Dr. Yi, Joe Villanti, Tom Keller, and Morgan White met on 5-25-2021 to kickoff this collaboration for developing Energy Models for campus facilities.  The Agenda included:

1. Introductions - Yun teaches a grad level Architecture class.
2. Review of Energy005 recommendation and project goals: a) gain knowledge about campus building energy performance compared to projections, b) expose students to energy modeling using campus as a living lab, c) identify buildings that are wildly energy intensive and should be prioritized for energy conservation initiatives, d) consider potential improvements to Facilities Standards, e) create energy models for campus buildings and find areas to improve.
3. Discussion of modeling options: a) most intensive would be to calibrate an energy model using an existing model and known energy use, b) creating a building energy projection for a new building based on design drawings, c) build a baseline energy model using ASHRAE 90.1
4. Consideration of building options for this coming fall semester: well-known buildings like ECE, new buildings like BNAAC, older buildings. Tom could look at a few categories and make some suggested buildings to consider.
5. Software options: a) Trane Trace is the F&S standard, but it is not specifically required, b) e-quest, c) others - based on consultants preferred format.
6. Next steps: Tom and Joe send building list to recommend for first round. Yun will review them and request additional info for the buildings he is interested in working with this year. Morgan will introduce Damon McFall to this team, and Rizwan Uddin for the Masters in Energy Systems. Morgan will send the Siebel Center for Design video introduction.
7. Potential additional support: Could F&S fund an RA for the fall semester?  Yun will send Morgan and email with a request including costs.  Also, Tom is happy to support the class as a guest lecturer, and support throughout the semester. Could SEDAC provide additional support? Could some MEP, Materials Engienering students, etc. get added to the process?

Joyce Mast met with MSTE and F&S contacts today to brainstorm ideas for energy and atmospheric data to be displayed in the ECE lobby on the digital touch screen.

All, This week’s report is delayed as I was off last week.

From the 10th – 14th we had some volunteer interest, slightly busier times, and some more donations. Just today we received another batch of donations: tires/tubes, a wheel, and whole lot of jerseys/clothing that we likely will not be able to even give away. I’ll reach out to some cycling clubs and see if they’re interested.

This week we’ll be debuting our new hours of M/W/F 2 – 6p. These will be our hours all summer, effective immediately. iSEE is hosting a Zoom TedTalk thing on Wednesday and tonight is TBPs member meeting.

I’ll be understaffed to start the summer as one of my summer workers got an internship and won’t be available after all. I’ll work on drumming up some more help this week.

The numbers:

Visitors: 24 (I-card only)
Sales: $565
Bikes (refurb): 2 for $340
Membership: 1 for $30

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Manager, Campus Bike Center

Irene Lira-Andsager, Jason Webb, and Daniel Xu spent the spring 2021 semester researching local environmental vulnerability factors and conducted vulnerability assessments to be included in the Environmental Justice Plan. The recording of their presentation of findings is found here (download to view). 

Objectively, everyone knows you should conserve energy resources, but it is easy to lose track of that goal in the hundreds of other things our brains need to think about each day. One way to encourage people to be more cognizant is to give them a tangible reminder. The local electric company, for example, sometimes send a reminder notice that tells you how well you’re doing with energy consumption compared to other homes the size of yours in the area. In a similar idea, F&S has developed an improved energy dashboard that will be used in campus facilities. Beginning with the Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) Building, Energy Dashboards will be deployed to show the utility use for a specific building. It will also show if that use is above or below average for the last 30 days or one year. The dashboard appears in the rotation of the ECE digital signage in the lobby of the building. The plan is to expand it to other buildings to help promote energy awareness and conservation on campus.

http://ecebenergykiosk.web.illinois.edu/

Each of the five teams presented their work and building recommendations at a presentation ceremony on May 14, 2021. Click here to view the recording.  

Five buildings were assessed this semester by student teams of 3-5 people. These buildings were: 

• Illini Union
• Electrical and Computer Engineering 
• Huff Hall
• Bevier Hall
• Armory 

Click here to view the final reports and presentations. 

Robb Craddock, Senior Director - Labor & Employee Relations, provided a very informative and detailed response to the Telecommuting questionairre and Executive Summary of the IHR Telecommuting survey. Please see attached to learn more.

The Champaign County Stormwater Partnership decided to shorten the October biennial conference to a half day on Zoom. The majority of the committee did not want to have separate Zoom conference tracks with break out rooms due to technical complications so this limits/decreases the conference speakers slots. There will likely be 4-5 speakers covering a range of topics.

Today we discussed the next steps in the bicycle registration project on campus. We looked at the previous design for the lawn signs, and after looking at the new ones, I was tasked with cutting some of the text and enlarging the QR Code. I will send over the file after these adjustments so the design can be uploaded on Adobe software or something similar. We are also looking forward to hearing if the signs can be metal plated instead of corrugated plastic so that they may last longer. This might be a bit more expensive, so that would mean fewer lawn signs and location. Though, there are around ten left over signs from last year. In terms of locations, I will be pinning all the locations on a Google Map to make the information more accessible. We also discussed other ways to broadcast this information and we will contact residential directors of the dorms and see if they can include information about bike registration when they welcome incoming students. Spreading the information on other social media is also an option. Lastly, we will be meeting in around two weeks to discuss where we are at and the next steps.

Spring cleaning in your office? If you need to recycle office paper, you can request a bin from the F&S Waste Transfer Station. To request a blue paper recycling tote, email recycling@illinois.edu with your building name and room number.

F&S Waste Transfer Station • Facilities & Services

Request a Recycling Tote for Office Paper