From: Mies, Timothy A
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2014 4:54 PM
To: Halverson, Robert; Ben McCall <campus-sustainability@illinois.edu> (campus-sustainability@illinois.edu) (campus-sustainability@illinois.edu); Johnston, Morgan B; Rajagopalan, Nandakishore
Subject: Quick summary and highlights from Marc's visit

Just a quick summary of the discussions that occurred with Marc Caluwe from Caluwe Biomass  Heating Solutions in MA, US.

Heizomat is the manufacturer that Marc is a representative for in the US.  I have several brochures that I can pass along that have details on the product line including the RHK-AK model that Marc recommended.  Key points of interest for this group in selecting / approving a boiler:

• This unit utilizes a drag chain conveyor across the burn bed to handle / stir the material as it burns until dropping into an automatic ash clean out.
• We discussed what emissions controls would be needed, and Marc indicated that would be a decision campus would have to address.  Marc will be forwarding a brochure that compares emissions values from several manufacturers in the UK.  Options in order of cost would be a cyclone and then an electrostatic reciprocator.
• UL certification on this model is pending in approx. May of this year.  Due to the cost of ASME certification, they do not plan on testing to that standard.  Instead, in the US they run the boilers at atmospheric pressure with a vent on top.  In this configuration, a plate heat exchanger would be used between the boiler and a thermal storage tank (they recommend old propane tanks as acceptable).  The boilers when used in EU are rated and run at 2 bar (30psi).  Marc cited National Board Synopsis NB370 (http://www.nationalboard.org/index.aspx?pageID=409) that farms would be exempt from this requirement to run at atm.,  but universities / state / industry would not be.  It would be nice to get confirmation of this from engineering.
• The boiler recommended has an infinite turndown ration (VFD on blowers) to 10% and then shuts down.  A hot air ignition system in used for lighting / relighting.
• When running on MXG, in order to minimize clinker caused by low melting point of ash, a lower operating temperature is required, also requiring an 30% approx. upsize  in the model to get the rated output.  If we want 200Kw, we need to consider stepping up to a 250Kw model.
• Material handling / storage / feeding was discussed at length, and Marc was going back to Heizomat to get their recommendations for the best system.  Heizomat does not offer a bale processor at this time, but has a bulk bin feed system to collect chopped material to be burned.

Marc indicated that he would provide estimates (hopefully  by Friday noon) on a boiler system including a storage feed system, and also the same system installed in a cargo container, prewired, plumbed, etc.

In addition to the discussions with Mark, Luis Rund presented a very nice plan / rendering of a cargo container size boiler housing that had glass fronts on one half for viewers, and the other half a biomass storage container.  Probably out of our price range at this point, but would make a nice travel display for shows, demos, etc.

I also had a call later in the day from a representative of Biomass Energy Solutions in MO who is a sales rep for Uniconfort  (Italy) and we had very similar discussions on running at atmospheric pressures.  More literature is coming, and Jared Findley with BES forwarded some links I had looked at initially for the bale processors used for animal feedlots. 

Let me know if you have any further questions or need clarification on above.

Tim

The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) is spearheading an initiative called the “Billion Gallon Water Challenge” to preserve and protect water resources in Illinois.

We have just completed an RFP for water conservations projects and will fund, through our sponsored research grant program, a number of companies and organizations and municipalities to help reach our goal to save 1,000,000,000 gallons of water in Illinois. We will also be conducting outreach and technical assistance to these entities to assist with their water-saving ideas and projects.

In addition, we are encouraging the people of Illinois to join the challenge by making a personal pledge at the Billion Gallon Water Challenge website: http://istc.illinois.edu/water.cfm. So join in the Challenge; take the pledge today and let us know how you will help save water!  And spread the word to your friends to join, too!

ISTC is a division of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

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We have been able to remove all 413 of the bikes from the parking warehouse and they have started their journey to El Salvador.
 

Dear SWATeam Members, A couple of important reminders and points:

1. Next Monday, starting at 9am is the iCAP Forum, to be held in the Illini Union Rooms A & B. Please join us for whatever time you are available that morning, so you can interact with members of the campus community and get their insights/feedback.
2. Each team will need to present a <5 minute presentation on their assessment. Hopefully each team has already decided who will be its representative? These presentations will begin around 9:30.
3. There are a lot of exciting Earth Week events you may wish to attend -- see http://sustainability.illinois.edu/earthweek2014.html
4. I would greatly appreciate it if you could send me at least a draft of your assessment by tomorrow, so that I can begin the process of putting together a poster for Monday afternoon's symposium.
5. Campus is still finalizing a procedure to handle recommendations from the SWATeams, but we are converging on this.

Once Earth Week is complete, I look forward to engaging your teams in broader discussions of where the campus should be going, and revising the iCAP itself. I hope that the teams can remain active over the summer (if at a more relaxed pace), using Skype as necessary. Thanks again for all your hard work!

