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 submitted the attached recommendation Energy011 Priority Technologies and Practices for a Clean Energy Plan to the iWG on 12/1/22. The attached recommendation states:
The Energy iCAP Team recommends that F&S and any external consulting group consider the feasibility and overall effectiveness of the following technologies and practices in the development of a clean energy plan for the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign:
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 submitted the Energy010 Establishment of a Clean Energy Plan Conference Committee recommendation on 11/30/22. The recommendation is as follows:
Establish a committee of faculty, staff, and students charged with the following responsibilities:
The recommendation document is attached.
The Energy009 MMR Safety and Security recommendation was declined on 11/14/22 with the following email:
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Good afternoon Energy iCAP Team,
This fall, there were discussions revisiting the Energy009 MMR Safety and Security which the team submitted in the spring semester.
The iWG had robust discussions and representatives from the College of Engineering talked with their team; from our group perspective, addressing safety is something that will happen but does not warrant a recommendation until the project can move forward. Safety is inherently a part of the process.
This will be updated on the iCAP Portal accordingly, and please reach out if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Meredith
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See the submittal of Energy009 MMR Safety and Security here.
The Energy iCAP team met on Friday, November 4th, to discuss recommendations on how the University can achieve a clean energy plan.
Meeting Recording: https://mediaspace.illinois.edu/media/t/1_ilr81gro
The 2022 Campus Sustainability Celebration was a huge success! Thank you to all who participated! The PowerPoint presentation is attached, and the agenda for the event was as follows:
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
Biodiversity Plan intern Gabriel Harper-Hagen is looking for students and student groups to help him develop two iNaturalist surveys for the project. Here is the detailed explanation from Gabe:
The survey will act as a pilot for future surveying around campus and the broader community. We will have two surveys: one focused on animals and one focused on plants. This is because of the different methods of surveying each. The surveys will benefit from as many students that would be interested in this for either one (Or both). The survey will attempt to efficiently gather data about the diversity of plant and animal species found on campus to create a baseline for what is present and to help identify gaps on the campus where diversity may be lacking. If successful, I hope to expand the model to other parts of the community including the park districts to have larger community based BioBlitz seasonally to keep track of the diversity in the area and measure success of the biodiversity plan.
As far as students can help, we need enough people to survey the area efficiently in a reasonable amount of time. The student groups and individual students would be helping in an initial survey that focuses only on the campus. My thought is that a date will be set for each of the two surveys where the participants can join to go over brief instructions on identifying plants with iNaturalist, adding them to the project, and explaining the purpose of surveying. iNaturalist allows for specific project data to be collected within a region which is then peer reviewed. Ideally, there will be some experts (students or professors if appropriate) that join for each survey to help with logistics and identification. I hope this will not only be a useful database for our campus to utilize, but also a fun learning experience.
All iCAP students and environmental student groups are encouraged to participate. If interested, please email Gabe (harperh2@illinois.edu) and Resilience iCAP Team clerk Asli Topuzlu (aslit2@illinois.edu).
The following email was sent to the iCAP Teams:
Hello iCAP Teams,
Thank you again for serving on these important campus sustainability committees, and for your commitment to helping the university achieve the objectives in the Illinois Climate Action Plan. As promised in the charge letters you received, we are attaching the Key Priorities Document here. The attached document includes a section for each iCAP Team, with two parts in each section: Priority areas and in progress iCAP Portal projects.
In order to help our campus move from STARS Gold to STARS Platinum, we have identified priority areas where our university can potentially improve. iSEE’s summer intern Tyler evaluated the latest UIUC STARS report and identified example case studies from STARS Platinum schools. Tyler’s report is online at “Report on Improving UIUC STARS Score.” The priority areas also include topics for potential recommendations that have been brought up in previous discussions with the campus sustainability teams. One example of this is the current efforts to reduce plastic waste on campus.
Many prior iCAP team members have expressed a desire for guidance on appropriate topics for recommendations, so we are providing this guidance to assist your team with focus areas for development of recommendations. We encourage you to investigate these ideas with gusto; reach out to people at other schools to learn more about the ideas and contact people on our campus who would have a stake in the project (“stakeholders”) to understand how it could fit into our campus. You should also review the recommendation template to see the information that needs to be completed when you submit a recommendation to the iCAP Working Group.
The iCAP Portal has over 900 projects and contains information about our campus sustainability efforts, going back as far as 2003. The information is primarily entered by members of the iCAP Teams, the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC), and a few volunteers. We are requesting your assistance to get updates on some of the projects that are listed as “In Progress.” For each of the projects listed in the attached file, please answer the following questions:
We are very excited about this coming year, and we want to support you in any way necessary. Please reach out to any of us at any time.
Thank you,
Morgan, Jen, and Meredith
The Energy iCAP Team met on Friday, September 2nd from 2:00 - 3:00 P.M. to review the charge letter provided by iSEE and set expectations for the 2022-2023 year.
Minutes and the slides from the meeting are attached to this update.
iSEE Director, Madhu Khanna, sent out the seven iCAP Team charge letters for the 2022-2023 academic year (attached).
"Thank you once again for your service in helping to make the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign a more sustainable campus. Attached is your charge letter for the 2022-2023 academic year with an outline of your campus sustainability duties as part of the iCAP Team. We look forward to your positive and impactful contributions."
Education iCAP Team Charge Letter 2022-23.pdf Energy iCAP Team Charge Letter 2022-23.pdf Engagement iCAP Team Charge Letter 2022-23.pdf Land and Water iCAP Team Charge Letter 2022-23.pdf Transportation iCAP Team Charge Letter 2022-23.pdf Zero Waste iCAP Team Charge Letter 2022-23.pdf Resilience iCAP Team Charge Letter 2022-23.pdfThe iCAP Teams and iCAP Working Group gathered for the annual kickoff event on 8-24-22. Current members attended to learn about the iCAP 2020, the role of the teams and members, and meet sustainability staff and fellow team members. The presentation is attached and the recording can be found here.
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 iWG met on 3-29-22 and discussed the following agenda. The meeting minutes are attached.
The iWG met on 2-25-22 and discussed the Energy008 and Energy009 recommendations, Trans014, and plastic reduction initiatives. Andy Stumpf and Bill Rose, the Energy iCAP Team chairs, joined the meeting to discuss the two Energy recommendations. The meeting minutes are attached.
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 made the following recommendation on 2/8/21. The Energy009 MMR Safety and Security is attached, and a summary of the recommendation is as follows.
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We recommend that the campus commission a report on safety and security surrounding the micro-modular reactor (MMR).
