On June 30, 2021 it was recorded that 24 buildings across campus now have at least one 3-bin.

In April 2017 three faculty members received $14,522 from the University Research Board to conduct preliminary investigations surrounding crop residue as a building material at both small and large scale. The results of those initial investigations proved very positive. This project primarily strives to turn corn stalks into a building project. Students will support Dr. Mark Taylor throughout the project, giving students research and professional development opportunities. The Student Sustainability Committee provided $47,000 in December 2017 to support the design and construction of a small mobile field station using agricultural waste. Upon completion, researchers and students will have a better understanding on how agricultural waste materials perform as a building material that can get used at a larger scale. Moreover, the campus will have a mobile field station that uses corn stock insulation.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is helping to promote and encourage participation in the Solar Urbana-Champaign program. 

The successful Solar Urbana-Champaign group purchasing program is available again in 2018. Since 2016, the program led to the installation of over 1 megawatt of solar on 138 properties across Champaign County. The program educated hundreds of individuals about solar and helped people save on solar through volume purchasing.
 
In 2018 the program expands eligibility to Piatt County residents as well. And, thanks to new state legislation, even more people can get access to solar. To increase awareness across Champaign and Piatt Counties, Midwest Renewable Energy Association partnered with Champaign-based Prairie Rivers Network, which champions clean, healthy rivers and lakes and safe drinking water to benefit the people and wildlife of Illinois.

Geothermal Urbana-Champaign is a public education and bulk purchasing program that makes going geothermal easier and more affordable for Champaign, Piatt, and Vermilion County home and business owners. Made possible through a strong partnership between the City of Urbana, Geothermal Alliance of Illinois, and Midwest Renewable Energy Association, Geothermal Urbana-Champaign uses several key features to lower the price of geothermal for all program participants.

Whether you adopt geothermal this year or in five years from now, we truly hope you gain a better understanding of this technology and the energy options available to you through this program.

Some Key Features to this Program:

• Public Education: Throughout this program, the MREA and GAOI will hold several free, virtual, hour-long informational events where you will learn the basics of geothermal, how it can save you money, and how the geothermal group buy program works.

• Economy of Scale: Which is just a fancy way of say “bulk purchasing.” Through the power of bulk purchasing this program’s high quality contractor is able to offer a below market price/ton. The more people that go geothermal through this program, the lower the price will be for everyone

• Competitive Contractor Selection: Led by the MREA, with help from a local advisory committee, the competitive selection process ensures that this program’s geothermal installations are performed by a high quality contractor at a below market price

• Community Support & Outreach: Our programs are supported by both the leaders and community members of Champaign, Piatt, and Vermilion Counties. With the help of your jurisdiction leaders, fellow community members, and you, the MREA is able to spread the word of this awesome opportunity throughout your community!

How to Participate

Start by watching one of our free, virtual Geothermal Power Hours. In this hour-long presentation you’ll learn the basics of geothermal, how it can save you money, and how the geothermal group buy program works. You can register for any of our winter events by clicking on the date of your choice below.

Afterward, you can sign up for a free, no obligation site assessment and quote with this program’s contractor by filling out this short form. 

The deadline to participate in this program is May 30, 2021, so don’t delay. Your geothermal journey awaits!

The iCAP 2020 objective 7.3 is: Increase visibility of campus sustainability efforts by joining the Green Sports Alliance through the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA) by summer 2021. The responsible campus unit for championing this objective is DIA.

The University of Illinois was the first academic institution that joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay Transport Partnership.  "As the first-ever academic institution to register in SmartWay, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign leads the way for universities and other institutions to work as shippers in SmartWay and engage with their carriers and suppliers to improve freight efficiency, reduce greenhouse gases and other emissions from goods movement while also helping enhance our nation's energy security,” said Christopher Grundler, director of EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality.

