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Projects Updates for place: Institute for Genomic Biology

  1. program update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Styrecycle: Expanded polystyrene (EPS) recycling program

    STYRECYCLE: During the spring 2017 semester, student volunteers collected more than 500 pounds of expanded polystyrene for recycling — bringing their total collected to nearly 900 pounds. In addition, this program is saying goodbye to a founding member and longtime leader. Thank you to Marco Tijoe for your two years of steering the ship!

  2. March 2017 Sustainability Council Recommendations & Next Steps

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability Council
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Rooftop Solar Potential
    Clean Power Agreements Off-Campus
    Energy Conservation Efforts
    ECBS Recommendations Summary
    Utility and Energy Services Funds
    eGen Recommendations Summary

    Director of iSEE, Evan DeLucia, summarized three recommendations presented at the March 2017 Sustainability Council meeting: EGen005 Rooftop Solar Standard, EGen003 Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) Timeline, and ECons003 Conservation Budget, as well as the next steps, for Chancellor Jones’ approval.

    We followed up with the Sustainability Council on April 25, 2017, with the attached file.

    See Transmittal of EGen005 Rooftop Solar Standards here.

    See iWG Assessment for SWATeam recommendation EGen005 Rooftop Solar Standard here.

    See SWATeam recommendation EGen005 Rooftop Solar Standards here.

    See Transmittal of EGen003 PPA term to the Sustainability Council here.

    See iWG Assessment of EGen003 PPA Term here.

    See SWATeam recommendation EGen003 PPA Term here.

    See Transmittal of ECONS003 Conservation Budget to the Provost Office

    See iWG Assessment of ECONS003 Conservation Budget

    ee SWATeam Recommendation of ECONS003 Conservation Budget

     

    Attached Files: 

  3. EGen005 Rooftop Solar Standards recommendation - Transmittal

    Associated Project(s): 
    Rooftop Solar Potential
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    eGen Recommendations Summary

    Following the completion of iWG assessment, the SWATeam recommendation EGen005 Rooftop Solar Standards was transmitted to the Sustainability Council on March 6, 2017.

    See iWG Assessment for SWATeam recommendation EGen005 Rooftop Solar Standard here.

    See SWATeam recommendation EGen005 Rooftop Solar Standards here.

  4. EGen005 Rooftop Solar Standards recommendation - Assessment with all comments

    Associated Project(s): 
    Rooftop Solar Potential
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    eGen Recommendations Summary

    The iCAP Working Group (iWG) met on February 23, 2017, to discuss the SWATeam recommendation EGen005 Rooftop Solar Standards. The official recommendation from the iWG was:

    "Rooftop solar should be included in the Facility Standards, with guidance developed by F&S staff, in order to maximize the effectiveness of solar installations.  This should apply to new construction, major renovations, and roof improvement projects.  Project scopes should include rooftop solar, as applicable, based on the guidance to be developed according to roof orientation, nearby shading, potential solar capacity, and roof construction type (e.g., gypsum would be an inappropriate roof decking for retrofitting with solar PVs). Exceptions should require a variance during the capital design review process."

    See attached the assessment form complete with official comments from all the iWG members.

    See SWATeam recommendation EGen005 Rooftop Solar Standards here.

    Attached Files: 

  7. EGen005 Rooftop Solar Standards recommendation - Submittal

    Associated Project(s): 
    Rooftop Solar Potential
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    eGen Recommendations Summary

    The eGen SWATeam submitted a recommendation to the iWG stating, "Incorporate a building design standard into the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Facilities Standards that requires all new buildings on-campus to include a rooftop solar array covering the majority of rooftop surface area."

    See attached the SWATeam recommendation EGen005 Rooftop Solar Standards complete with comments from all the eGen SWATeam members.

    Attached Files: 

  8. EGEN SWATeam Meeting (1.20.17)

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    Solar Power on Campus
    Explore Options for 100 Percent Clean Campus Energy
    PPA for National Petascale Computing Facility
    Rooftop Solar Potential
    Clean Power Agreements Off-Campus

    The EGEN SWATeam held their first meeting for the Spring 2017 semester. Topics covered include:

    • Review draft recommendations for 1) on-campus solar and 2) petascale offsets
    • An update from Morgan Johnston on the Associate Director of Campus Sustainability position
    • Updating iCAP portal project pages for EGEN objectives
    • Clean Energy PPA
    • Potential for future solar farm
    • Asking for feedback from EGEN team members regarding recommendation proces
    Attached Files: 

  9. Freezer Challenge launching January 15, 2017

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam
    Green Lab Program
    Freezer Challenge

    U of I Campus Labs Encouraged to Join Freezer Challenge

    Members of iSEE’s Energy Conservation & Building Standards Sustainability Working Advisory Team (ECBS SWATeam) invites U. of I. labs of all shapes and sizes laboratories on campus to register for the North American Laboratory Freezer Challenge, which uses friendly competition to optimize sustainability of freezer management in laboratories.

    Any type of laboratory is eligible to participate by working at its own pace to implement optimal cold storage management practices that save energy. Participating labs from the Illinois campus will receive special recognition from iSEE at the annual Sustainability Week Celebration and find themselves one step ahead toward Green Lab certification, a proposed program being discussed on campus and at iSEE. The competition has updated the awards to include individual lab awards, including a picture in Nature!

