Registration open for major conference on campus

As water and land for agriculture decrease and our climate changes, how do we feed the estimated 9 billion people who will populate the Earth by 2050? From Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment will gather 22 leading world scholars on campus to explore the issues. Register today for iSEE Congress 2014 — "Feeding 9 Billion: A Path to Sustainable Agriculture."

Anthony D Mancuso • Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment

iSEE Certified Green Office Program

You are invited to reduce the environmental impact of your office by enrolling in iSEE's Certified Green Office Program. Participating offices will implement some of the best practices to conserve energy and resources. Although changes to each office will for the most part be small, the aggregate impact of many people’s actions will be large. Registration is now open.

Nishant Makhijani • Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment

The International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) released a report on campus sustainability best practices.  It is attached here.

Prairieland Energy Inc (PEI) provided the attached schedule for the Request for Information (RFI) and the potential Request for Proposals (RFP) for a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

On July 29, the iCAP Working Group (iWG) met for the first time. Read more about that first meeting in the attached minutes.

Kishore Rajagopalan recommended adding this to the water conservation opportunities for campus: http://www.ecobluecorp.com/testimonials.php.

Sandy Mason interviewed myself and Jessica Mondello this morning at the Florida—Orchard prairie.  I think it went well.  As usual there was an awkward moment or two as we groped for words.  It should air on the farm segments at 5:40 am tomorrow Aug 7, and another version next Tuesday.  It will likely also show up on Illinois Home page .net

All the paths now have a thin layer of wood chips to prevent erosion.

~John Marlin

A long-term energy savings plan has been developed for 18 buildings which will consist of multiple agreements with Energy Service Companies (ESCO). These efforts are focused primarily on research facilities which have large energy demands and high potential for savings. The first contract associated with the plan has been approved by the Board of Trustees for $1.4M and will evaluate Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, Engineering Sciences Building, Loomis Laboratory, Superconductivity Center, and Micro & Nanotechnology Laboratory. An added benefit to these contracts is the ability to invest in upgraded systems using energy saving revenue which can improve facility operations and reduce deferred maintenance as well.

Marques,

I discussed the project with Carl Wegel. I regret to inform you that F&S will not be able to continue it at this time.

Please let me know what actions we would need to take if any to close out this account.

Best,

Eliana

There are some environmental advocates who oppose using wood chips for energy. 

This YouTube video includes the following description: "Forests are also one of our best defenses against global warming, absorbing vast amounts of carbon pollution out of the air. But power companies are increasingly proposing to burn whole trees for energy. Trees are not a "carbon neutral" fuel source. Just like coal, when trees are burned in power plants, the carbon they have accumulated over long periods of time is released into the atmosphere. Unlike coal, however, trees will continue to absorb carbon if left alone. So burning forests for energy not only emits a lot of carbon, but also degrades our carbon sinks. This video shows what happens to the balance of carbon between and forest and the atmosphere when we burn forests to produce energy instead of leaving them standing to continue to absorb and store carbon. Burning forests for electricity is dirty and destructive!" 

It is shared by the Natural Resources Defence Council.

Housing has been piloting the glove recycling program for about four weeks now.  LAR, PRI, and MRL are all considering implementing the program.  Kimberly-Clarke Professionals (KCP) is interested in potentially supporting an intern to help expand the program.

If everyone on campus recycled their KCP gloves it would be about 20 tons of landfill reduced.

Joyce Mast is coordinating a Request for Purchase to buy and install the solar panels that will go on top of the ECE Building.  The building already has the structural supports for the panels, so the purchase will include the racks, PV panels, and inverters.  Joyce is working with ECE's administrative office, the Purchasing Department, and F&S Capital Programs to facilitate this RFP.

