olympics received two different grants for funding and had many strong participants. They have also registered for Quad Day and are planning methods for improvement. The Freezer Challenge is making steady progress in terms of awards and sign-ups. Paul is working with Joyce on contacting a solar company for the ECEB metering project. Finally, the team worked on revising their recommendations for energy conservation funding.

    Attached Files: 
  3. ECBS SWATeam Meeting Minutes

    On April 13th, 2018, the ECBS SWATeam held their 13th meeting of the school year. They discussed the status updates for the funding energy conservation recommendation, as well as the green labs coordinator recomendation. They also conducted new recommendations for ESCO projects and Deferred Maintenance backlog. Eco-Olmypics is in its final week and is finishing strongly, and the Freezer Challenge has had significant progress with registrations. Paul will continue to work with Joyce Mast on the ECEB net zero energy project. 

    Attached Files: 
  4. SWATeam Appreciation Letter

  5. ECONS007 Energy Conservation Funding 2018 recommendation - Submittal

    The ECBS SWATeam submitted a recommendation, to the iWG, stating, "We recommend $10M per year (scalable) of funding for the next 5 years to implement critical projects that work in concert with energy performance contracts (EPC).  EPC contracts are fulfilled by specialized, accredited firms known as energy service companies. The university uses EPCs to manage complex projects targeting facilities with high energy use, such as laboratories, maximizing energy efficiency and addressing sizable volumes of deferred maintenance issues along the way.  The campus backlog on deferred maintenance is approaching $1 billion."

    See attached the SWATeam recommendation, ECONS007 Energy Conservation Funding 2018, complete with comments from all the ECBS SWATeam members.

    Also attached is the EPC Analysis report as submitted by the ECBS SWATeam.

  6. ECBS and EGen SWATeam Joint Meeting with Joyce Mast

    On March 30th, 2018, the ECBS and EGen SWATeams held a joint meeting with Joyce Mast, the leader of the project to make the Electrical and Computer Engineering Building (ECEB) zero net energy. Joyce informed the teams that 300 kW is needed on the ECEB rooftop and 1.2 MW is needed in the north campus parking deck (NCPD) to meet this goal, according to a graduate student's thesis. The solar panels have been bought, but a space frame would be needed in order to strengthen the structural support. The team suggested a more feasible and cost-effective solution to look into would be to donate the project money to Solar Farm 2.0. As long as ECEB does not necessarily need to be generating the energy, they can still claim they are zero net energy. In addition, the SWATeams provided ideas for behavioral change projects. 

  7. ECBS SWATeam Meeting Minutes

    On March 8, 2018, the ECBS SWATeam had another team meeting where they listened and provided constructive criticism to a presentation on imagery for several energy conservation projects from On the House. Eco-Olympics has made great promotion progress and has advanced from the initial stages to the running stages, with 16 participants already signed up. The team also discussed the target of 10 year paybacks for ESCOs. They are considering recommending more ESCO projects on buildings on campus for utility reductions in buildings that consume large amounts of energy and haven't had retro-commissioning yet. 

    Attached Files: 
  8. ECBS SWATeam Meeting Minutes

    On February 2, 2018, the ECBS SWATeam listened to a presentation by Mike Marquissee (attached) on the process and status of Energy Performance Contracting, which took up the first hour of meeting. For the rest of the meeting, updates on the Eco-Olympics, Illini Lights out program, and freezer challenge were given. Karl also had a conversation with Student Affairs and said there is approval for the retro-commissioning upgrades at McKinley as well as for converting the lights in the north campus parking deck to LEDs. 

  9. ECBS SWATeam Meeting Minutes

    On January 19, 2018, the ECBS SWATeam discussed updates on the Freezer Challenge, Eco-Olympics, and the Illini Lights Out program. They also brainstormed methods for the departments to become more invested in energy conservation. They are broaching the idea of the departments receiving payback for their participation or possibly charging departments for their energy usage. The team members will research into peer institutions and what they are doing on this issue. The ECBS SWATeam also wishes to build more awareness for energy conservation in residential facilities and in the campus community.

    Attached Files: 
  10. IWG Meeting Minutes November 30, 2017

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