ECE rooftop solar project update:

1) The original PO bought approximately 500 panels for $240,925.  This was funded with $100K from the DCEO grant, and $140,925 from the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) funding. 

2) The original funding plan was for a total project cost of $900,000.  It was made up of $225K from the SSC, $250K from DCEO, $100 from the Grainger Center for Engineering, and $325K from the department and college.  When DCEO cut the grant funding with the state budget crisis, the project stalled with just the initial purchase of panels completed.

3) Current campus project implementation methodology requires this project to go through the Capital Programs process for installation of the panels.  ECE is seeking project funding and approval for the full installation.

4) ECE has initiated a PO for the remaining 421 panels from a sole source vendor, at a discounted rate. 

These files were on the now-closed bike wiki.

The SSC requests final reports for projects they fund.  This report and the related files are attached here.

The ECBS SWATeam submitted a recommendation to the iWG stating, "The ECBS SWATeam recommends conducting a one hour pilot audit of lights left on in select buildings on campus as part of a campus engagement and conservation strategy. Pairs of students accompanied by campus security/other personnel (as necessary) are assigned buildings to audit on the main Quad to turn off non-essential lights in classrooms/bathrooms not in use. Volunteers will meet at a designated location to sign in, review safety protocols and receive their tally sheets and floor plans. Students will use these sheets to indicate any empty rooms where they turned off lights. After the audit is complete, students will return all forms to designated staff and are then eligible for a prize/reward. The ECBS team intends to use the results of this pilot to recommend a more comprehensive year-round campaign called ‘Illini Lights Out’. Details of audit as follows:

• Buildings to be audited (8): Altgeld Hall, English Building, Lincoln Hall, Gregory Hall, Smith Memorial Hall,Foreign Languages Building, Davenport Hall, and Noyes Laboratory.
• Given the number of buildings, it is expected that 16 – 24 student volunteers are needed.
• Recommended date for pilot audit is Friday, April 15th from 6pm – 7pm.
• Designated meeting spot required. Table in the Illini Union recommended between 5:45pm – 7:30pm."

See attached the SWATeam recommendation ECONS002 Illini Lights Out complete with comments from all the ECBS SWATeam members.

Behavioral Interventions for Campus Energy Consumption

According to Levenick Research Fellow Erica Myers:

“Fuel costs — particularly in a campus setting — are often not well understood or salient for consumers. Students, faculty, and staff do not see billing or consumption information, making it difficult to translate use of particular energy services into costs. As a result, energy consumption is often ‘out of sight, out of mind’ as we go through our busy days on campus.

“The goal of our research is to identify behavioral interventions that can be used to reduce campus energy consumption. First, in the spring of 2016, we will work with engineers and building managers on campus to identify behavioral energy savings opportunities related to office and classroom heating and cooling, electronics and lighting. Then in the summer and fall of 2016, we will design and test the relative effectiveness of behavioral interventions such as educational campaigns, usage information provision, and social comparisons for taking advantage of savings opportunities and reducing energy consumption.

“Our findings will be shared with University of Illinois stakeholders, presented at academic conferences, and made publicly available in a University white paper in early 2017. Our results will not only be relevant for the U of I in meeting its campus sustainability goals, but for other campus and commercial settings where energy use is not well understood or salient for consumers.”

http://sustainability.illinois.edu/about/partnerships/levenick-isee-fell...

http://sustainability.illinois.edu/ui-remains-green-campus-leader-as-cha...

Illinois a Green Campus Leader as Chancellor Signs Climate Resilience Commitment

Mar 2, 2016 | News Releases |

MARCH 3, 2016 — The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign took on a leadership role to more actively respond to global climate change when Interim Chancellor Barbara Wilson signed Second Nature’s Climate Resilience Commitment in February.

Illinois is a Charter Signatory of the Second Nature Climate Commitment, which combines a Carbon Commitment the campus signed in 2008 with the newly signed Resilience Commitment. The full Climate Commitment formally acknowledges that the effects of climate change are already felt — and that universities and colleges must pursue both mitigation and adaptation to combat the unfolding crisis.