Dear Revolving Loan Fund Selection Committee,

For two reasons, we will be rescheduling the Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) project review meeting.  First, the funding available to allocate from the RLF has significantly increased with the roll-over to FY15.  We now have an additional million dollars to allocate, with a total of approximately $2.3M.  Therefore, additional potential projects need to be identified before the selection takes place.  Second, the AFMFA selection committee is being called this fall, for the first time in a few years.  The founding agreement for the RLF (attached for your reference) intended the project selection to occur with the AFMFA project selection process.  Therefore, this meeting will be arranged in conjunction with the fall AFMFA committee meeting. 

The AFMFA committee meeting will be arranged by Doris Reeser, and I will remain in contact to answer questions about the RLF.

Thank you,

Morgan

Al Stratman, Carl Wegel, Ryan Welch, and Morgan Johnston met to discuss the requirements for applying for Tree Campus USA recognition.  Al directed Morgan and Ryan to pursue the application for this fall.  Morgan will take the lead, with Ryan handling a lot of the needed writing effort.

There are five requirements to get recognized as a Tree Campus USA:

1. Establish a “Campus Tree Advisory Committee”
   
   1. Membership must include a student, a Grounds representative, a faculty member, and a community member.
   2. We are hopeful that the Arboretum would organize this committee, chair it, staff it, and we would just need to attend and participate.
   3. The required responsibilities are unclear in the Tree Campus program, but we would not need to give them any authority over us.
2. Campus Tree Care Plan
   
   1. must include
      
      1. Clearly stated purpose.
      2. Responsible authority/department - who enforces the Campus Tree Care Plan. – F&S
      3. Establishment of a Campus Tree Advisory Committee, terms of the representatives, and role committee plays. – see above
      4. Campus tree care policies for planting, landscaping, maintenance and removal including establishing and updating a list of recommended and prohibited species; managing for catastrophic events. – we would need to document the maintenance and removal policies
      5. Protection and Preservation policies and procedures - include process for implementing tree protection plan including step-by-step process that every project must follow including construction and trenching. – in the standards
      6. Goals and Targets - develop at least one goal and target for your Campus Tree Plan. These could include (but are not limited to) tree canopy target, development of a link between the Campus Tree Plan and other green initiatives on campus or in the community; completion of a campus-wide tree inventory, etc. Include how the goal will be measured. – the goal could be to update and maintain the tree inventory, currently at about 75% for tree locations
      7. Tree damage assessment - enforcement, penalties, and appeals. – we would need to complete and document this policy
      8. Prohibited practices. – in the standards
      9. Definitions of terminology related to campus trees.
      10. Communication strategy - how the campus tree care plan will be communicated to the college community and contractors to heighten awareness about policies and procedures as well as the goals of the institution. – in collaboration with Arboretum, CRC, and possibly iSEE
   2. F&S would take the lead on developing this plan.  The advisory committee could be the primary reviewers.  Morgan can help facilitate this.
3. Campus Tree Program with Dedicated Annual Expenditures
   
   1. Grounds has a dedicated budget for trees.  Ryan noted that right now we are at about $200K per year including replacements, 2 tree surgeons and 2 grounds workers
   2. Ryan would need to develop a regular process for summarizing this data to record as evidence of the funding.
   3. We could expand this effort to collect financial information from other units that handle trees on campus, such as the Arboretum
4. Arbor Day Observance
   
   1. The Arboretum is the natural lead for an Arbor Day Observance event each year.  They have indicated interest in helping with this program. 
   2. We would definitely be involved, but we would prefer they take the lead for developing and organizing the event.
   3. Certain items would need to be tracked: activity program, news coverage, pictures, and I recommend tracking participation rates.
5. Service Learning Project
   
   1. “This should provide an opportunity to engage the student population with projects related to trees and can be part of a campus of community initiative.”
   2. We agree that a student project could be to locate the campus trees and enter basic information (size?).
   3. The project must be completed within the course of the year the application is submitted.
   4. The Arboretum could help coordinate this effort.  We could get a professor to do it in a class.  Morgan can assist with the coordination of this project.

