ECI Annual Symposium

2009 Symposium (PDF)
On December 4, 2009, the first of the ECI Symposiums set the stage for short, interesting summaries of funded research, course developments and outreach initiatives. 

2010 Symposium (PDF)
On November 8, 2010, the second Symposium gave the University community a chance to see new and developing work form researchers and students in the areas of environment, climate change, and sustainability. 

2011 Symposium (PDF)
On December 7, 2011, ECI's third and final Symposium was an opportunity to celebrate and highlight our Fellows and their contributions to the work in environmental change and funded research and educational projects.

Summit Summaries

The Environmental Change Institute developed and implemented two Summits, Cap and Trade andAgricultural Solutions: Adaption & Mitigati0n. The goal of each was to reach out to academic, business and governmental agencies and begin a dialogue that would promote change in the areas of environmental sustainability. 

Cap and Trade 2009
ECI sponsored the first Summit on the topic of Cap and trade policies in Chicago, Illinois on May 28, 2009 (PDF) to explore the foundations of a sound cap and trade policy. Enlivened by a multi-disciplinary team of speakers, this cap and trade summit began a lively dialogue among leaders in business, science and policy. 

Climate Change 2010
Second Annual Environmental Change Institute Summit:
Climate Change: Agricultural Solutions, Adaptation & Mitigation

Publications

The Environmental Change Institute was focused on not only thinking about the challenging environmental problems, but also enabling changes to occur from that new knowledge. Through a generous gift from the Alvin H. Baum Family Fund and additional funds from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences; the College of Business; and the College of Law, ECI was able to fund dozens of initiatives on the Illinois campus, at community colleges and in the Heartland.

Courses & Programs

During the first year of operation Environmental Change Institute awarded $25,000 for the development of new courses related to one of the domains established by the ECI. The following is a listing of courses and course instructors. Follow the link to view the course syllabi.

• Development of a Renewable Energy Law Course (funded 2009) Instructor: Dr. Jay Kesan, Departments of Agriculture and Consumer Economics and Business Administration. Co-Instructor: Dr. Bryan Endress, ACE. Syllabus (PDF)
• Global Warming, Biofuels and Food; Plants and Global Change Instructor: Dr. Andrew Leakey, Department of Plant Biology and Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB). Co-Instructor: Dr. Elizabeth Ainsworth, Department of Plant Biology and IGB. Syllabus (PDF)
• Climate and Social Vulnerability: Concepts and Policy Approaches Instructor: Dr. Jesse Ribot, Beckman Institute. Syllabus (PDF)
• Environmental Sustainability – A Global Perspective Instructor: Dr. William Sullivan, Department of Landscape Architecture.Syllabus (PDF)
• Design and Evaluation of Green Roof Systems at the University of Illinois Instructor: Dr. David Kovacic, Department of Landscape Architecture
• LINC Bike Sharing (funded 2010) Instructor: Dr. Bruce Litchfield, Engineering Administration

Landscapes, Sustainability, & Human Health Instructor: Dr. Bill Sullivan, Landscape Architecture

Faculty involved in environmental research requested seed funding for a variety of ongoing projects. Each faculty, and their students, received start up or continuation funds from the Environmental Change Institute.

There are four new research initiatives funded for the 2010 academic year.
 

In the first year, the Environmental Change Institute committed $60,000 in funding for research.  During the first year of operation, 2009-2010, the Environmental Change Institute awarded $125,000 in seed grants for research meeting the interdisciplinary criteria as defined within the Request for Proposals. See file.

Research Projects

Research is central to the mission of the Environmental Change Institute. In order to intelligently move forward in a changing environment, it is crucial to study all aspects of environmental change. Research through the ECI seeks to advance our understanding of global environmental change and offers solutions that enable society to avoid, mitigate or adapt to its effects.

• 2009 Research Projects
• 2010 Research Projects
• 2011 Research Projects

Alvin H. Baum Family Fund

The new Center for a Sustainable Environment (CSE) is being supported by the Alvin H. Baum Family Foundation through a generous gift. The Academic Senate approved establishment of the Center for a Sustainable Environment on December 3, 2012.  

