Provided a general overview of zero waste at the university, and how students can assess facilities for waste reduction opportunities at the building level: activities in the building, who the building serves, who occupies the building, how the floor plan is laid out, and what bins currently exist the building.

Below is a newsletter regarding ECE's zero energy certification.

https://emails.illinois.edu/newsletter/27/1637114727.html

Sarthak & I met on 2/13/2023 to discuss the Bicycle Friendly University Application. Sarthak clarified that I'm currently the only person updating the application. We went over some questions that we'll have to inquired Chad about. We also found answers to some of the questions.

Ehab Kamarah and Madhu Khanna approved $10,000 in funding to support Agrivoltaics projects on campus.

Tim Mies sent the following email excerpt to Madhu Khanna on Feb 7, 2023:

I would like to update a bit on how this project might go forward, and ask for your thoughts on possible funding to complete this project (connect to campus grid).

Carl to date has purchased 3 solar frames which can hold up to 72 of the size panel I have in storage (from the 2007 Solar Decathlon house).  Unfortunately I have only 40 panels, which will lead to a gaps in shading with only 12 panels per structure.

My initial intention was to apply to SSC for funding to fill the space, purchase inverters, and hire electricians to connect to the campus grid.  This application would occur after the initial goal, shading research plots, is complete.

Since this last email, I was contacted by Brent Lewis at F&S regarding potential surplus panels available immediately due to a demolition project under way for the failed building the panels connect to.  The picture below shows 60 panels of larger capacity (245 watt instead of 180) that would be able to fully populate the footprint of Carl’s frames.  In addition, there are inverters and ancillary connection parts that can likely be reused to allow these panels continued production on the campus grid.

A ballpark estimate from F&S would be 5-10K to salvage all of the panels and equipment.   Do you think there would be support from Ehab to utilize carbon credit funds to at least salvage the panels and reinstall on the new frames?  I would be willing to apply to SSC again for the final connection if carbon funds could not cover this all.

https://ece.illinois.edu/newsroom/news/net-zero-certification

The Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Building at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has become the university’s first zero energy certified facility through innovative facility design and clean energy produced on campus. All of the operational energy associated with the building is now offset through a combination of on-site solar production and solar renewable energy credits (SRECs), which earned the 238,000 gross square foot facility official Zero Energy (ZE) Certification from the International Living Future Institute (ILFI).

According to ECE department head Bruce Hajek, “achieving net zero energy was an aspirational goal of everyone who contributed to the project and is the embodiment of the teaching and cutting-edge discovery excellence taking place in this world-class facility. The ability to meet this goal—in less than 10 years since the building’s opening—by using solar energy generated on campus showcases the relentless campus focus on reducing carbon emissions and what is possible through collaboration and leadership in this critical area.”

The ECE Building produces about 11 percent of its energy through its rooftop array, a 300 kW setup featuring 970 panels. The rest of its consumption is supported through SRECs from Solar Farm 2.0, a 12.32 megawatt (MWdc) utility-scale installation on south campus bordering the Village of Savoy.

Aerial view of the Solar Farm 2.0 south of campus. (Photo courtesy of Jim Baltz)

The IFLI standard for meeting ZE certification includes accounting for all heating, cooling, and other energy a facility uses. Any non-electrical consumption is converted to a kilowatt-hour electricity equivalent to assess the efficiency performance and necessary offset. The certification process required a full year for verification and guarantees for continued zero energy operation into the future. Offsite renewable energy production must also be located within the same regional power grid and linked to building energy usage.

Ehab Kamarah, associate vice chancellor and executive director of Facilities & Services, said, “Being an active partner with ECE on these types of projects is an example of why the university is a recognized leader in sustainable building design, construction, operations, and on-site renewable energy production. Finalizing this certification is a credit to the U of I’s expertise in solar innovation and expanding clean energy portfolio.”

