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.

Today recycling containers were placed on the trash bin at Ikenberry Commons.  The purpose is to collect and recycle all the nitrile gloves used by food service employees.  The weight of the gloves will be recorded to measure environmental impact.  

ISTC now has a Bike Rack made out of recycled gloves on display in their atrium.  This is an example of what can be created with the gloves recycled through the Kimberly-Clark glove recycling program.

Construction is underway.  The 3rd and 2nd floors are mostly complete. Unfortunately we’re finding that the sensor coverage is not quite as broad as the spec sheets say, so there’s been a change order for some additional devices.

Many thanks to Jeevaka Somaratna for his help as the teaching assistant for the first year of the CEE 398 Project Based Learning course!  The new TAs for Fall 2014 are Paul Littleton and Alek Heilstedt.

The Parking Department may choose to utilize this Department of Energy Program for promoting public use EV charging stations.

Brian Yeung is planning to enter energy use data for some of the University Housing residence halls into the EPA Portfolio Manager.  He is going to use the same username and password as Nishant is using for other campus buildings.

Professor Ben McCall provided the attached letter of support for the Solar Market Pathways program that CCRPC is coordinating.  It is a system that allows local residential properties to learn more about their options for installing solar on their property. Those interested in doing so could then purchase in bulk at a reduced rate.

LEED Lab

This multidisciplinary immersion course which utilizes the built environment to educate and prepare students to become green building leaders. In the course students assess the performance of existing facilities on campus and chose one building where they will facilitate the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (LEED EB:O&M) process with the goal of certifying the facility. At the close of the semester the students are prepared to sit for the LEED EB:O&M professional credential exam. To learn more visit LEED Lab. Under “How” the Welcome Packet and LEED Lab Timing Chart are available for download. To express interest please complete this form.

The LEED Lab Timing Chart is organized in such a way to help with sequencing of the coursework. Faculty can choose to start with campus credits first before focusing on an individual building or go straight to the building level credits.

The LEED v4 O&M Candidate Handbook can be found here. Pages 12-14 outline the job tasks of a LEED AP and what type of information GBCI will be testing. Information in the candidate handbook could be used to establish student learning outcomes for the course.

Jaime Van Mourik
Director, Higher Education
U.S. Green Building Council