The purpose of the Urbana Climate Action Plan is to achieve a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 from a 2007 baseline, an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 from a 2007 baseline, and to adapt to climate impacts.

The Football Performance Center was certified LEED Silver on September 17, 2021. The project earned 55 of a total of 110 points on the LEED v2009 New Construction scorecard. A significant amount of points were earned in the sustainable sites and indoor environmental quality categories including alternate transportation access, use of low-emitting interior materials, and design for thermal comfort. Additionally, the new performance center features energy savings and water efficiency.

The Siebel Center for Design was awarded the LEED Gold Certification on September 1, 2021. The project earned 68 out of 110 total credits on the LEED v2009 New Construction scorecard. The new design center features sustainable objectives for a sustainable site including community connectivity, public transportation access, and reduced heat island effect. The building has significant indoor and outdoor water use reduction, as well as optimized energy performance and on-site renewable energy.

According to a 2012 EPA report, 251 million tons of municipal solid waste was generated in the US and the University generates about twelve tons of trash per day. After MSW recovery through recycling and composting, plastic was the 2nd largest component (18%) behind food waste (21%) of the 164 million tons discarded in 2012. This means that huge quantities of plastics end up in landfills (29 million tons). Translating these numbers to UIUC campus MSW would mean that we are sending 1.39 tons of plastic in trash to landfill daily.

The Reimagine Our Future competition invites undergraduate students to tackle sustainability challenges they care about, with the potential for real-world impact. Participants will select and conduct research on a problem, and, with the limited guidance of an expert, propose actionable recommendations in the form of a concise 1 to 3-page factsheet—no lengthy reports required!

This multi-purpose recreational trail will extend 24.5 miles from Urbana to Kickapoo State Park in Vermilion County. The trail is designed for pedestrians and bicyclists, and passes through some of the most diverse ecosystems in this part of the state, including woodlands, prairies, and wetlands.

The first phase of the Kickapoo Rail Trail is now open! Work on the trail began in the spring of 2016 and the 6.7 mile Urbana to St. Joseph trail segment is open to the public for hiking, biking, and other non-motorized uses.

The Greenways & Trails maps show off-street trails, on-street bikeways, parks, open spaces, and places of interest in Champaign, Urbana, Savoy, Mahomet, Rantoul, St. Joseph, and Champaign County. Detailed maps of the county’s seven forest preserves are also included, courtesy of the Champaign County Forest Preserve District.

Design for America at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit that focuses on social innovation using the human-centered design process. Our studio is part of a larger award-winning national network of passionate creators and innovators revolutionizing the way university students engage with and improve the world around us. We are interdisciplinary because we value a diversity of input and experiences from all fields.

Perhaps the best option for decarbonizing thermal energy on campus is renewable natural gas (RNG). RNG is a drop-in solution that can be generated from a variety of technologies — most notably from upgrading biogas produced from anaerobic digestion — and used in existing infrastructure such as at Abbott Power Plant. Argonne National Laboratory publishes a database of RNG projects divided into the following categories: farms, food waste, landfills, wastewater treatment, and other waste.

Project 4 Less strives to fight food insecurity within our local community. Student dining halls can create incredible amounts of food waste which is normally just thrown away, thereby wasting energy, time, manpower, resources, and money. Simultaneously, Urbana-Champaign has the largest percentage of food insecure households in the entire state of Illinois—people who don’t always know where they’ll find their next meal.