Reaching energy conservation and clean energy targets as a part of overall sustainability efforts is fundamental to Illinois’ land-grant university mission. The Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) is the university’s strategic plan to meet the Climate Leadership Commitments, including becoming carbon neutral as soon as possible and building resilience to climate change in the local community. The Urbana campus renewable energy portfolio already meets more than 12 percent of annual electricity needs.

The ECE building is a sustainable learning laboratory with features that reduce energy consumption and help make zero energy a reality. In November 2019, the building achieved LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for advanced energy efficiency features, such as LED and fluorescent lighting, intelligent systems to optimize energy usage, excellent space configuration, recycled materials incorporation, and other green design attributes. The facility was designed with most windows facing south for optimal daylighting, heat recovery chillers, chilled beams, exhaust heat recovery wheels, and occupancy sensors. Also, following the opening, the F&S Retrocommissioning team worked to enhance building control systems for peak efficiency by modifying programming, set points, and some controls.

<<see video of solar panels at https://youtu.be/iU4SqjMxB1A>> 

Many characteristics of the ECE Building directly contribute to research and educational use. A section of the rooftop solar array connects to a major research laboratory in the building and provides hands-on experience with photovoltaic technology. There is a weather station on the roof for collecting data about conditions that affect solar production, like wind speed, temperature, humidity, insolation, and cloud cover. For all visitors, interactive digital signs show updated energy usage and a power dashboard in the building’s atrium.

More information about the ECE building is available at: https://ece.illinois.edu/about/buildings/energy-efficiency

From: Scrogum, Joy Joann <jscrogum@illinois.edu>
Sent: Friday, February 10, 2023 2:11 PM
To: Kim, Hannah <hannahk9@illinois.edu>
Cc: Jacobson, Debra F <djacobso@illinois.edu>; Feher, Savannah <sfeher@illinois.edu>; Samaras, Zach <zsamaras@illinois.edu>; Hulse, Daphne Lauren <dlhulse2@illinois.edu>; Patterson, Shawn L <spttrsn@illinois.edu>
Subject: Food waste on UIUC campus

Hello, Hannah. I’m a member of the Technical Assistance Program (TAP) at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC). You recently contacted our director, Kevin OBrien, about a project you’re planning related to separating food waste from the rest of the waste stream to see if this might improve capture and quality of recyclable materials at the Waste Transfer Station. Kevin suggested in his reply that TAP may be able to help you because of our work on zero waste projects and interest in food waste reduction in particular, and he copied Debra Jacobson, who leads TAP, on his reply. She in turn discussed your inquiry with our zero waste team—Zach Samaras, Savannah Feher, and myself—and we reached out to Daphne Hulse, our campus zero waste coordinator at UI Facilities & Services (F&S) to discuss this further. TAP has worked with F&S on multiple waste management projects over the years, and have been discussing potential campus waste audits that are tentatively planned for the fall.

Daphne recalled that you were recently part of a tour of the Waste Transfer Station and that you had spoken briefly about this with her and Shawn Patterson, who oversees operations at the transfer station. All of us—ISTC TAP and F&S staff—are interested in learning more about your ideas and supporting you however we can. We’re all passionate about improving waste management on campus and love to see students showing interest and initiative!

Note that of our TAP crew, I’m the only one based here in Champaign, but we’ve all worked with this and other universities on waste management projects. TAP staff won’t be able to directly advise you if you require a faculty advisor for your project, but we’re happy to work with F&S to help you think through logistics, potential challenges, and how best to take your next steps. If we’re not able to serve as official advisors, we’ll do whatever we can to help you identify campus contacts who can.

For the sake of efficiency, we’d like to try to schedule a conversation with you, TAP’s zero waste team, Daphne, and Shawn so we all hear about your ideas directly from you and can better collaborate. Before I send out a poll to select a time for a Zoom or Microsoft Teams meeting, I want to be respectful of your class schedule. Please let me know if there are particular days/times M-F between 8 AM and 5 PM that you’re regularly free from school or work obligations. From there, I’ll create and send out a poll so we can schedule a virtual meeting that works for everyone’s schedules.

