17F SSC Semesterly Report - Green Lighting Project at FLB
Fall 2017 Semesterly Report Submitted to the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
Fall 2017 Semesterly Report Submitted to the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
The BIF energy dashboard prototype is live in the production environment now.
Daily View https://ednaweb.illinienergy.illinois.edu/post/BIF/graph.html
Weekly View https://ednaweb.illinienergy.illinois.edu/post/BIF/graph.html?week
The previous project description began with this statement: "The University has adopted LEED Gold certification as a part of their design standards on all new construction." However, the Facility Standards and the Campus Master Plan were not aligned with each other. During the update to the Facility Standards and update to the Campus Master Plan in 2017, the campus leadership determined that the appropriate requirement for new construction buildings is LEED Silver, to comply with minimum state legal requirements.
The 2010 iCAP included a focused effort on the use of LEED Certification to incorporate sustainable design in new capital construction on campus. In the 2015 iCAP, campus sustainability advocates recognized that "While the utilization of current building certification programs such as LEED has helped raise awareness of sustainable building standards, the campus could accelerate progress in reducing building energy use by shifting to performance based building standards for new buildings and major renovations." The 2010 iCAP LEED goals are documented here, for the archive.
2010 iCAP LEED Goals:
Require all new construction to be LEED Platinum certified by FY15:
The LEED certification requirements were increased in fiscal year 2011 to require Gold level certification for all new projects. This has increased the visibility and sustainability of all new campus buildings. There is a proposal from the 2010 iCAP to increase the certification requirement to Platinum level in fiscal year 2015. This increase would require additional funding for new building projects, and in some cases there may be conflicts with building codes or campus Standards.
Completed LEED Goals:
Incorporate LEED principles into Facility Standards:
The Facility Standards for campus have been updated to incorporate many LEED principles. As of 2012, a building that meets all the Facility Standards, will qualify for a LEED Silver designation. Additionally, new buildings, additions, or major renovations are required to meet LEED Gold certification. The additional points to acheive LEED Gold are selected by the individual project teams, rather than prescribed specifically in the Facility Standards.
The 2010 U of I Facilities Standards have been published and are currently based on LEED Gold certification. The U of I Facilities Standards require compliance with all 8 Required Prerequisites and several additional Credits listed in the LEED Rating System. The Standards list some minimum technical requirements and make recommendations pertaining to energy conservation strategies, but allow the AE the flexibility to determine how the LEED Gold certification is obtained.
Require all new construction to be LEED Silver certified by FY10:
LEED Silver certification has been required for all new campus buidings since 2008, when the iCAP was signed. Thee are four levels of LEED certification: certified, silver, gold, and platinum. Silver certification requires a mimum of 50 LEED points. The Ikenberry Commons Student Dining and Residential Programs (SDRP) building and the phase A of the new residence halls in Ikenberry Commons is also LEED Silver certified. This designation is required for all buildings that were planned or begun before 2010. While many of the buildings planned at that time are completed or in construction, there are some future buildings planned before 2010, which will only be required to meet LEED Silver status.
Require all new construction to be LEED Gold certified by FY11:
With the successful attainment of LEED Silver certification for some campus buildings, the Campus advanced the LEED certification requirements to a minimum of Gold certification at the beginning of fiscal year 2011. All projects which began the planning process after May 2010 are required to be LEED Gold certified. To acheive LEED Gold, the construction or renovation project must qualify for a minimum of 60 LEED points.
Letters of Support for an ITEP grant for a bikeway along First Street from Windsor Road to Curtis Road.
The Purchasing, Waste, and Recycling SWATeam met to discuss a variety of updates and challenges regarding recycling on campus. The group discussed progress on the rearrangement of outdoor dual bins on the North Quad and standards for the placements of bins inside of buildings. The group also discussed their long-term vision for trash and recycling operations on campus and brainstormed various methods for increasing recycling at the Waste Transfer Station. An update was also given on the status of SmartWay certification on campus.
Occupant Action Category |
% Improvement |
Incentive Award |
1. Foellinger Auditorium | 41.0% | $61,994 |
2. Natural Resources Building | 21.0% | $38,543 |
3. 1207 W. Oregon | 19.4% | $15,677 |
4. Agricultural Engineering Sciences Building |
13.6% | $12,986 |
Energy Advancement Category |
% Improvement |
Incentive Award |
1. Early Child Development Laboratory |
25.2% | $10,000* |
2. Administrative Information Technology Services Building |
24.1% | $10,000* |
3. Astronomy Building | 23.4% | $10,000* |
4. ACES Library, Information & Alumni Center |
23.2% | $10,000* |
see file
The committee approved the bike share scope change to purchase bike parking.
The Division of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA) is looking to become more involved with the SWATeams and sustainability on campus. ECBS proposed ideas such as decreasing refrigerator usage, making a climate action plan specifically for DIA, and promoting recycling at tailgates. Illini Lights Out had their first event on September 29, and it was a success. 284 light switches were turned off in 13 different buildings. The Green Labs Coordinator position is slowly making progress, but there is a concern with funding. Updates on the ECIP were made, and there is a push being made for mid-year checkpoints in the future. ECBS also discussed if AFMFA projects could be redefined in order to do more maintenance-based projects.
