Temple Hoyne Buell Hall (TBH), built in 1996, was constructed to allow natural light into most classroom, studio, and office spaces in the building.  The building has no automatic lighting controls, however. In order to reduce energy use associated with lighting and cooling within the building, occupancy sensors, daylight sensors, and lighting timers will be installed. LED fixtures will be installed in a small part of the building and LED exit signs will replace the incandescent and fluorescent exit signs.

The Art East Annex Studio 1 Daylighting is a proposed project to install skylights on the first floor of the Art East Annex Studio 1, which is primarily student studio classrooms and fabrication labs. This portion of the studio is a single story space, which makes skylights a great option. Skylights would be used to supplement and reduce the use of the overhead fluorescent lighting.

The Student Dining and Residential Programs Building (SDRP), constructed in 2010, was built to LEED silver certification, but continued improvements to the facility could enhance its green capabilities even further. The lighting system at SDRP has been identified as an area in which minor upgrades could be very beneficial to supporting the energy reduction goals of the iCAP.

TakeTheBike.com is a mobile website created by Professor Ming Kuo’s Fall 2012 environmental psychology class. The website is meant to help cyclists in Champaign-Urbana get around more safely and efficiently, and to encourage more people to bike.

Features of the site includes resources for repairing your bike, resources about safety, information and tips from cyclists in Champaign-Urbana, and an interactive Google map that shows resources for cyclists.

The Illinois Student Senate Environmental Sustainability Subcommittee has a vested interest in promoting environmentally responsible campus policies and projects in an effort to encourage responsible and sustainable practices at the University of Illinois. One of the projects which our committee has been discussing since the beginning of the semester has been encouraging the student body to wean off of disposable water bottles and promoting reusable water bottles, with the greater goal of curbing litter and wasteful discarding of recyclable bottling materials.

The University of Illinois Medicine Take-Back Program is a part of the larger Champaign-Urbana Area Medicine Take-Back Program. The program provides a legal and sustainable way to dispose of medicine, which helps to prevent accidental poisoning of children, the elderly, and pets; reduce drug abuse, misuse, and diversion; and limit the amount of pharmaceutical chemicals entering the environment.

Community gardens built on the farmlands at Orchard Downs are available to use for growing their own food. They are managed by volunteers who assign and take payment for plots for Family & Graduate Housing. Housing pays for the water via funds that are collected, and they manage the plowing, clean-up, and maintenance of the garden area. Gardeners range from University administrators and students to community members. This program has been active since at least the 1990s.

In addition to out-of-classroom educational opportunities promoting bicycle safety, there are growing academic opportunities to engage students in bicycle planning and promotion within the classroom. 

E-waste is a considerable issue at the University, as the biggest contributor to the waste stream. Since electronics becomes obsolete much more quickly than other durable goods, such as furniture, the amount of e-waste the University collects is expansive. According to Jeff Weaver, senior associate director of the Office of Business and Financial Services (OBFS), a full trailer of surplus electronic equipment is sent to the Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS) in Springfield every three weeks, which is an estimated 191,082 lbs./ year.

Special recyclables, such as chemicals, batteries, ballasts, and bulbs, are part of the overall initiative set by the 2010 iCAP to increase recycling rates on campus. Such recyclables, however, require special solutions. The University has been working toward finding solutions to recycle these goods.