Cheers,

Ben

From: Henson, Kenneth D
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2014 5:39 PM
To: Johnston, Morgan B
Subject: RE: weather strips on buildings?

Morgan,  Nothing in particular, just routine repairs as they are determined to be necessary.  We recently did the weather stripping at BIF Building to tighten it up a bit.  We have also done some on other buildings that needed it but it’s not anything we’ve been documenting.  Dean

From: Johnston, Morgan B
Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2014 1:15 PM
To: Henson, Kenneth D
Subject: weather strips on buildings?

Hi Dean,

One of the recommended to do items in the 2010 iCAP was basic weatherization of campus buildings, with things like weather stripping.  I know that Building Maintenance funded the weatherization of the small houses on campus, based on that student effort a couple years ago.  But is there also a group working through the campus buildings to put in weather stripping on doorways and such?

Thanks!

Morgan

Please find attached the pricing documents for the Temple Buell Hall Lighting Controls project. I have included the items discussed at the 95% review and I think we are ready to proceed.

Gary Schweighart and I will schedule a meeting soon to determine pricing, project execution and schedule.  We are aware of the 5/30 date to spend funds and will do our best to accommodate.

If you have trouble with the PDF files, or would like hard copies printed, please let me know.

Best regards,

-Eva

Tomorrow, April 12, Champaign County will be holding a free residential electronics collection event. Note that this one will take place at Parkland College, rather than the News-Gazette Distribution Center, which was the location for past collections. See http://wp.istc.illinois.edu/blog/2014/04/11/free-residential-electronics-recycling-collection-event-champaign-co-41214/ for further details, including the list of acceptable items.

Presentations were given by Global Environmental Brigades and USGBC (UIUC chapter).

Global Brigades overview:

• Global Brigades’ Mission: To empower volunteers to facilitate sustainable solutions in under resourced communities
• Global Brigades’ Vision: To improve equality of life, by igniting the largest student-led social responsibility movement on the planet.
• Video from 2013’s brigade http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Aekhz8LHnQ

USGBC Projects:

• “Green your dorm” (at LAR)
• Green Building Conference and expo
• Student Sustainability Symposium

Fellow Big Ten CCN participants,

OSU is hoping to benchmark our results against our peer institutions, not for marketing, but as an internal measurement.  Lucid was kind enough to provide our website hits when we asked them to.  I’d like to share with the group this information in hopes that you’ll share yours with us. 

We had 8 halls competing with a combined 5000 or so residents.  Results of our website hits are in the attached CSV file.  Competition dates were 2/10-3/3.  This is our first year, and we’re hoping to do better in the future, of course. 

Facilities and Services at the University of Illinois is partnering with Champaign County Bikes to count every bike on campus. The bicycle data collected is critical for future university decision-making and planning including: determining the location and quantity of additional bicycle parking needed to meet demand, estimating the increasing number of cyclists on campus, and prioritizing bicycle infrastructure projects.

Volunteers are needed to help with the count and can register at http://tinyurl.com/kcbc4t4

Please contact bike@illinois.edu for additional information.

White Roofs Better Than Dark, Vegetated Roofs, LBNL Study Finds
BERKELEY, Calif.—Compared to traditional dark-colored roofs and green or “vegetated” roofs, white roofs offer greater ability to lower temperatures that lead to the urban heat island effect, and they do it at less cost, according to a recent report. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report states that building owners “concerned with global warming should choose white roofs, which are three times more effective than green roofs at cooling the globe.” The authors analyzed 22 commercial flat roof projects in the U.S. and performed a 50-year life-cycle cost analysis. They assumed a 20-year service life for black roofs and white roofs, and 40 years for green roofs. Compared to black roofs, the report says, white roofs save $25/m2 ($2.30/ft2) and green roofs have an additional cost of $71/m2 ($6.60/ft2). The authors also concluded that black roofs should be prohibited in some areas. “We strongly recommend building code policies that phase out dark-colored roofs in warm climates to protect against their adverse public health externalities,” the report states.

Read more

Excerpt:    However, unlike white roofs, green roofs do not offset climate change. White roofs are more reflective than green roofs, reflecting roughly three times more sunlight back into the atmosphere and therefore absorbing less sunlight at earth’s surface. By absorbing less sunlight than either green or black roofs, white roofs offset a portion of the warming effect from greenhouse gas emissions.

“Both white and green roofs do a good job at cooling the building and cooling the air in the city, but white roofs are three times more effective at countering climate change than green roofs,” said Rosenfeld.

Marika and Amy,

We would like to schedule a meeting with you to review a proposed project under the Illini Union/Student Sustainability revolving fund.  Please share your availability for the next two weeks so that we can identify a time for the key stakeholders to meet for one hour.

As you may already know, the IU/SSC revolving fund already has $400,000 of contributions from the past 2 fiscal years, with the Illini Union and SSC contributing $100K per year to the fund.  Another combined installment of $200K is due at the end of this fiscal year.