Mission
The Alvin H. Baum Family Fund is committed to bettering the lives of those who live and work predominantly in the Chicagoland area. Priorities established for the Foundation’s giving are health, human services, education, housing, environmental issues and the arts.

Please visit the Baum Family Fund website for more information.

An Excerpt from our Vision Statement

In Fall of 2009 The Strategic Opportunity in Global Sustainability Challenges: A Vision for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was developed in a highly inclusive process that involved the surrounding communities.

The visioning process identified two global grand challenges for which Illinois is well positioned to be a leader:

1) To maintain or restore natural ecosystem function while providing essential human services, and 
2) To sustainably raise the quality of life for the world’s poor to acceptable levels.

There are five goals associated with the vision:

1) Create a new forum for in-depth, cross-disciplinary engagement on the sustainability grand challenges, 
2) Create and implement a sustainable campus operations plan that maintains or restores natural ecosystem, function and supports impoverished communities, 
3) Infiltrate sustainable thinking into campus missions through new education activities,
4) Create incentive programs that spur sustainability activities to meet the above goals, and 
5) Create a viable financial plan for sustainability activities. Task Forces are currently identifying near term actions around goals 1–3, and helping to implement them.

Illinois is also committed to achieving responsibilities of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). Energy conservation has been an emphasis as part of the ACUPCC. For example, FY09 was only the second time in 20 years that campus electricity consumption dropped from one year to the next. The progress is attributed to a broadening campus conservation effort, including retrocommissioning, departmental and college reduction initiatives, reduced HVAC system operating hours, and the campus relamping program. Total energy consumed by the main campus at Urbana-Champaign dropped 6.5% in FY09 compared to FY08. Campus consumption is now nearly 10% lower than FY07 on a square foot basis. The FY09 energy reduction resulted in a budget savings of approximately $7.5 million. The goal for FY10 is another 5% reduction (i.e. 5% below FY09).

About the Center

The new Center for a Sustainable Environment (CSE) is now officially established. The Academic Senate had approved establishment of the Center for a Sustainable Environment on December 3, 2012. The formal search process for director of the CSE will start this month.

Both the Environmental Change Institute (ECI) and the Office of Sustainability (OS) have been merged in this new center. Both the ECI and the OS have done outstanding work in the area of environment and sustainability for our campus and their efforts are greatly appreciated. The CSE will build upon the efforts of these two entities.  

Detailed information about accomplishments of the ECI is accessible from the CSE website. We would like you to continue to stay connected to sustainability initiatives and activities on the campus. If you have previously subscribed to the OS Newsletter, you will now receive the CSE Newsletter in its place. If you were previously receiving messages from the ECI, please subscribe to theCSE Newsletter, “like” CSE on Facebook, or follow CSE on Twitter.

The CSE is being supported by the Alvin H. Baum Family Foundation through a generous gift.

The "Procedure for Formulating & Evaluating Campus Sustainability Policies & Initiatives," developed by the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE), was officially approved by Chancellor Wise on June 4, 2014.

This document describes the purpose, structure, and tasks of Sustainability Working Advisory Teams (SWATeams), the iCAP Working Group, and the Sustainability Council.

The Sustainability Fellowship to the Allan Lab provided critical support into a novel research program on the effects of green stormwater infrastructure on human risk of exposure to mosquito-borne diseases in urban environments.  These funds helped support the collection of preliminary data, particularly for a large-scale project based in Aurora, IL, where the City of Aurora is retrofitting an older stormwater management system with several new green technologies, including infiltration catch basins and rain gardens.  We are using this infrastructure project as a natural experiment to compare the mosquito-borne disease risk before and after this improvement project, both in the treated area and in a comparable "control" neighborhood.  The Sustainability Fellowship also provided much needed support while pursuing external research funds.  During the award period, we have received two external awards in support of this research.  First, we have received a $30,000 grant from the North Central Integrated Pest Management Center of the USDA to convene a working group to analyze the impacts of green stormwater infrastructure on the ecology of mosquito-borne disease.  Eliana Brown has been invited to join the working group.  Second, we received $158,600 from the Vector Biology panel at NIH to support the ongoing study in Aurora, IL.  All of these accomplishments were made possible due to the generous support of the Sustainability Fellowship.
 