• Article in the Pontiac Daily Leader.
• NRES press release on Illinois's path-breaking registration in the EPA's SmartWay Transport Partnership 
• Illinois legislation on Sustainable Procurements of Freight, Package Delivery and other Transportation Services 

Title: SmartWay Transport Partnership

Description:

The University of Illinois is an Affiliate of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay Transportation Partnership. The SmartWay program aims to reduce global freight emissions by providing strategies for shippers and carriers to adopt more sustainable practices. While Dining Services joined the program in 2013, the University will now be able to make these changes on a campus-wide scale as an Affiliate.

SmartWay Transport®” is a registered service mark of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

On Monday, June 28, representatives of the Engagement SWATeam met to discuss some of the sustainability engagement resources identified at our previous meeting (June 9), prioritize recommendations to draft over the summer, and identify future projects to pursue. Meeting minutes attached below.

Discover Magazine released an article highlighting the biodiversity benefits that can stem from pairing solar farms with pollinator-friendly plants. Supporting its claims with initiatives from universities across the country, the article recognizes the University of Illinois' pollinator habitat at Solar Farm 2.0.

Read the article on Discover Magazine. Or, refer to the PDF of the article in the attached files.

Below is a press release provided by Electrification Coalition (www.ElectrificationCoalition.org):

More than 40 businesses urge Gov. Pritzker to join multi-state agreement to electrify medium- and heavy-duty vehicles

Washington, D.C.— Dozens of businesses, including global vehicle manufacturing leaders, urged Gov. J. B. Pritzker to support the electrification of trucks and buses throughout Illinois. The Electrification Coalition delivered a letter Thursday signed by 41 businesses, asking the governor to join the Multi-State Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Memorandum of Understanding, pledging that at least 30 percent of all new trucks and buses sold in Illinois will be zero-emission vehicles by 2030, and 100 percent by 2050.

“Illinois is establishing itself as a national leader in the manufacturing of medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles,” said Lion Electric CEO and founder, Marc Bedard. “Gov. Pritzker’s administration has been a fantastic partner in working with Lion to select Joliet, Ill., for our upcoming U.S. manufacturing facility. The governor’s participation in the Multi-State Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Memorandum of Understanding would further solidify the state’s ongoing commitment to clean transportation and pave the way for thousands more clean energy and manufacturing jobs in the state, paying dividends for decades to come.”

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have already signed onto the agreement. Illinois’s participation would build on Gov. Pritzker’s existing work to advance the adoption of electric vehicles, including the dedication of all Volkswagen settlement funds to electric vehicle deployment. The governor has set a goal of getting 750,000 electric vehicles on the road in Illinois by 2030, and he aims to make Illinois “the best state in the country to manufacture and drive an electric vehicle.” The Illinois General Assembly this year adopted a resolution urging Gov. Pritzker to add Illinois to the multi-state agreement to electrify medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

“Illinois is well positioned to be the first state in the Midwest to commit to the MOU,” said Chris Nevers, Senior Director of Environmental Policy at Rivian. “With sound policy and strong partners, Illinois can continue to demonstrate leadership in environmental responsibility and advanced manufacturing, which will have major benefits to the state's economy and promote job growth.”

Rivian’s first manufacturing campus is located in Normal, Ill., where the company is building its R1 SUV and pickup truck products and its commercial vans. Rivian’s teams at the Normal campus include manufacturing engineering and operations, supply chain and logistics, IT and customer engagement. Other signatories to the letter include Volvo Trucks North America, Proterra, Mack Trucks, Parsons, Siemens, Lion Electric and more than two dozen Illinois small businesses.

Robust public investment and regulatory reform along the EV supply chain has the potential to create more than 500,000 jobs across the United States over a five-year period, according to a report by the Electrification Coalition and Securing America’s Future Energy. Nearly 154,000 of those jobs would stem from incentives that make it less expensive to purchase medium- and heavy-duty EVs like trucks and buses.

