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Project Updates

  2. Biomass Boiler at Energy Farm

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    Explore Options for 100 Percent Clean Campus Energy
    Biomass use on Campus
    Biomass Boiler at the Energy Farm

    Construction is underway in Fall 2016 to install a 200 kW biomass boiler at the Energy Farm. This system will initially satisfy all heating needs for the greenhouse onsite, and will replace the current propane heating system. In the future, more buildings may be added to the boiler system.

  3. Geothermal Profile Project

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    Explore Options for 100 Percent Clean Campus Energy
    Geothermal on Campus
    Geothermal Test Well at Energy Farm

    Beginning Fall 2016, a team at the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS, a division of the prairie Research Institute) led by Illinois Professor Yu-Feng Forrest Lin is conducting a series of detailed observations of the geothermal profile on campus - including high-resolution temperature profiling and thermal analysis. The team will drill to 330 ft and install a geothermal loop and fiberoptic cables. Results will help determine the feasibility of implementing geothermal systems on campus by identifying costs and possible challenges.

    Professor Lin has coordinated with faculty from the University of Wisconsin to incorporate lessons learned from their implementation of a geothermal exchange system at the nearby EPIC health care systems campus in Verona, WI.

    Professor Lin's team began drilling on 9/19/16. Daily drilling progress is logged and can be found by clicking this link.

    Attached Files: 

  4. Participation in the Campus Sustainability Celebration

    Associated Project(s): 
    Agriculture, Land Use, Food, and Sequestration (ALUFS) SWATeam

    SWATeam Memebers Chibuihe Asonye, Brent Lewis, and Joseph Edwards represented the team at the Campus Sustainability Celebration at Alice Campbell Alumni Center. During the celebration team members talked to campus community members about their work on the team and the progress on the ICAP goals. 

     

    Attached Files: 

  5. Update on Bicycle Fleet Progress from August to October 2016

    Associated Project(s): 
    Provide Working Bikes for University Employees

    Here is an update of what Lily Wilcock and myself (Logan Ebeling) have accomplished concerning departmental bicycle fleets on campus from late August to late October.

     

    We began with a goal of assessing the health and status of current departmental bicycle fleets on campus. Offhand, Lily knew of the following programs:

    • Kinesiology department
    • Living Learning Community in LAR
    • Urban Planning department
    • Building Operations and Maintenance
    • Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning

    In an attempt to reach out to those programs and other ones that we potentially did not know about, we developed a survey for people involved with those programs to take. A link to that survey was sent out in an E-Week advertisement on October 2nd. A screenshot of that blurb in the E-Week is attached to this post. We are still waiting on responses from that survey (so far we have about 3 responses). 

    Another goal was to advertise to departments that starting a bicycle fleet was even a possibility. Anecdotally, it seems that many people are unaware that the University is encouraging bicycle use for employees. To address this, we developed a short enrollment form that people could fill out if they wanted more information on starting a departmental bicycle fleet. A link to this enrollment form was also sent out in the October 2nd E-Week advertisement. We had around 10 replies to this enrollment form and sent out an email to the respondents with more information and an offer to meet and discuss possibilities for a bicycle fleet for their department. 

     

    One goal of mine was to develop two checklists to have available to people to aid in sending out information to people. These two checklists are completed and we have been sending them out to people where appropriate. The two checklists are attached to this post and they are:

    1. A checklist for maintaining existing bicycle fleets
    2. A checklist for starting a bicycle fleet

    These checklists drew heavily off of information in the Departmental Bike Sharing Manual from 2014 (attached to this project's main page). 

     

    Attached Files: 

  7. 2016 Winners Announced!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP)

    The 2016 ECIP award winners were announced last Wednesday, and they will be given plaques at the annual Campus Sustainability Celebration this week, 10/16 from 4-6 at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center.  Here is the letter.

    Congratulations!

    We would like to recognize your unit as a 2016 Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP) award winner during the Campus Sustainability Celebration on Wednesday, October 26 from 4-6 p.m. at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center. For planning purposes, please let us know who will be accepting the award(s) on behalf of your unit by Friday, October 21.

