This proposal looks to install occupancy sensors in classrooms, hallways, restrooms, lounges, and other public areas in twenty heavily used campus buildings, chosen according to the number of student contact hours. This project will reduce energy usage by 30% in affected areas, saving the campus approximately $18,000 per year in energy costs (based on a $0.0689/kWh rate), and reduce emissions by nearly 440,000 lbs of CO2 equivalent. This highly visible effort is expected to increase student and community awareness of the impact of reducing lighting usage. These sensors will serve as a lasting and permanent public statement of campus commitment to responsible sustainable behavior. Thus, the Student Sustainability Committee is in favor of funding the fully requested amount of $50,000.

This proposal seeks to provide funding for student education centered around the University of Illinois’s participation in the 2011 US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Competition. Each student team participating in this prestigious, international competition is required to build an entirely solar-powered 800 sq. foot house with innovative design features. This grant will provide funds for the development of new courses and enhancement of existing courses, provisioning of course materials and software, and the sponsorship of guest lecturers and consultants ($25,000), the employment of graduate students in coordinating roles for education and volunteer engagement activities ($15,000), and student travel associated with the competition ($10,000). The last UI entry in the Solar Decathlon competition engaged hundreds of students and was the highest-placed US finisher in the Competition; furthermore this participation will require the team to raise $700,000 at a time of severe campus budget constraints. Thus, the Student Sustainability Committee is in favor of funding this proposal in the amount of $50,000.

This proposal looks to improve the energy efficiency of campus computing by expanding the use of thin client hardware and infrastructure. The effort will build on previous successful thin computing studies, scaling up the initiative to make thin clients available to a wider campus audience. Thin clients use 95% less energy than traditional desktop computers, which can significantly reduce campus energy expense and carbon emissions. Further, thin clients have a 10 year life-span, compared to the 3-4 year useful life of a traditional desktop computer, resulting in better utilization and ultimately less e-waste. To encourage the expansion of this more sustainable model of computing, this project seeks to make thin clients available at reduced costs for campus units. $40,000 of the grant would fund thin client devices, licenses, and associated Terminal Server client access licenses (CALs) at a rate up of to $200 or 50% of costs, whichever is lower. At least 200 thin clients will be made available at discounted rates for campus units; additional funding will come directly from units’ allocated budgets for replacement computer hardware. Purchase commitments for atleast 100 devices have made made by the College of FAA, and additional commitments have been made by Swanlund System Services and Campus Recreation. The remaining $5,000 of the grant would compensate Webstore/CITES for server/virtual machine investments. As more and more locations will have thin clients visible, students, faculty, and visitors will realize the benefits of this sustainable computing solution. Thus, the Student Sustainability Committee is in favor of funding the fully requested amount of $45,000.

This proposal looks to contribute to the campus wide effort of promoting more sustainable landscaping by creating a Prairie Garden comprised of plant species characteristic to east-central Illinois to surround the Deloitte Auditorium in the courtyard of the Business Instructional Facility (BIF). The Prairie Garden will provide carbon sequestration benefits, aid in management of water runoff, increase biodiversity, and reduce the use of carbon-intensive maintenance equipment. Replacing the current overgrown sedge meadow with low-height, low-growth, native sustainable botanicals will lead to less management needs and greater student engagement with increased access and aesthetics. The Prairie Garden will be highly visible to the thousands of weekly visitors to the BIF, sending a message about the importance of and commitment to sustainable practices. Such education will be furthered through informational signage and orientation of new students. The College of Business and College of Business Class of 2010 will provide the remaining $10,540 expense of creating the Prairie Garden. Further, the College of Business will assume responsibility for ensuring the success and continued maintenance of the project, and the grant will be paid back to the Committee if the project is inadequately maintained and the restoration effort is abandoned in the next five years. The improvements to the Business Instructional Facility courtyard will provide highly visible, tangible evidence of the campus commitment to responsible sustainable behavior. Thus, the Student Sustainability Committee is in favor of funding the fully requested amount of $10,000.

Program Background:

The Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) is tasked with the allocation of the proceeds of two student environmental fees – the Clean Energy Technology Fee and the Sustainable Campus Environment Fee, to improve the sustainability of our campus. The committee has established a program to make funds available for efficiency projects that will be later returned for reinvestment in future projects.

Committee funds will be made available to the Office of Sustainability which will carry out an inter-departmental transfer to the Receiving campus unit. The Receiving unit agrees to return the transfer to the Office of Sustainability, in installments, as described on the next page, for reuse by the SSC.

Project Description:            

The Illini Union seeks funding to retro-commission the Illini Union Bookstore building, and to install Occupancy Sensors in the Illini Union building. The Illini Union Bookstore building contains both academic and auxiliary units, and the SSC loan will allow for complete retro-commissioning of the building. Retro-commissioning is expected to cost $113,000; the RCx process identifies defective components within the HVAC systems, reconfiguring and controlling them to function more efficiently, decreasing wear and tear and extending their service life by 20 years (as part of a regular preventative maintenance program), as well as reducing building energy consumption.

The SSC loan will also provide $67,000 to install lighting occupancy sensors in the Illini Union, in food service preparation areas, restrooms, office areas and meeting rooms, which will reduce energy and lighting use.

Terms:

The Student Sustainability Committee is in favor of the Office of Sustainability transferring an amount of $180,000 to the Illini Union completion of this work. These funds are to be drawn from the Sustainable Campus Environment Fee account managed by the SSC, as needed to complete the project. All funds requested from the SSC must be expended before 30th September 2010, else the unit must apply for an extension.

The Illini Union agrees to return the funds provided by carrying out annual transfers to the Office of Sustainability due on the 15th of August of each year in the following manner:

$20,000 – Due 15th August 2011

$40,000 – Due 15th August 2012

$40,000 – Due 15th August 2013

$40,000 – Due 15th August 2014

$40,000 – Due 15th August 2015

The Office of Sustainability will direct them back to the Committee’s account. The Illini Union will provide a close-out report about the project after installation. The Illini Union will also appropriately publicize the Committee’s support of these projects.

All funds provided by this transfer will be used in a manner consistent with University of Illinois policies and procedures.

This proposal looks to continue to develop a student run farm at the Horticultural Pomology Farm on the southeast corner of Lincoln and Windsor. As a partnership between the campus horticulture program and students, the farm will significantly contribute to campus food needs by supplying produce to University food service operations. This will allow the campus to move toward a more sustainable agricultural model and reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with food transportation. Student volunteers and Crop Sciences employees will harvest, process and deliver fresh crops to University Dining Services, which will pay the prevailing market rate for the produce. This model should allow the project to bring in adequate funding in the near future, and the requested funds will be used to propel the farm to achieve self-sustaining operations in 2011. Further, a sign will inform the community of the farm’s presence and open houses will be held to introduce students and staff to this sustainable agriculture operation. This continued and expanded project will provide tangible evidence of campus commitment to responsible sustainable behavior. Thus, the Student Sustainability Committee is in favor of funding the fully requested amount of $25,000.

The goal of this project is to conduct a feasibility study regarding installing an open geothermal loop underneath the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center.  The open geothermal loop would take water from one of the many nearby aquifers and only introduce heat into the system.   The project will increase awareness of geothermal systems, determine the physical and chemical attributes of the aquifer, and study integrating the geothermal system with the current HVAC system.  The ISTC hopes to decrease their energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by 25%-50%. The ISTC would test the procedure on this building, but hopes to extend it to other campus buildings.  Thus, the Student Sustainability Committee is in favor of funding the full requested amount of $27,000.