The Energy iCAP team held its last meeting of the Spring 2023 semester to discuss progress on its recommendation revitalizing the energy scholars committee and taking a look at potential future projects.
The Energy iCAP team met on Monday 3/27/23 to discuss recommendations on energy standards for newly constructed buildings and improving communication of energy research on campus between labs and the broader campus community.
View the recording: https://mediaspace.illinois.edu/media/t/1_9vmyh6sl
The Energy iCAP Team Met on 2/27/23 to discuss the progress of submitted recommendations and develop new recommendations.
Watch the recording here: https://mediaspace.illinois.edu/media/t/1_klua4vf2
The Energy iCAP Team met on January 30th, 2023 to discuss recommendations on building energy efficiency and revitalizing the energy scholars council at UIUC.
Link to meeting recording https://mediaspace.illinois.edu/media/t/1_2dwlpz7l
The Energy iCAP Team met on Friday, December 2nd, 2022 to discuss potential recommendations on standards for new buildings and developing a committee of energy researchers to share knowledge across campus.
The Energy iCAP Team met on April 27th at 9:00 A.M. for an update on an ongoing student-run study of CO2 district heating and cooling feasibility as well as to discuss two recommendations pertaining to ensuring compliance of new campus buildings with existing state energy codes and F&S energy use standards. One draft recommendation that would use students in architecture or energy related disciplines as a means of ensuring compliance was tabled, while a second recommendation requiring new buildings to more carefully comply with existing standards will undergo further conversation for potential submission as a recommendation over the summer or in the early fall.
The Energy iCAP team met on 3/30/2022 to discuss efforts to increase energy efficiency on campus. The primary topic of conversation was a recommendation that some educational program be created for students to learn about the building design process and advocate for energy efficiency in buildings.
The Energy iCAP team met on Wednesday, 2./24/2022 at 9:00 A.M. on Zoom to discuss the following topics:
More details in the attached file.
The Energy iCAP Team met on March 10th, 2021 to discuss next steps on a recommendation for a Comprehensive Energy Master Plan after F&S has published their Energy Management Plan that aims for a 50% reduction in energy utilization by 2026. The team also discussed recommendations for a Green Labs Program and ways to manage space usage on campus. Given how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed in-person activites and created a hybrid workforce, the team believes it will be important to study underused spaces on campus to reduce building-level energy use.
Meeting minutes, agenda, and chat log are attached!
The Energy iCAP Team had their first meeting of the Spring semester on January 21st, 2021. The meeting focused on obtaining supporting materials for a recommendation to start the Comprehensive Energy Plan, which will serve as an university-wide guide on energy conservation. A recommendation to model buildings for energy code compliance will likely be ready next month. Future discussions are planned with F&S representatives. A subcommittee of Energy team members will brainstorm concrete actions on energy efficiency in labs and residence halls. The agenda and meeting minutes are attached.
From the 2010 iCAP:
The projected carbon emissions for a business-as-usual scenario show significant increases in emissions due to additional square footage. The University will pursue strategies that slow the amount of increased square footage by judiciously examin- ing existing space. The business-as-usual projection also presumes energy efficien- cy at historic levels. The University has implemented green building requirements that should improve performance levels, including a LEED Silver certification re- quirement for major new buildings and renovations. Results by the Rocky Moun- tain Institute show that there is no correlation between the level of LEED achieved by a building project and the project cost.19 Further, federal, state and local codes, ASHRAE, and AIA are targeting widespread deployment of net-zero commercial buildings by 2030, and the Department of Energy is seeking to make net-zero buildings financially viable by 2025. A net-zero building is one that generates as much energy as it uses over the course of an average calendar year. Projects that seek to do better than meet minimum campus standards should receive campus support or credit for the improvements compared to the baseline.
The campus will implement a freeze on new buildings and building additions once current planned projects are completed. Any new space must take an existing space of equal or greater size (or of equal or greater energy usage) out of commis- sion. Furthermore, any building retrofit will be required to “do no harm”; that is, it should not increase the energy consumption of a building—if necessary by pack- aging together additional energy conservation and renewables as part of a project. New building projects will be net-zero or replace an existing building. These can be facilitated by a marketplace for space. All projects currently in planning require at least a 30 percent improvement in the proposed building performance rating compared with the baseline building performance rating, as calculated using the latest version of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1. Finally, the campus space market will include the demolition of certain buildings with poor energy performance, high deferred maintenance burdens, and low his- torical value. Campus buildings that are seen as approaching a deferred mainte- nance deficiency value that is higher than their current replacement value will be considered for removal or renovation.20
Provost Andreas Cangellaris included this statement about the iCAP in the April 2019 letter (attached) to colleges and instructional units about the Space Inventory:
"I also want to take this opportunity to recap several campus initiatives regarding space stewardship. As you may be aware, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign established the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) in May 2010 and updated the document in 2015. The document outlines strategies, initiatives, and targets toward meeting the stated goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. The targets and strategies detailed in the plan represent a series of commitments the University is making in order to achieve its sustainability goals, including the Net Zero Space Growth Policy as found in the CAM. I encourage you to review our commitments as outlined in the climate action plan and the Net Zero Space Growth Policy"
In 2010, the Chancellor's Office coordinated a program called "Stewarding Excellence." This process formed teams about key financial issues on campus, and developed reports on Next Steps to make improvements. The files for Utilities and Space are both posted here. The full list is available online at http://oc.illinois.edu/budget/.
Energy Conservation & Building Standards SWATeam meeting minutes for December 2.
Major agenda items included a report on the Green Building Conference, discussion of the Certified Green Office Program, Design Center, space utilization, and potential feasibility studies.
The Radiation Safety Section of the Division of Research Safety addresses all matters relating to radiation safety on the campus.
About campus radon policies, our approach is to use the EPA action levels as the standard for radon exposure. We do not have an ongoing testing program on campus, but when the issue was first raised many years ago there was a comprehensive testing program in campus buildings and they showed low radon levels. - David Scherer, Associate Director of the Radiation Section at the Division of Research Safety