    Sustainability initiatives are at the core of Illinois’ commitment to its land-grant university mission. The Climate Leadership Commitment pledges the Urbana campus to be carbon neutral by 2050, which requires all students, staff, and employees working together to implement a dynamic, multi-disciplinary approach to campus sustainability.

    The ECIP awards began in 2013 as a way to recognize outstanding individual and team efforts that move us closer to reaching our Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) goals. The ECIP honors occupants of campus buildings that have reduced energy at the greatest level from one year to the next. This year more than $177,000 for improvement projects in winning facilities will be provided through the program.

    Everyone researching, learning, and working in these nine buildings is an ECIP winner, and we encourage as many participants to join the celebration as possible.  Hosted by Facilities & Services and the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment, the Campus Sustainability Celebration will cover the iCAP objectives, celebrate the diverse sustainability community, and recognize 2016 winners. 

    We look forward to you and your employees joining us to celebrate the ECIP winners and their contributions toward campus energy conservation.

    2016 ECIP WINNERS

     Occupant Action Category

     % Improvement

    Incentive Award

    1. Atmospheric Sciences Building

    7.5%

                 $50,324

    2. Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

    4.8%

                   $34,111

    3. Institute of Government & Public Affairs Building

    4.4%

                   $15,083

    4. 1207 West Oregon Street (tie)

    2.9%

                   $10,048

    4. Temple Hoyne Buell Hall (tie)

    2.4%

                  $11,486

     Energy Advancement Category

     % Improvement

     Incentive Award

    1. Davenport Hall

    25.8%

                  $26,335

    2. Ceramics Kiln House

    21.2%

                  $10,000

    3. Transportation Building

    14.0%

                  $10,000

    4. Rehabilitation Education Center

    9.6%

                 $10,000

     

    Helen J. Coleman, LEED AP
    Interim Executive Director

    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
    Facilities & Services
    1501 South Oak St.
    Champaign, IL 61820
    Phone: (217) 265-8477
    E-mail: hjcolema@illinois.edu

     

  8. ECBS SWATeam meeting minutes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illini Lights Out
    Green Lab Program
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam

    At the ECBS SWATeam meeting Doctor Yun Yi joined the team as a new Faculty Member. Dr. Yi shared with the team his campus level building performance research on energy usage modeling in Pennsylvania. It was decided that the buildings for an informal study at UIUC, based on Dr Yi’s model, will be the same eight buildings as for “Illini Lights Out” project. “Illini Lights Out” project was approved by SSC for $1000 of funding. Campus Sustainability Celebration will occur on October 26, where ECBS SWATeam's poster will be presented. 

    Attached Files: 

  9. Inquiry regarding volunteer time at Rain Garden

    Associated Project(s): 
    Red Oak Rain Garden

    Community member, Karen Folk, inquired about the potential to establish the Red Oak Rain Garden as an official volunteer location for the Master Naturalists and Master Gardeners to help maintain.  Eliana Brown, currently a Water Resources Outreach Specialist, asked Superintendent of Grounds, Ryan Welch.  Ryan indicated that he would be willing to approve the volunteer program, and the first step is to define a Memo of Understanding (MOU) describing the volunteer work to be done.  He said, "I am agreeable to this, as long as the work is done strictly by volunteers and there is a MOU for the maintenance responsibilities between F&S and the Master Gardeners."

  11. 2015 iCAP solar objective and strategies

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Power on Campus

    The 2015 iCAP, chapter 3, objective 2 is "Expand on-campus solar energy production.  By FY20, produce at least 12,500 MWh/year, and by FY25 at least 25,000 MWh/year, from solar installations on campus property."

    The 2015 iCAP also described the following potential strategies for achieving this objective:

    "2. Expand On-Campus Solar Energy Production

    The campus has a 33 kW photovoltaic array on the roof of the Business Instructional Facility (with an annual production of 44 MWh/yr) and a 14.7 kW ground-mounted array at the Building Research Lab (20 MWh/yr).  During FY15, we began installation of a 300 kW array on the roof of the new Electrical and Computer Engineering Building (402 MWh/yr), and the 5.87 MW Solar Farm on the south campus (7,860 MWh/yr). There is also a solar thermal array on the roof of the Activities and Recreation Center.  There are many other buildings, parcels of land, and parking lots that are well positioned to host sizeable photovoltaic and/or solar thermal arrays.  Although each array in itself would make a small contribution to campus energy generation, taken together the contribution could be significant.

