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Project Updates

  1. PWR SWATeam Minutes 3/29

    Associated Project(s): 
    Large-Scale Food Waste Composting
    Appropriately Staff Zero Waste Efforts
    Establish a Net Zero Waste Plan and Policy

    Meeting Minutes 3/29

    During this meeting, the PWR SWAT Team coordinated with Marya Ryan, the new Zero Waste Coordinator. We discussed previous campus efforts for multiple different projects like composting and recycling as well as introduced ourselves to one another. 

    The SWAT Team also was updated on progress with reviewing the Paper Policy Draft comments and will finish this review by next meeting. 

    Furthermore, a discussion of composting efforts on campus was discussed and an effort to create a comprehensive map of waste pickup routes will be created. 

    Next meeting is TBD.

    Attached Files: 

  2. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, last week was feast or famine, visitors-wise. We had all-stands-full for most of Friday—even with the bad weather--and hardly a visitor in the first two hours on Wednesday. We didn’t do a lot of large sales and the numbers reflect that; most visitors were just tuning up their bikes with small consumables. Our visitor total for last week was 91.

    We grossed $617.25 for the week. Sold six memberships for $180; 18 tires for $85; eight tubes for $36; and three locks for $69.

    Last week—with Lily’s help--I was able to streamline the stolen bike reports that come in through bike@illinois so I can disseminate that info on to bike shops, advocacy orgs, and businesses and thereby increase the chances (in theory) of recovering the thieved property.

    This week I will continue to build bikes, search for and field job applicants for the summer months and begin coordinating and organizing for next month’s Bike to Work Day and the May 10th Moonlight Bike Drive event.

    Sincerely,

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  4. 1 Week Done!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Eco-Olympics

    Hello Eco-Olympic followers!

    I encourage you all to add us on Facebook ! Teams are encouraged to post pictures throughout the competition so you can all follow along!

    Check out how your hall and others are doing at this link  . Starting Tuesday, you can go to go.illinois.edu/ECO and click on your hall to find the results.

    Below are the current results for sign up participation. Way to go Allen Hall!

     

    Attached Files: 

  5. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Good morning, Tracy—

    Here is what I’ve been up to this past week:

    • Morgan and I met with Nick Osborne at the Wounded Vets’ Center last Tuesday to discuss glass recycling. I have a call in to Matt Snyder at CRI and will call him again to get costs, pickup schedules and other information we’ll need to get glass recycling set up at Wounded Vets and about a dozen other locations where it is needed to meet our LEED certification requirements.
    • I attended the PWR SWATeam meeting last Wednesday and followed up by putting Meghan Killinger in touch with Ryan Welch and Brent Lewis on an effort to learn the waste pick-up routes on campus. They have also requested information on the status of composting, which I will provide in the coming few days.
    • I have email in to Ryan and Brent to clarify what is needed by way of mapping waste bins around campus for the Dual Bin project.
    • Jordan Powers from Fisher Scientific has been in touch with me. We are arranging a meeting to include Tanya Lisowski in the coming week or two.
    • Morgan and I met for a couple of hours so that she could give me the history of waste reduction and diversion efforts related to glass, styrofoam, compostables and the anaerobic digester, gloves, and batteries.
    • I signed up to get information from CURC. I got my F&S badge from Traice Quinn.

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

    Zero Waste Coordinator

  7. March 31, 2017 Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team

     

    Meeting Minutes 4.3.17

    In attendance:

    Josh Feldman – SWATeam Clerk

    Shuang Chen

    Ximing Cai – iSEE director

     

    Summary:

     

    Due to poor scheduling, several members were not able to show up to the meeting. However, it was a good chance for Shuang Chen, a student who is working to update the iCAP portal objectives, to learn about the group. Also, the new iSEE director Ximing Cai was in attendance, and plans to attend future transportation SWATeam meetings.

     

    Shuang had several questions to ask about the transportation SWATeam’s objectives. Josh answered the questions to the best of his knowledge and also wrote down the questions so that other members of the team could respond via email. Below are the questions.

     

    -          Can you provide a good overview of the bike plan and the fleet objectives?

    -          What is the main purpose of the UI fleet? Transportation? Construction?

    -          What is the exact amount/percentage of air travel emissions our campus produces?

    -          Which objective do you believe is the most important? Which has impressed you the most, or made the most progress?

    -          How does our bike plan compare with other universities’ bike plans?

