In December of 2022 Aaryaman Patel, a Mechanical Engineering student, published a video for a competition through the International District Energy Association. The purpose of the video is to highlight energy systems within a University campus.
Below is the link to his video:
The energy iCAP team met on Friday, October 7th 2022 to review the team's presentation for the campus sustainability celebration, review the team's priorities for the year, and discuss options for advancing the proposed clean energy plan and increasing procurement of renewable energy through power purchasing agreements.
Link to meeting recording: https://mediaspace.illinois.edu/media/t/1_5bh3gs4r
The attached document is entitled Energy Source Options Final Design Report. Which is a report done for ME 470 Senior Design.
The report details research on the use of compressed CO2 as a refrigerant. The goal of the report was to determine if this system would be viable option for providing green energy on campus.
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.
Attached are the presentations prepared by the students in ENVS 301. The course syllabus is also attached.
The EGEN SWATeam held another bi-weekly meeting. Topics covered include:
The EGEN SWATeam a meeting for the Spring 2017 semester. Topics covered include:
The EGEN SWATeam held their first meeting for the Spring 2017 semester. Topics covered include:
The iCAP Working Group (iWG) met on December 6, 2016, to discuss the SWATeam recommendation, eGen004 Electrification Study. The iWG agreed to return the recommendation to the eGen SWATeam for further discussion with F&S, iSEE, and other stakeholders.
See SWATeam recommendation eGen004 Electrification Study here.
The EGEN SWATeam held their final meeting for the Fall 2016 semester. Topics covered include:
A contract is in place to perform a heat recovery chiller (HRC) study to identify potential location(s) for HRCs on campus, and to assess opportunities for one system to serve multiple buildings. Preliminary review and assessment is expected to begin October 2016.
Construction is underway in Fall 2016 to install a 200 kW biomass boiler at the Energy Farm. This system will initially satisfy all heating needs for the greenhouse onsite, and will replace the current propane heating system. In the future, more buildings may be added to the boiler system.
Beginning Fall 2016, a team at the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS, a division of the prairie Research Institute) led by Illinois Professor Yu-Feng Forrest Lin is conducting a series of detailed observations of the geothermal profile on campus - including high-resolution temperature profiling and thermal analysis. The team will drill to 330 ft and install a geothermal loop and fiberoptic cables. Results will help determine the feasibility of implementing geothermal systems on campus by identifying costs and possible challenges.
Professor Scott Willenbrock shared this link with photos from the installation of solar on his home. http://www.newprairieconstruction.com/solar-panel-installation.
A group of faculty, students, and staff are looking into the options for an Electrification Study for campus. This would be a study that goes through the formal "Feasibility Study" process at F&S, starting with a "Qualifications Based Selection" or QBS.
Ben McCall, Morgan Johnston, Scott Willenbrock, and Mike Larson met with Ted Christy and Jim Sims to discuss the process for an Electrification Study. Ted provided the attached document that needs to be completed in order to move forward. Additionally, Ted indicated that attachment a is the most pertinent. He said, "This statement would tell us what, from your perspective you hope to receive at the end of this study for it to be considered successful. It doesn’t need to get into detail. A paragraph or two in your own words to provide general description is very helpful.
The eGen SWATeam submitted a recommendation to the iWG stating, "Hire a consultant to undertake a study of electrifying most space and water heating on campus."
See attached the SWATeam recommendation EGen004 Electrification Study complete with comments from all the eGen SWATeam members.
Food waste is the second largest category of municipal solid waste (MSW) sent to landfills in the United States, accounting for approximately 18% of the waste stream. Agricultural and garden wastes comprising of wood and yard trimmings come next in the list, accounting for approximately 15% of the waste stream. At the U of I campus as well, about 100-120 gallons of food waste is generated from one dining hall unit per week.
Objective 3.1 is for the SWATeam to lead an exploration of options for 100% clean energy and submit recommendations. F&S staff workload is too high to handle the exploration of options, so F&S will provide data and provide comments. Ben McCall and Scott Willenbrock will develop a plan for how to achieve carbon neutrality. They will make a document with potential options, pros, cons, and costs.
