The ECBS Objective 4 Subcommittee held its first meeting on Tuesday, February 9. Discussion revolved around the issue of tying all existing campus engagement programs (e.g., ECIP, Certified Green Office Program, revolving loan fund, etc.) together into one campus-wide brand.
The ECBS SWATeam's first meeting of the semester took place on Tuesday, February 2. Key topics of discussion included follow-ups on the Energy Dashboard project, Design Center, space utilization meetings Karl attended in December, and internships developed to help with the Green Labs Initiative and campus engagement in sustainability issues. Morgan also led a discussion on campus engagement, the 4th objective under ECBS in the iCAP 2015, resulting in the formation of an incentivizing subcommittee within the SWATeam with the purpose of advancing this objective.
Energy Conservation & Building Standards SWATeam meeting minutes for December 9.
The major agenda items were about the Energy Dashboard Project and a presentation by Scott Willenbrock from the Energy Generation, Purchasing, Distribution SWATeam.
Energy Conservation & Building Standards SWATeam meeting minutes for December 2.
Major agenda items included a report on the Green Building Conference, discussion of the Certified Green Office Program, Design Center, space utilization, and potential feasibility studies.
Energy Conservation & Building Standards SWATeam meeting minutes for November 18.
Energy Conservation & Building Standards SWATeam meeting minutes for November 11.
Energy Conservation & Building Standards SWATeam meeting minutes for October 14.
see file
see file
see file
Several SWATeam recommendations were discussed. Also, an update from the Sustainability Council was provided:
"Review of Council Meeting/Status of iCAP Approval - The Sustainability Council meeting went very well with lots of good discussion. There were not too many serious objections to the iCAP. They would like to see financial information, such as cost-benefit analysis on projects. This information will be included in the study for accelerating our carbon neutrality date. The cover letter from the Chancellor affirming our commitment will include language about the current fiscal climate in Illinois. The Chancellor was keen to be able to reach carbon neutrality by 2035. Other concerns were in regard to the net zero space item and they suggested a space audit be included in the iCAP."
see file
The ECBS SWATeam submitted a recommendation to the iWG stating, "Energy conservation programs should be exempted from any budget cuts or rescissions because of their key sustainability impacts and clear return on investments."
See attached the SWATeam recommendation ECONS001 Conservation Budget complete with comments from all the ECBS SWATeam members.
In 2007 the consumption per square foot of conditioned space was 312.3 kBtu/GSF. That number was lowered down to 244.2 kBtu/GSF in 2014, primarily due to energy conservation and retro-commissioning efforts on campus.
The attached link provide a pretty good summary of a typical reheat system used in buildings.
http://www.mge.com/images/PDF/Brochures/business/ReheatSystemForCommercialBuildingsFactSheet.pdf
Energy Conservation & Building Standards
In attendance:
Discussion points:
Notes:
Dear All,
I've attached notes from Friday's meeting.
Thanks and see you this Friday!
Claudia
All,
Here is the list of goals/targets I compiled for todays meeting using Karl's 5-year-plan and our discussions.
Claire McConnell
To all:
Attached is a draft document of some of my best thoughts on where the campus is going and/or should go in the next several years as we try to reduce the campus energy consumption from mechanical equipment controls perspective. This is an evolving document at this point.
Thanks,
Karl Helmink
Dear ECBS SWATeam,
Below are my notes from today's meeting. It was a small crowd: Scott, Karl, Claire, and myself. I hope we have a full crowd next week, because we have a lot of work ahead of us in just a few short weeks!
Cheers,
Ben
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Q: Are we starting with a "blank slate" for iCAP 2015? A: Not really, because we have iCAP 2010 as a historical context, and we have done so much in the intervening years that cannot be ignored. But we are also not bound to the specific commitments of the 2010 iCAP, or even the format.
Q: Can we simply re-use the 2010 iCAP as is? A: It's a good foundation, but needs improvement.
Fume hoods are an important issue to address; potentially big savings.
Should we recommend again to charge units for energy? Possible counterargument is that Auxiliaries already bear the cost of energy but are not aggressively reducing energy usage. Counterargument to that is they have expressed interest, but somehow don't have expertise and/or capital. RCx cannot go into Auxiliaries; ESCOs can.
Scott suggested that someone needs to write a first draft of recommendations; he is writing the Energy Generation team's draft. No takers. But Karl has written a nice document that most had not yet had a chance to read.
Occupancy sensors for HVAC can lead to big savings ~25%.
Can we expand ESCO program? We've done ~7 buildings, why can't we do 100? What is the financial model? If campus cannot tolerate that much debt, can we foist the debt onto the ESCOs themselves? We haven't done this because it doesn't generate as much savings, but maybe we should reconsider that if it would help us expand. Some issues with quality of contractors, familiarity with campus facility standards. Two ESCOs have been used so far: ESG for VetMed and Loomis&friends, Siemens for the Oak Street Chiller. Typically ~5 ESCOs bid on our jobs; most are from Chicago.
What is in the SAIC report? Ben will send around (see attachment). Do we need another SAIC study? Or can we just leave this in the rear view mirror?
More discussion of energy billing; challenge is to fairly bill units only for the energy use they impact (i.e., lighting and equipment, not steam). Can this team recommend a high-level study to devise a mechanism for fairly charging units? External consultant? Team of faculty, facilities folks, and students with relevant expertise? If we just parrot the recommendation from 2010 iCAP, probably we'll get the same result.
Behavioral change is so important, and has not really been tackled on our campus (except very recently with Green Office program). Really need to improve this, and also try to measure it (surveys?).
Scheduling HVAC systems - when doing so, better to make the change first and then handle complaints, rather than announcing in advance and generating complaints from people who will never notice.
Can someone compile a list of "bullet-points" to begin the discussion that will lead to our recommendations? Claire volunteered to do this, but will be asking others for suggestions and input. Goal is to have a draft set of bullet points before next week's meeting, and then discuss at meeting.
Karl noted that Big Ten & Friends Energy conference is coming up Oct
12-15 at U. Iowa. Should we offer to host the next one on our campus?
We have not hosted one since 1999. Seems like we should. Possible F&S/iSEE collaboration? Scott volunteered to be on organizing committee.
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Professor Benjamin J. McCall
Associate Director for Campus Sustainability Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus-sustainability@illinois.edu
Dear All,
Just a reminder that this week's meeting will be on Friday at 4pm in NSRC 358, as will every meeting for the rest of semester.
Thanks,
Claudia