By adding the Resilience Commitment, Illinois has made a pledge to evaluate campus vulnerabilities to a changing climate in its landscapes, natural resources, and energy production — and to make an action plan that addresses those weaknesses.

In 2015, Illinois released an updated Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) reporting its progress toward emissions reduction and other campus sustainability goals and outlining a new path to reaching net zero carbon emissions as soon as possible, but no later than 2050.

“While the iCAP is a plan for how campus impacts the atmosphere and climate, the resilience plan will be about how the campus reacts to atmosphere and climate change,” said Evan DeLucia, Director of the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE).

Resilience is a measure of the ability to react to and recover from difficult circumstances. Resilient communities bend but do not break under pressure, he said.

Wilson, who signed the document Feb. 9, said: “Signing the Resiliency Commitment is a natural extension of our efforts to carefully steward university resources. By planning ahead, we can prepare for a range of potential challenges presented by climate change — whether social, financial, or ecological.

“We’re positioning ourselves to be the kind of nimble and responsive university that can deliver on our educational and research missions for generations to come.”

DeLucia said that carrying out the terms of the commitment will create a more holistic picture of sustainability on campus.

“I think this commitment will make us think about sustainability in a broader way,” he said. “Rather than only asking, ‘How much renewable energy do we use?’ we’ll also be asking ‘Do we have a diverse enough pool of energy resources so that if one fails, the entire system doesn’t fail?’ It will be less about being ‘green’ and more about being truly sustainable.”

A PDF of the Resilience Commitment — complete with Wilson’s signature — can be viewed on iSEE’s website.
Second Nature is a nonprofit organization with more than 20 years of experience mobilizing institutions of higher education to lead the way to a more just, healthy, and sustainable society. It sponsors the Climate, Resilience, and Carbon commitments and oversees reporting of the signatory institutions’ progress toward their goals.

Dear Partner Institutions, We hope this email finds you well. We’re writing with updates about several ongoing/upcoming projects:

1. RSVP for the Smart and Sustainable Conferences Meet-up: On Sunday, April 3rd from 5-7 PM we’ll hold our semi-annual Big Ten and Friends Sustainability Group (BTFSG) meeting at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore to discuss our governance structure and the Big Ten Prospectus, among other topics. As in Minneapolis, we plan to meet for dinner afterward as well. Please RSVP here. If you have a topic for discussion, please email Michael (mgulich@purdue.edu).
2. Progress Toward Governance Structure: Michael, Erik Foley, and Leanne Bilodeau are reengaging the Governance Working Group to discuss potential structures and the development of a BTFSG charter. They will be reaching out this spring to collect feedback from BTFSG partner institutions. If you’re interested in participating in this discussion, email Michael (mgulich@purdue.edu).
3. Big Ten Prospectus Update: The Planning Team has synthesized the feedback from the pre-AASHE meeting in Minneapolis and significantly narrowed down the outcome/metrics set for each priority area. On Monday, February 15th we met with the MWG to discuss their feedback on the outcomes and metrics, and this week the Planning Team is pulling together a final set of metrics for data collection. After considering the potential burden on partners, we hope to limit the request to no more than one metric per priority area (six total). Please look for a detailed project completion schedule with the data/feedback request next Wednesday, March 9th. No action is required at this time. For those of you interested, we’re sharing the draft resources compiled for the MWG to aid them in reviewing the narrowed outcome/metric sets. Please keep in mind that the draft resources presented here ask the MWG to narrow the bundle to a set of metrics for collection—again, since our conversation with the MWG, we have decided that only a few of these will be sent out for collection.
   • Process background and instructions: This two-pager explains the steps the Planning Team followed in synthesizing feedback and narrowing down the metrics set after the pre-AASHE meeting. It also provides review guidelines for the MWG. This (very roughly produced!) video also provides instructions. 
   • Priority area narratives: These six draft narratives provide: 1) rough background summarizing feedback collected during the pre-AASHE meeting, and 2) informal explanations of the narrowed set of outcomes and metrics, including areas where the Planning Team expressed reservations about a selection and needs specific feedback. Links to the each narrative can be found here:
     • Education
     • Research
     • Organizational Health
     • Diversity and Inclusion
     • Partnerships
     • Financial Stewardship
   • Narrowed outcome and metric set: These two figures illustrate the outcomes and metrics for all priority areas:
   •  All outcomes selected for MWG review (download and zoom-in for increased visibility)
   • All outcomes and metrics selected for MWG review (download and zoom-in for increased visibility)

Please let us know if you have any comments, questions, or concerns about the above. We hope to see you in Baltimore this April!