We look forward to learning more about your ideas. Best wishes,

Joy

Joy Scrogum
Assistant Scientist, Sustainability
LEED Green Associate | Sustainability Excellence Professional (SEP)
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Prairie Research Institute
Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC)
Champaign, IL 61820
217.333.8948 | jscrogum@illinois.edu
www.istc.illinois.edu | www.prairie.illinois.edu

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joyscrogum/
 


Under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act any written communication to or from university employees regarding university business is a public record and may be subject to public disclosure.

Below is an email from Madhu Khanna regarding the energy farm mini agrivoltaics. 

From: Khanna, Madhu <khanna1 at illinois.edu> 
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2023 3:37 AM
To: Kamarah, Ehab <ekamarah at illinois.edu>; White, Morgan <mbwhite at illinois.edu>
Subject: Energy Farm mini agrivoltaics

Hi Ehab

While we are waiting for doing the agrivoltaic experiments at Solar Farm 2 and build our own AV farm, Carl Bernacchi has been working on creating a small AV experiment at the Energy Farm with a few solar panels that can be set up to grow vegetables underneath. This project will generate solar energy that will be connected to the campus grid.

Tim Mies and Carl Bernacchi have sent the following information.  Carl has used his USDA funds to purchase solar frames. They have been able to acquire panels from storage and  Brent Lewis at F&S.  But need $5-10K to salvage the panels and reinstall them.

Can we approve up to $10K funds from the carbon credit fund to cover these costs? Tim plans to apply for SSC funding as well and if he gets funding then these costs can come down. We can justify it as a project that will contribute to increasing renewable energy generation in the future.

Best

Madhu

Madhu Khanna

Pronouns: she, her

Alvin H. Baum Family Chair & Director, Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment

ACES Distinguished Professor in Environmental Economics

Co-Director, Center for Economics of Sustainability

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

1301, W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801

email: khanna1@illinois.edu; phone: 217-333-5176; fax: 217-333-5538

http://ace.illinois.edu/directory/madhu-khanna

https://ceos.illinois.edu/bio-khanna

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LPH4gbUAAAAJ&hl=en

https://illinois.zoom.us/j/2173335176?pwd=Ri8rTzQ0S1RxZHpiY2tEWVdaSlhtZz09

_____________________________________________________________________

From: Mies, Tim <tmies at illinois.edu> 
Sent: Tuesday, February 7, 2023 1:50 PM
To: Khanna, Madhu <khanna1 at illinois.edu>
Cc: Bernacchi, Carl J <bernacch at illinois.edu>
Subject: Energy Farm mini agrivoltaics

Good Morning Madhu,

I would like to update a bit on how this project might go forward, and ask for your thoughts on possible funding to complete this project (connect to campus grid).

Carl to date has purchased 3 solar frames which can hold up to 72 of the size panel I have in storage (from the 2007 Solar Decathlon house).  Unfortunately I have only 40 panels, which will lead to a gaps in shading with only 12 panels per structure.

My initial intention was to apply to SSC for funding to fill the space, purchase inverters, and hire electricians to connect to the campus grid.  This application would occur after the initial goal, shading research plots, is complete.

Since this last email, I was contacted by Brent Lewis at F&S regarding potential surplus panels available immediately due to a demolition project under way for the failed building the panels connect to.  The picture below shows 60 panels of larger capacity (245 watt instead of 180) that would be able to fully populate the footprint of Carl’s frames.  In addition, there are inverters and ancillary connection parts that can likely be reused to allow these panels continued production on the campus grid.

A ballpark estimate from F&S would be 5-10K to salvage all of the panels and equipment.   Do you think there would be support from Ehab to utilize carbon credit funds to at least salvage the panels and reinstall on the new frames?  I would be willing to apply to SSC again for the final connection if carbon funds could not cover this all.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions or clarifications that we can provide.

Best,
Tim

Alec McKay & Sarthak Prasad met on 1/30/2023 and 2/8/2023 to discuss Alec's progress on reading over the Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) related materials.

Alec read and took notes on the 2015 BFU application and the 2015 BFU Feedback. His notes are attached below.