Mr. Willis,

I just want to thank you and the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics for the opportunity to compete in the Gameday Recycling Challenge.  As we discussed, we are committed to reducing environmental impact from the October 25th  game against Minnesota.  What a great way to finish Campus Sustainability Week!

As I mentioned, the event will be take place in the stadium and it is my responsibility to recruit volunteers, set up 3 bin stations, add signage, and replace everything by Sunday afternoon.   Here is a link to the website that I mentioned.    http://gamedaychallenge.org/

I will immediately begin planning out the details. 

Thanks again,

Bart Bartels

Zero Waste Coordinator

The Energy Efficiency Program (EEPs) grants from DCEO were completed this year. 

Grant                    UIeRA                   Title                                       DCEO #                 CFOP                                                     Amount

D6606                    2013-03953         Campus-Gas                      13-290004            1-595061-518002-191200               $670,353.00

D6605                    2013-05653         Campus-Electric                13-410005            1-595060-518002-191200               $1,429,082.00

D6604                    2013-03954         VetMed-Gas                      13-290004            1-595059-518002-191200               $537,743.70

D6603                    2013-05862         VetMed-Electric               13-410004            1-595058-518002-191200               $339,109.11

House Bill 2427, once signed by the Governor, will authorize a $30M renewable energy fund in Illinois.

Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Amends the Illinois Power Agency Act to provide for a supplemental procurement process for the procurement of renewable energy certificates from new or existing photovoltaics. Authorizes the expenditure of up to $30,000,000 from the Illinois Power Agency Renewable Energy Resources Fund for that purpose. Provides that renewable energy certificates from new photovoltaics that are procured pursuant to the supplemental procurement process must be procured from devices installed by a person who meets certain qualifications. Requires public hearings. Provides for a procurement administrator, a procurement monitor, pre-qualification of bidders, establishment of standard contract terms, benchmarks, and contingencies in the event of a default by a supplier. Effective immediately.

see files

F&S requested that SSC funding from FY14 and FY13 for the Campus Bike Center be allowed to be used for the Campus Bike Center in FY15. 

1. There is $2,224.50 remaining of the funding allocation for the “Campus Bike Project” from FY13.  I am requesting permission from the SSC to use these funds during FY15, for staff and student employee costs.  This is not a change in scope, just a schedule change to permit FY15 use of funds.
2. The current funding allocation for the “Campus Bicycle Shop” in FY14 included specific items for the funding in support of the Bike Center.  I am requesting permission to use any remaining funds from this year’s allocation during FY15, for staff and student employee costs.

~Morgan Johnston

Morgan Johnston, Madhu Khanna, Andrew Levy, Scott Tess, and Jane Sullivan met to discuss the potential for a regional climate action plan.  The discussion focused on current efforts underway in the cities.  The unedited notes are attached here.

Evan:

We contacted UA. They're supposed to give us a RFP schedule next week. That should give us a better idea of the timeline.

-Al Stratman

From: Evan DeLucia [mailto:delucia@life.illinois.edu]
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2014 5:39 PM
To: McCall, Benjamin
Cc: Stratman, Allan
Subject: SWAT report on energy generation

Ben,

In the absence of a fully formulated SWAT process - iWG and the Sustainability Council have yet to be formed - I forwarded the May 2014 position paper from the 'energy generation' team directly to Al Stratman for consideration.

Under the SWAT process, the teams should be... "developing and recommending specific actions or initiatives the campus should under take to meet iCAP targets..." The energy generation SWAT did a nice job of recommending a specific action that would help meet our targets.

To paraphrase, Al responded...

• the concept of a PPA is meritorious and has potential
• F&S is evaluating this plan
• some of the issues that need to be considered include pricing options, length of agreement constraints, REC pricing alternatives
• F&S is working to obtain hard data on pricing and other details before moving forward

I've taken the liberty of copying Al to be sure I didn't misrepresent his response to me.

Al, do you have any idea of what might be a reasonable time frame would be for completing an analysis of the feasibility, costs, and benefits of purchasing wind power for campus?

Cheers,

Evan