When a campus building will be demolished, there are often materials which can be salvaged rather than recycled or landfilled.  There are opportunities to salvage these materials through Requests for Proposals, as was done with the Cruze Farm Barn, or through agreements with community organizations such as PACA.  In the past, PACA was able to salvage materials from campus buildings before the demolitions took place, and they are interested in reinstating this practice. Facilities & Services has a process in place that allows for salvage in some cases.

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (the “Department” or
“DCEO”) administers the Illinois Energy Now (“IEN”) portfolio of programs to implement cost-effective
energy efficiency measures that help meet annual energy savings targets. Implementing such measures will
also enhance economic development in the state of Illinois through job creation and business development.
The Public Sector New Construction Program (“Public Sector NC Program”) will, to the extent funds are

There are various education grants available to the University, and many are received every year.  The choice to seek grant funding for sustainability related educational programs is reflected in the project history for this project.

In this course, students will explore fundamental concepts of sustainability and resilience in urban systems through case studies, videos, panel discussions, and a hands-on team consulting project in Chicago or Champaign-Urbana. Projects have been solicited from governmental and non-governmental organizations; planned topics are:

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign participates in Kimberly-Clark’s RightCycle Program.

Departments and colleges across campus have designated energy liaisons to promote energy conservation practices. The liaisons receive guidance and training from our facilities professionsals, as well as peer liaisons. The facilities department has dedicated staff to assist the Energy Liaisons, as well as provided several materials for the motivation of behavior change.

The Illinois Cross-Campus Bicycles (ICCB) program is a bike sharing program within the departments of Kinesiology and Community Health, and is available for the faculty, staff, and paid graduate students of each department. This program was founded by Professor Wojciech Chodzko-Zajko in 2008 and has been running successfully since then.  

F&S has requested a proposal from the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) to get waste stream audits for select buildings across campus.  The program will repeat the efforts completed by ISTC at their building, on a larger scale.  This project could eventually extend to cover all campus facilities, or it could be done at select locations on a recurring basis to measure progress.

A green roof was constructed on the Business Instructional Facility as part of the overall green initiatives used in the construction of that building. Rooftop over the auditorium and a 1200-square foot section on the fourth roof were constructed to be green roof. Unlike conventional flat roofs, green roofs have a layer of substrate in which native plants are grown. This roof type has several benefits. Firstly, less water is discharged since the substrate detains water instead of merely draining it. The water that is discharged is also cleaner, since the plants work as a filtration system.

The primary objective of this project-based learning course is to develop critical thinking and engineering problem solving skills by exploring and proposing sustainable solutions to current civil and environmental engineering problems facing the University of Illinois campus community. This class will help students begin to identify themselves as civil and environmental engineers and prepare them for opportunities for summer internships during their undergraduate studies.