“Illinois’s participation in the multi-state agreement to electrify trucks and buses is imperative to growing the state’s leadership in automotive manufacturing, with major implications for the economy and future jobs,” said Ben Prochazka, executive director of the Electrification Coalition. “The electrification of transportation is a question of when – not if. Illinois has a chance to help our nation pick up the pace so that we can remain competitive on the global stage.”

Lion Electric, a leading manufacturer of all-electric medium and heavy-duty urban vehicles, announced in May that it has selected Joliet, Ill., for the construction of its U.S. manufacturing facility. The new facility will represent the largest dedicated production site for zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in the United States. The 900,000 sq-ft facility is expected to add a minimum of 745 jobs to the region over the next three years, with an annual production capacity of up to 20,000 all-electric buses and trucks.

The United States is currently the world’s largest consumer of petroleum, accounting for one-fifth of global daily supply; oil accounts for more than 90 percent of energy use in the U.S. transportation sector. The country’s overwhelming dependence on oil has broad implications for public health, national security, the climate and the future of American manufacturing jobs.

Conventional vehicles are a leading source of air pollutants that affect human health. Emissions from internal combustion engines (ICEs) contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone, which can trigger health problems such as aggravated asthma, reduced lung capacity and increased susceptibility to respiratory illnesses, including pneumonia and bronchitis. And transportation is now the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

"As a digital agency that builds the internet for a living, our work sometimes replaces the need for physical transportation,” said Tim Frick, president of Mightybytes, a Chicago digital agency and Certified B Corp. “However, COVID-19 also forced millions of people to shop exclusively online, increasing the need to transport goods long distances. Transportation is a huge source of carbon emissions. Electrifying freight vehicles can help us significantly reduce this environmental impact."

ICE vehicles, particularly those used for freight, are a major source of particulate matter, which is linked to lung cancer, heart attacks and other health issues. Low-income and minority communities are more likely to be located near highways and other transportation facilities that lead to negative health effects resulting from vehicle emissions.

“I grew up in a city with heavily polluted air, and it is not an experience I wish upon anybody,” said Soroush Yousefisahi, founder of Boomerang Coffee of Chicago, which aims to use electric vehicles to transport its products. “So I urge Gov. Pritzker to take this step to electrify vehicles in the near future to preserve our well-being and natural resources and encourage all businesses to rethink the way of the past.”

According to the American Lung Association, widespread adoption of electric vehicles by 2050 would result in an estimated savings of $72 billion per year in health costs nationally. In Illinois alone, the annual benefits would include $3.2 billion in avoided health-impact costs, 274 premature deaths avoided, 4,106 asthma attacks avoided and 18,735 lost work days avoided.

“EV infrastructure takes vehicles from local polluters to zero emissions, drastically reducing unhealthy emissions from vehicles that enter buildings like fire stations and warehouses,” said Jamie Johnson, CEO of Verde Energy Efficiency Experts, which works with Chicagoland commercial and municipal buildings on energy efficiency, cost savings and building health. “In addition to saving transportation costs, further building gains can be found from reducing exhaust management. EVs represent not only an improvement in transit, but an important piece for the sustainable future our state needs."

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About the Electrification Coalition: The Electrification Coalition is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes policies and actions to facilitate the widespread adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) on a mass scale in order to overcome the economic, public health and national security challenges that stem from America’s dependence on oil. For more information, visit electrificationcoalition.org.

ArcGIS created an interactive map displaying the information of farms across the State of Illinois. The farms displayed on this map offer direct sales of meat and produce to local markets and consumers on-site.

See the ArcGIS Story Map for Local Food.

There are three Kill A Watt monitors that the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) bought for the Student Weatherization Program.  After the SSC project was done, the Kill A Watt monitors were given to the University Library so that other students can use them. To check out a Kill A Watt device, request one through the Library Catalog at https://vufind.carli.illinois.edu/vf-uiu/Record/uiu_6491875. 

To find it directly, go to library.illinois.edu.  Click on catalogs in the light blue section of the page, and choose library catalog.  It will open a search page, and users can search for “kill a watt” to get the link above.