Hello Transportation SWATeam members,
Thank you again for your willingness to help our campus achieve the Climate Leadership Commitments. There is great value provided by the bi-weekly meetings of student, faculty, and staff representatives evaluating our progress and recommending additional actions campus units could take.
The following is a list of current activities I am aware of, and suggestions I have about useful next steps. I am happy to follow up with you on any of these, as needed.
Thank you very much,
~Morgan
Hello ALUFS SWATeam members,
Thank you again for your willingness to help our campus achieve the Climate Leadership Commitments. There is great value provided by the bi-weekly meetings of student, faculty, and staff representatives evaluating our progress and recommending additional actions campus units could take.
The following is a list of current activities I am aware of, and suggestions I have about useful next steps. I am happy to follow up with you on any of these, as needed.
Thank you very much,
~Morgan
1. Ag Emissions – During the 2015 iCAP process, we included the goal to reevaluate the emissions from ACES and create a new emissions baseline for south farms. This effort was not started, but there is still an opportunity to do such an evaluation. I believe Madhu Khanna and Evan DeLucia would be good resources for this evaluation, and perhaps Ximing could help facilitate it.
2. Best Management Practices (BMPs) - The previous SWATeam considered dropping the Ag Emissions evaluation objective and adding one to encourage use of Best Management Practices for south farms. The BMPs are an important aspect for increasing campus sustainability, and the concept should be extended to include land that is leased out to other farmers within the campus boundaries (if any).
3. Sustainable Plantings – Brent has made progress on the campus plant lists. It would be helpful to have a map of existing native planting areas on campus, in GIS format. We can provide the map of low mow zones as a starting point.
4. Once there is a map, additional locations can be suggested for pollinator pockets, to support monarch butterflies and other pollinators. Such locations can also include spaces that would reduce difficulty for the Grounds crew in riding mowers, such as nooks and crannies on campus, as well as steep slope areas.
5. I suggest you invite Eliana Brown to give an overview of the efforts underway for the Red Oak Rain Garden.
6. The Campus Master Plan is in final review and will be moving toward Board of Trustee approval. The website is at https://masterplan-illinois.com/, but I’m not sure if they will have another review draft for the public.
7. Local Food – great work in Dining! I’m curious what the current percentage is from FY17.
8. We need to look at what we are doing for other campus food areas, such as coffee shops and small cafes. Your team could submit a recommendation about local food for dining in one or more of the non-housing areas.
9. Soil sequestration – Other than prairies and trees, are there sequestration efforts campus should consider?
10. To reduce nitrate in Ag. Runoff, I suggest your team look at applicable recommendations in Nitrate Reduction Plan, and suggest the most promising ones for campus to implement.
11. At one point, we considered woody bioreactors in South Farms – see https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project-update/potential-bioreactor-project. These are still an option, I just didn’t have time to move it forward in 2014.
12. The Now Mow Zones were renamed Low Mow Zones, and there will be a press release and F&S website update to reflect the locations and benefits.
13. Brent Lewis can share an update about the use of more electric equipment for Grounds operations.
14. An updated Tree Inventory has been funded. Brent is working on getting two quotes, so that the purchase order can proceed and the efforts can be started.
The Water and Stormwater SWATeam recommendation to install a real-time water meter on the greywater pipes in the Business Instructional Facility has been approved by F&S leadership. This project will proceed with funding from the Student Sustainability Committee and F&S Utilities & Energy Services.
The 2016 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Water Quality Report was released in June. The report provides information about the source of campus drinking water, contaminant testing, general health precautions, and how sample results compare to regulatory requirements. The university has met all U.S. EPA and Illinois EPA drinking water quality standards.
Wassaja Hall became the campus’ 11th facility to receive LEED® certification from the U.S. Green Building Council in February. The University of Illinois is a national leader in green building design with more than 2.4M GSF on campus.
Content has been drafted for a PowerPoint presentation to encourage the use of separate bins for recyclables and trash. It will emphasize that separation at the point of disposal is more effective than the older system of placing all items in a single bin and will therefore help the campus meet landfill diversion targets. The presentation will be made over the summer to Campus business officers, the Staff HR Advisory Council, and student groups that can talk to other groups.
A resident of Ashton Woods reached out to discuss the potential for increased recycling at graduate student housing sites. The Zero-Waste Coordinator met with her in early May and is in the process of gathering information from Housing, F&S, and the cities.
Interim Provost Wilkin, on behalf of Chancellor Jones, approved moving forward with the recommendations discussed at the March 2017 Sustainability Council meeting. See attached file.
See iWG follow-up on the March 2017 Sustainability Council meeting here.
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 here.
See iWG Assessment of ECONS003 Conservation Budget here.
See SWATeam Recommendation of ECONS003 Conservation Budget here.
Attached is the Chancellor's reply to the ECONS003 Conservation Budget recommendation.
See Transmittal of ECONS003 Conservation Budget to the Provost Office