Denice and Michael (and Emilie)

The Revolving Loan Fund was updated in FY16.  These files were previously the main files on the iCAP Portal page.

This fund was originally called for in the 2010 iCAP, as the “clean energy fund.”  It was established in Fiscal Year 2012, with funding from the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) and the Office of the Chancellor.  Within the first year, the Office of the President committed additional funds. 

With input from the campus community, Facilities & Services, the SSC, the Office of Sustainability, and the Office of the Chancellor worked through the details for selecting projects.  The agreement about the process was signed in November 2011.  According to the  agreement, any grant funds received for RLF projects in campus-funded utility buildings will be allocated entirely to the RLF.  Thus, the fund can grow over time.  Additionally, the campus agreed to match any future additional commitments from the SSC.

If an Auxiliary unit is interested in using the Revolving Loan Fund for a utility conservation project, a simple Memo of Understanding is needed to allow the repayment through utility savings over time. 

Student Affairs is hiring a researcher on campus willing and able to test the substance that would come from a Tersano lotus Pro cleaning system box.

Hello all, Last week was a little weird, but great.  We had some strange fluctuations in attendance that went against normal attendance/weather patterns.  We sold 1 bike for $140, 1 build-a-bike for $45, 2 memberships for $50, and grossed $768.80.  I ran out of room upfront so I started putting for sale bikes in the back of the shop.  My goal is to have half of the storage area be refurbished bikes by spring so we are ready for the rush.  The hydraulic disc brake class went very well.  Matt Crosby from Neutral came early and helped setup as well as publicized the event.  We have 5 people in attendance and everyone learned a lot.  We may have a second class to go deeper into bleeding and lever modulation adjustment. 

This week I plan on helping to get Lily up to speed as Stacy sees fit, building bikes, and working on upcoming advocacy events.

From the Campus Outpost,
James Roedl

Today’s RPC Technical Committee meeting included an overview of the study completed by RPC to identify a strategy to improve household hazardous waste (HHW) collection options in a seven-county east central Illinois region. Work on the study began in 2013 and was completed in 2015.

The take-away product of the RPC study is the Local Government Toolkit: Improving HHW Collection Options in Illinois. (The Toolkit and accompanying Background Report may soon become a published report by the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center).

The problem of providing a viable HHW collection option to our citizens has been a longstanding one. In Champaign County we waited six years before receiving the opportunity to hold an IEPA one-day HHW collection at significant cost in September 2012. We are waiting still (four years and counting) for another IEPA one-day HHW collection opportunity. In the meantime, no collection options exist for citizens for safe disposal of:

• Oil-based liquid paints, paint strippers, and thinners
• Herbicides and pesticides
• Lawn chemicals
• Insecticides
• Old gasoline
• Mercury-containing devices
• Drain and oven cleaners
• Spot remover
• Antifreeze
• Pool chemicals
• Household cleaning products
• Car cleaners
• Personal care products

Fortunately, some strides are being made locally by providing local options for safe disposal of unwanted pharmaceuticals.  We have a long way to go with regard to HHW collection options.

As an initial action, please distribute the attached Local Government Toolkit: Improving HHW Collection Options in Illinois for review to all stakeholders with a potential interest, including your planning agency, public works department, and local officials.

The Champaign County Sustainability Practitioners group recommended to form a leadership team to engage in the search for funding sources to support an agreed-upon strategy as a logical first step.

I look forward to receiving  your questions or comments about this upcoming initiative.  Thank you.  

Susan Monte, AICP

Planner

Champaign County Regional Planning Commission

A copy of the meeting notes for the Energy Generation, Purchasing, and Distribution team meeting on Tuesday, Feburary 16th 2016.