The application is due in December for the year completed, so we would need to complete this effort this fall in order to qualify for next year.

Dear Energy Generation SWATeam,

As the campus prepares to issue a request for pricing (RFP) for renewable energy, the question has arisen whether electricity derived from natural gas from abandoned coal mines would "count" towards our climate action goals.  My understanding is that in some states (including California) this type of energy is defined by statute as renewable, but this is not the case in Illinois -- so we would have to make our own judgment.  I also note that at least one such project has been certified by the Voluntary Carbon Standard (http://www.terrapass.com/our-projects/cambria-33-abandoned-coal-methane-capture-project/),

which is the same standard under which our campus carbon reductions are being certified.

The basic idea behind this energy source is that abandoned coal mines naturally leak methane into the atmosphere, and as I'm sure you know methane has a considerably larger effect on climate than does CO2.

These projects aim to capture that methane and combust it to form CO2, thus reducing the overall climate impact while also generating electricity.

I'd like to ask your SWATeam to examine this issue, and provide a recommendation to the iCAP Working Group as to whether abandoned coal mine methane capture "counts" as renewable energy in the context of our climate goals (as represented in the iCAP and envisioned revisions to the iCAP).  You may also wish to examine whether landfill gas capture "counts."

It would be most helpful if I could receive your recommendation before the end of August.

Cheers,

Ben

Ben,

     We will take a look at this.   But there are two points I'd like to make right away:

1. It does not appear that California considers this renewable energy (nor does Illinois, as you say):

http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=CA25R&re=0&ee=0

2.  Since this source of methane is exhaustible, I don't see any rationale to consider it renewable.   It may be a worthwhile thing to do, but that is a separate issue.   Renewable is a high standard.

                Scott

----------------------------------

Hi Scott,

You raise a fantastic point that mine gas is not renewable in the sense that of renewing itself indefinitely (in contrast to wind and solar). 

However, like landfill gas, there appears to be a clear climate benefit to utilizing it rather than allowing it to leak to the atmosphere.

I suppose I should rephrase my question: should the campus consider mine gas (or landfill gas) as helping to meet our climate goals, and if so how should it fit in?  Should we consider it on the same playing field as true renewables?  Or should we separately pursue it as a way of reducing our CO2 emissions in the energy sector, but not count it towards our renewables goals?

Thanks very much,

Ben

The Facebook page for the Game Day Recycling Challenge has been launched.  For the October 25th homecoming game we will be setting up 3 bin stations throughout the stadium for recycling, compost, and landfill.  All collected weights will be reported to the Game Day website for the national competition.  More details to follow.

Here is the Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/518311078270593/.

Here is the site for the Game Day Challenge: http://gamedaychallenge.org/.

From: Milbrandt, Janet
Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2014 2:02 PM
To: Lavey, Warren Gary; McCall, Benjamin; Bartels, Bart A
Cc: Bohlen, Kayci; Taylor, Mark A
Subject: RE: new State of Illinois UPS contract

I am forwarding you to the Sourcing Office for the University of IL.

From: Lavey, Warren Gary
Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2014 9:27 AM
To: Milbrandt, Janet; McCall, Benjamin; Bartels, Bart A
Subject: new State of Illinois UPS contract

Hello, Janet.  The State of Illinois is implementing a new contract with UPS for ground and air package delivery services.  UIUC is an eligible customer under this contract.

This contract was awarded pursuant to the Illinois Transportation Sustainability Procurement Program Act of 2013, with environmental factors comprising 20 percent of the bidder evaluation criteria.  The contract includes provisions for tracking emissions and fuel consumption related to the services provided.  Alternative fuels, including biofuels, and cleaner vehicles are encouraged for UPS's services under this contract. I don't have any information on the rates under the new contract.

Can you arrange a meeting with UIUC's UPS contract representative to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of migrating UIUC's shipments from UIUC's existing UPS contract to the new State of Illinois contract?  I would like to participate in this meeting.

Thanks and best wishes.