    Identify best solar locations and implement solar projects

    The solar consultation group is identifying the best places to install the next round of photovoltaic projects, and planning to move forward on several projects simultaneously.  Solar thermal may make sense in some situations, as well.  Student design teams could be organized through classes and volunteer groups to assist with the planning and prioritizing of on-campus solar installations.

    Require solar PV on rooftops for new construction and major renovations

    The best time to plan for the installation of photovoltaics on a building is during the design phase.  The campus could implement standards requiring that all new construction and additions include solar photovoltaics on the roof.   In some cases it may also be effective to install photovoltaics on the exterior walls of the buildings."

  12. October 21st, 2016 Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team

    Meeting Minutes 10-21-16

    Attendees:

                  Josh Feldman

                  Claire Dondival

     

    Topics:

     

                  Claire emailed Lance Schideman, professor who works for Illinois Sustainable Tech Center. He hasn’t gotten back to her yet, but Claire will try to see if he can possibly come to one of our future meetings.

     

    Next Meeting:

                 

                  11/4/16, Friday at 1pm in the iSEE conference room

     

  13. 10/21/16 Water SWATeam Meeting Minutes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam

    Meeting focused on the function of the SWATeam and resources available for the team to utilize. The team reviewed recommendation studies submitted by the Water team in the past. 

    Topics of Discussion included poster for Campus Sustainability Celebration, Feasibility Studies submitted in the late Spring of 2016, and the Goals of SWATeams.

    Attached Files: 

  15. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, this past week was a short one; I was out of town Thursday and Friday. We had 45 visitors. Our gross sales were $625; we sold one bike for $103; and 10 memberships for $300.

    This past week the date for moving bikes out of the warehouse was finalized for Friday, November 4th. A very nice volunteer-oriented fraternity has pledged help with the event, which is awesome and will really make a one-day event like this possible. Lily also contacted me about F&S potentially purchasing some bike-share bikes—great news!

    With the weather cooling down, the staff and I have the time now to dedicate ourselves to walking people through—and teaching the skill and reasons for-- repairs and fixes.

    This coming week I plan to coordinate with the parking department on a few days each week between now and the 4th of November when I can prep and organize the bikes in the warehouse as well as having their assistance on the 4th. I will be helping count bikes on Wednesday for the bike census. And, of course the day-to-day bike building and organizing will happen.
     

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  16. Several LCIs in town

    Associated Project(s): 
    League of American Bicyclists Courses

    Currently, there are several League Cycling Instructors in Champaign County.  Notable contacts include: Lily Wilcock, Cynthia Hoyle, and Jeff Yockey.  This training is provided through the League of American Bicyclists, and it supports bike education classes from certified instructors.

  18. ECBS SWATeam meeting minutes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam
    Big Ten & Friends Sustainability
    Illini Lights Out
    Green Lab Program

    At the ECBS SWATeam meeting on October 17,  Big Ten and Friends Mechanical and Energy Conference was discussed. Meeting with Jill Maxey, Associate Director for Space Analysis on Zero Growth for UIUC campus occured on September 26. Green Labs program is currently in progress. Illini Lights Out project is expected to be approved on October 21 by Student Sustaibability Committee with $1000 funding.

    Attached Files: 

  19. PWR SWATeam Meeting Minutes and Agenda for 10.13.2016

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste iCAP Team

    At the meeting we welcomed Marya Ryan, the new part time zero waste coordinator! The Campus Sustainability Celebration is coming up on October 26th, 2016 and we figured out ways to get the word out and encourage people to come out by sharing the Facebook page. We also went through some of the iCAP objectives and tried to edit some of the information that is listed on the iSEE website. For example, we have switched to using a landfill that captures methane so objective 3 is completed!

    Attached Files: 

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