The proposed project we would like to review with you adds digital demand control to all of the food service hoods in the lower level food court and exhaust fans in the lower level of the Illini Union.  This will lower our loss of conditioned air from the building significantly as well as our associated utilities.  The calculated payback is 2.2 years.

Illini Union, working with Facilities & Services, has already completed a feasibility study and HVAC report for the Illini Union lower level hoods and exhaust fans with SSC concurrence.  We propose proceeding with design on the project before the end of the fiscal year.  Our intent would be to be in construction for Summer 2015, likely in a phased manner.  This would require two sets of funding commitments, but is necessary to execute the project.

Please find the feasibility report attached for reference and do not hesitate to contact me regarding the project or meeting schedule.

Best regards,

David C. Guth

Assistant Director for Facilities

The Illini Union

Launch of GRITS 1.0

On Earth Day, the Sustainable Endowments Institute will be launching the Green Revolving Investment Tracking System (GRITS) 1.0, a tool that streamlines tracking and calculation of project-level energy, financial and carbon data for sustainability and efficiency investments. On April 17, we will host a special webinar to provide a preview of GRITS 1.0 and the GRITS Affiliates program before its public launch (April 22). For information on the webinar and the GRITS Affiliates program, please see below for more details and how to register.

What is GRITS?

GRITS 1.0 is an online tool that offers a bridge between management and performance reporting by creating a space for institutions to track, analyze and share data on specific projects or groups of projects--well beyond the capabilities of spreadsheets. GRITS provides an accessible platform to better manage financial and environmental project performance.

What can you do with GRITS?

• Access and learn from the field-tested projects of peer institutions (the Project Library has hundreds of projects and is growing rapidly)
• Facilitate investments in efficiency projects by enabling fund administrators to easily and clearly communicate with stakeholders
• Simplify calculations of project-specific carbon and financial savings on both annualized and estimated life-of-project timeframes
• Create customized reports that tell the story of current and anticipated project performance.

The improvements offered in GRITS 1.0 are the culmination of more than two years of development and collaboration with participants in the Billion Dollar Green Challenge.

Interested in a tour? Email GRITS@GreenBillion.org to see first-hand the improved GRITS tool.

Special Preview Webinar of GRITS 1.0 on April 17

In partnership with the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), the Sustainable Endowments Institute will host a webinar to provide a special preview of GRITS 1.0 and the GRITS Affiliates program before its public launch on April 22. Many institutions in the United States and Canada have requested access to the GRITS web-based platform to better track project-level energy, financial, and carbon data, and we are excited to offer access to GRITS to all institutions.

The webinar will take place on Thursday, April 17 at 2:00 PM EDT. Please RSVP for this free webinar at gritswebinar.eventbrite.com.

Introducing GRITS Affiliates

What is GRITS Affiliates?
 
GRITS Affiliates is SEI's new program that opens access to GRITS 1.0 to all institutions and organizations.

Offering GRITS 1.0 to a wider community will build on the important work that is already being undertaken, strengthen best practices in the field, and help more institutions realize vital environmental and financial benefits. Members of the Billion Dollar Green Challenge will still have the advantage of a more cost-effective program for using GRITS. Challenge members will also benefit from new project-specific and fund-specific data provided by GRITS Affiliates that will help further expand the Project Library.

GRITS Affiliates will be available to schools and organizations outside The Challenge by subscription.

Interested in GRITS Affiliates? Sign up for free trial access by emailing GRITS@GreenBillion.org.

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Water SWATeam

Water purchasing at about 3.25/100,000 gallons. Plus you have to pay for sewer water as well. In other areas it is more expensive.    Decrease water consumption  Find uses for non-potable water Handle storm water quality and quantity   Kishore. How do we compare to other schools? Be the leader as far as water per square foot.   ICAP baseline to improve. Is one perspective? We are there now.    Eliana Brown storm water protection.    Most buildings have meters now. About 99%   ISTC study. There so much more to do on campus.    CEE 398 PBL water report.    Irrigation usage. Wasn't in the billing system.    Barrier to grey water. Have to repipe a building to be able to use it. BIF  Could make that connection. State law say that. In major remodeling projects should the facilities standard say that it should be fed with grey water   Excel list of water by building.  Irrigation information   South farms run off. Drainage tiles. To the embrass river. Florida avenue dividing line. For salt fork.    Low flow fixtures. Aerators on faucets.     

Hello Colleagues. I invite you to participate in a Sustainable Electronics Campus Consortium meeting, scheduled for 1:00-2:00 PM on Wednesday, April 9, in the Stephen J. Warner Conference room at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center.   ISTC is working with Katie Kinley, a UI senior, to develop a prototype of her concept for an inductive charger for wireless microphone packs used in lecture halls and classrooms. The goal is to test this unit’s potential to save money and labor, while also reducing battery waste generated by the University. Katie will describe her project, show her progress on building her prototype, and discuss plans for testing the feasibility  of her idea, which will hopefully include testing the unit in one or more lecture halls. She would appreciate any feedback, contacts, and suggestions consortium members might provide.   -Joy Scrogum