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.

Click here for meeting recording

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

Energy010 was withdrawn by the Energy iCAP Team in February prior to being discussed at iWG meeting. See below the email from the Energy iCAP Team:

I am writing on behalf of the Energy iCAP Team to let you know that we wish to withdraw ENERGY 010 from consideration at the upcoming February IWG Meeting. During discussion at our January Energy meeting, our team concluded that Energy 010 is better incorporated into a recommendation that we are currently developing, and that we hope to submit for consideration later this spring.

Sincerely,

Tyler Swanson

See the Energy010 Establishment of a Clean Energy Plan Conference Committee recommendation here.

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:

• Energy Conservation & Energy Efficiency
• Micro-nuclear energy
• Geothermal Energy
• Hydrogen Fuel
• Energy Efficiency Renovations
• Expansion of solar energy production
• Wind energy
• Carbon capture and sequestration
• Power Purchasing Agreements

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:

• Identification of experts on energy conservation and clean energy technologies both on and off campus
• Recruitment of identified experts to speak about their area of expertise to the UIUC campus community
• Development of a conference focused on energy conservation and clean energy technologies that will be available to the campus community.

The recommendation document is attached.

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 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 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.

1. Priority Areas

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. 

1. In progress iCAP Portal projects

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:

• Who is the current contact person? The project records on the iCAP Portal may provide past contacts, and your team members may have relevant information.
• Is the project completed? If not, what is the current status of the effort?
• What changes are needed on the iCAP Portal project page content? Pictures would be particularly nice to be able to share on the Portal.

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

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."