    Register by Jan. 15. More details can be found at the competition website >>>

     

  10. EGEN SWATeam Meeting (12.2.16)

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    Rooftop Solar Potential
    Solar Power on Campus
    Explore Options for 100 Percent Clean Campus Energy

    The EGEN SWATeam held their final meeting for the Fall 2016 semester. Topics covered include:

    • Guest presentation by Niharika Kishore regarding rooftop solar on campus
    • Potential recommendations to Working Group
    • Potential solar: greenspace vs. rooftop vs. parking lot cover
    Attached Files: 

  11. EGEN SWATeam Meeting (11.9.16)

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    PPA for National Petascale Computing Facility
    Rooftop Solar Potential
    Geothermal on Campus

    The EGEN SWATeam held their fourth meeting for the Fall 2016 semester. Topics covered include:

    • Guest presentation by Yu-Feng Forrest Lin to discuss his work on investigating campus geothermal properties
    • View draft recommendation for Petascale offsets
    • Review draft recommendation for on-campus solar
    Attached Files: 

  12. EGEN SWATeam Meeting notes (10.12.16)

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    2015 Illinois Climate Action Plan (2015 iCAP) [ARCHIVED]
    PPA for National Petascale Computing Facility
    Wind Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)
    Rooftop Solar Potential

    The EGEN SWATeam held their third meeting for the Fall 2016 semester. Topics covered include:

    • Development of formal SWATeam recommendatino to the working group regarding offsets for Petascale
    • RECs - does this get us to our goal?
    • Potential recommendations for rooftop solar
    Attached Files: 

  13. Student solar efforts renewing for fall 2016

    Associated Project(s): 
    Rooftop Solar Potential
    Independent Student Projects

    Niharika Kishore, masters in Urban Planning (MUP) student, and Corey Weil, sophomore in Electrical and Computer Engineering, are working with Morgan Johnston on the iSEE objective for on-campus solar.  Niharika will continue her efforts for promoting rooftop solar to meet the iCAP objective for 12,500 MWh/year of on-campus solar energy generation as part of a MUP capstone project this year.  Corey will volunteer in various efforts to support the development of solar solutions for campus, from the Net Zero Energy ECE efforts to advocating for solar energy funding.

  14. Possibility for rooftop solar on Mechanical Engineering Building

    Associated Project(s): 
    Rooftop Solar Potential

    After the August 5th presentation by Niharika Kishore to College of Engineering facilities contact Greg Larson, Greg spoke with Mechanical Engineering facilities contact Damon McFall about roofotp solar for the Mechanical Engineering Building (MEB).  Morgan Johnston explained that MEB had been left off the list Niharika worked on because of the upcoming Capital Programs project in that facility.  Greg indicated that they are interested in pursuing rooftop solar for MEB.  Potentially the design could be included in the Capital Project design effort, and the installation would need to be funded separately.  This roof could hold approximately 130 kW array.

     

  15. Niharika Kishore sending email to potential facilities

    Associated Project(s): 
    Rooftop Solar Potential
    Independent Student Projects

    Niharika Kishore will send an email to potential facilities for adding rooftop solar, in support of the 2015 iCAP objective.  The draft email is attached and the list of potential facilities is as follows:

    Building Estimated Yearly Output (kWh/yr)
    Physical Plant Services Building 791,522
    Activities and Recreation Center 725,562
    Law Building 395,761
    Ikenberry Dining Hall 382,569
    Abbott Power Plant 263,841
    Digital Computer Library 263,841
    Plant Sciences Laboratory 164,900
    Timothy J. Nugent Hall 164,900
    Institute of Genomic Biology 158,304
    Richard T. Ubben Basketball Complex 151,708
    Oak Street Library 151,708
    Bousfield Hall 145,112
    Garage and Carpool 125,324

     

    Attached Files: 

  17. Niharika Kishore is working on developing a rooftop solar RFP for design

    Associated Project(s): 
    Rooftop Solar Potential
    Independent Student Projects

    Today, Morgan Johnston met with Niharika Kishore to discuss the rooftop solar iCAP objective.  Niharika is going to review the work already done, in the iSEE solar box folder, and draft a proposal for getting the engineering design work done for a set of building.  She will be working towards meeting the FY20 on campus generation goal of 12,500 MWh/year, and possibly additional installations for FY25.

  19. Art and Design Building solar design

    Associated Project(s): 
    Rooftop Solar Potential
    Independent Student Projects

    A group of seniors completed the attached report for the Art and Design Building, for rooftop solar.  They recommended a flexible solar material, with micro-inverters.  The Art and Design department is interested in working with a student in the fall to seek funding for the rooftop solar from the Student Sustainability Committee.

    Attached Files: 

  20. Award Letter and Report - Styrofoam Densifier

    Associated Project(s): 
    Styrecycle: Expanded polystyrene (EPS) recycling program
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    This project is intended to permanently set up styrofoam (expanded polystyrene, or EPS) recycling on the UIUC campus for the first time. This project aims to emulate a very successful program at the University of Wisconsin at Madison; some funding has already been secured for student support and supplies from UW as part of an EPA grant that students and postdocs there have received. The key difference between UIUC and UW is that UW had the benefit of a local styrofoam recycler, and UIUC does not have that benefit: the closest recycler is in Indianapolis and the cost of transporting undensified EPS is too high for this to be viable. This project will establish a partnership with Community Resource, Inc. in Urbana, who have agreed to handle all of the logistics of picking up styrofoam from large containers (“gaylords”) in campus buildings, transporting it to their site, feeding it into a machine called a “densifier”, and selling the densified material to a company in Chicago. Community Resource, Inc. will in return pay back a portion of the proceeds from the sales in order to support student interns on campus who will promote and support the program. The goal of this project is to establish a self-supporting program that will ultimately capture most of the styrofoam waste from our campus and recycle it, while supporting student interns to oversee and continually improve the program.

    Attached Files: 

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