     

    Next meeting: Thursday 4/13 at 1pm

  8. EGEN SWATeam Meeting (3.30.17)

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    Solar Power on Campus
    Geothermal on Campus
    Biomass Boiler at the Energy Farm
    Clean Power Agreements Off-Campus
    Carbon Capture

    The EGEN SWATeam held another bi-weekly meeting. Topics covered include:

    • Performing preliminary assessment for clean energy PPA
    • Fact sheet using solar farm as basis to estimate land needs and costs of additional solar farm to meet iCAP goal
    • Update on biomass boiler at energy farm
    • Identifying opportunities to purseu implementation of ground source heat pump (GSHP) technology on campus.
    Attached Files: 

  9. ECBS SWATeam meeting minutes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Eco-Olympics
    Green Lab Program
    Earth Week
    Illini Lights Out
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam

    On the agenda at the ECBS SWATeam meeting:

    1) Final review of Illini Lights Out (ILO) recommendation;

    2) Scott Willenbrock visiting April 14 meeting;

    3) Updates:

    - iCAP Portal.  Work of Morgan and Chenxi Jiang;

    - Earth Hour photo;

    - Eco-Olympics;

    - Green Lab Coordinator

    4) SWATeam next meeting time and date:  April 13th, from 3:30 to 5 pm. 

    Attached Files: 

  10. Water & Stormwater SWAT Meeting Minutes 3/30/2017

    Associated Project(s): 
    BIF Greywater Pipe System
    Reduce Cooling Tower and Chiller Plant Water Use
    Water Audit / Inventory
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam
    Agriculture, Land Use, Food, and Sequestration (ALUFS) SWATeam

    Updates and discussion of greywater meter, greywater design standards, cooling tower cycles of concentration, water use dashboard, and student outreach. 

    Attached Files: 

  12. iWG meeting agenda March 28, 2017

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Green Lab Program
    Topical iCAP Teams
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Agriculture, Land Use, Food, and Sequestration (ALUFS) SWATeam
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam
    2015 Illinois Climate Action Plan (2015 iCAP) [ARCHIVED]
    Sustainability Council

    see file

    Attached Files: 

  13. iWG meeting minutes March 28, 2017

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Topical iCAP Teams
    Agriculture, Land Use, Food, and Sequestration (ALUFS) SWATeam
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam
    2015 Illinois Climate Action Plan (2015 iCAP) [ARCHIVED]
    Sustainability Council
    Green Lab Program

    see file

    Attached Files: 

  14. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, the shop was closed for Spring Break, so going back two weeks to 3/13 – 3/17: Visitors totaled 60. We grossed $839.20. We sold 4 memberships for $120; one refurbished bike for $180; and one build-a-bike for $134.

    This week I will be prepping for summer staff, building bikes, organizing/cleaning, getting in touch with the new supply representative, and attempting to streamline the reporting of stolen bikes.

    Additionally, the Bike Project is hosting a bike light giveaway at Douglass Park in Champaign on Sunday (April 2nd;  2 - 5pm) that I will promote this week.

    Sincerely,

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  15. Let the games begin!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Eco-Olympics

    Hey all!

    The competition has begun! It will run until 4/17. We are close to having the live results up so you can check how your hall is doing. I'll send out a link when that is complete.

    You are competing for a catered banquet or a $200-500 prize of your choice. Start saving energy, signing people up for Eco-Olympics, and having events.

    For your convenience, I have attached the participation outline that specifies how to win points for that $200-500 prize.

    Reach out with any questions and good luck!

    Best,

    Jessica Mondello

    Eco-Olympics | Director

    Think Globally. Act Locally.

    Attached Files: 

  16. Green Labs Coordinator Recommendation - Assessment with all comments

    Associated Project(s): 
    ECBS Recommendations Summary
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Green Lab Program

    The iCAP Working Group (iWG) met on Dec 6, 2016. They supported the Green Labs Coordinator recommendation. The Assessment was completed with comments from all the iWG members on March 27, 2017. The iWG's official comment for this recommendation was:

    "The iCAP Working Group strongly supports the creation of a formal and campus-wide Green Labs program, led by a full-time coordinator and assisted by a team of student interns and a faculty advisory committee.  Many of our peer institutions have successfully implemented such programs.  Such a program is almost certain to lead to significant cost savings: for example, if the program led to the decommissioning of just 1% of our campus's 1700 fume hoods, the recurring energy savings would pay for a full-time position.  However, we anticipate that a much larger fraction (perhaps 10-20%) of hoods could be decommissioned, and there would be additional cost savings from behavior changes, freezer and refrigerator management, and other improvements.  The fiscal benefit to the campus as a whole, in addition to the sustainability benefit, is clear.  However, given current uncertainties about budgets and even budget models, it is not obvious which unit(s) stand to realize the cost savings over the long term.  We therefore suggest that this position be supported centrally, by the Office of the Provost, as a cross-cutting cost-saving strategy.  In terms of organizational placement, we suggest that the OVCR is the natural home for this program, because this office already oversees many programs related to the responsible conduct of research, including safety, compliance, and animal care.  As suggested by the SWATeam, this program could also receive communications/marketing support from iSEE staff."

    See attached the iWG assessment complete with official comments from all the iWG members.

    See SWATeam recommendation ECONS004 Green Labs Coordinator.

    Attached Files: 

  19. iSEE welcomes Professor Wood

    Associated Project(s): 
    Certificate in Environmental Writing (CEW) [ARCHIVED]

    iSEE welcomes Gillen D’Arcy Wood, environmental author, and Professor of English at Illinois, as an Institute Faculty Affiliate. Wood will provide leadership for the new campuswide Certificate in Environmental Writing program co-created by iSEE, the School of Earth, Society and Environment (SESE), and the Department of English. He will also serve as editor of The Green Century, a new environmental magazine featuring student works.

  20. Water Use and Cycles of Concentration (COC) in a cooling tower

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reduce Cooling Tower and Chiller Plant Water Use
    Land and Water iCAP Team

    Below is information provided by Jeremy Overmann, B.S. Ch. E., Water Treatment Specialist, on the water use and cycles of concentration (COC) in a cooling tower, as requested after a Land and Water SWAT meeting. 

    "

    Water SWAT members,

     

    Here is some more information regarding the cooling tower discussion at today’s meeting.

     

    This first graph shows how much water a typical 100 ton Cooling Tower uses per hour, and how this changes when the tower is operated at various Cycles of Concentration (COC)

    NOTE:  a 1 ton cooling tower can remove 15,000 BTU/hr of heat.

     

    2Q==

     

    Most standard chemically treated Cooling Towers use unsoftened water and operate between 4 – 6 COC, depending on the source water quality (also called Make-Up water) and the efficacy of the chemical treatment program.

    As COC increases, the potential for formation of calcium scale (and possibly other types of scale) increases.  Scale deposits reduce the energy efficiency of the chiller and the cooling tower, and result in the need for labor intensive cleaning to remove the scale.

     

     

    The following table shows the relationship between volume of Cooling Tower blowdown (bleed), blowdown rate (% bleed), COC, and total water usage.

    Cycles of Concentration is controlled by choosing the rate of blowdown.  This is done by controlling the blowdown (bleed) valve at the bottom of the tower.

     

    COC

    BLOWDOWN

    TOTAL USAGE (Makeup)
     

    Gallons

    Percent

    Gallons

    Percent

    1.5

    10,000

    100%

    15,000

    100%

    2

    5000

    50%

    10,000

    66%

    3

    2500

    25%

    7500

    50%

    4

    1667

    17%

    6667

    44%

    5

    1250

    13%

    6250

    42%

    6

    1000

    10%

    6000

    40%

    7

    833

    8%

    5833

    39%

    8

    714

    7%

    5714

    38%

    Note: Evaporation = 5000 Gallons

     

     

     

    In a “Zero” blowdown cooling tower, softened water is used, and cycles of concentration ranges from 20 – 100 or higher.  To achieve proper water chemistry to provide corrosion protection, usually need to operate at > 20 COC. 

    During the Champaign Regional Office Building study, the highest COC achieved was 51.  The blowdown valve is turned off, however some water is lost from leaks in the tower, and from droplets of water that escape with the air that is drawn through the tower.

     

    COC

    BLOWDOWN

    TOTAL USAGE (Makeup)
     

    Gallons

    Percent

    Gallons

    Percent

    1.5

    10,000

    100%

    15,000

    100%

    5

    1250

    13%

    6250

    42%

    10

    555

    6%

    5550

    37%

    25

    208

    2%

    5208

    35%

    50

    102

    1%

    5102

    34%

    75

    66

    0.7%

    5066

    34%

    100

    51

    0.5%

    5051

    34%

    200

    25

    0.3%

    5025

    34%

    Note: Evaporation = 5000 Gallons

     

    "

     

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