Happy Bike Census Day, 

Thank you so much for participating in the April 2014 Bike Census!

We are really excited to get a hold of the data you collected it and to tally the count. 

Today (Wednesday) after 8PM and tomorrow (Thursday) before 6PM would be ideal. If you could please send me times when you know you will be at home or in an office, I will definitely try to stop by and pick it up then. I could also meet you at a specific time and place. Feel free to give me a call if that is easier. 

If it's easy, you could also scan and email it to me. 

Thanks again for participating! If you didn't get a t-shirt, please let me know and I will bring you one.

Andy

Andy Kopp

Campus Bicycle Planning Intern

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Facilities and Services

In collaboration with Facilities & Services, iSEE is establishing six teams consisting of faculty, staff, and students to examine the six broad themes within the Illinois Climate Action Plan.  The teams are currently finalizing assessments of how the campus is doing in meeting its pre-2015 iCAP targets. 

In the near future, the SWATeams will transition into recommending concrete steps the campus should take to meet its iCAP targets, as well as developing suggested revisions to the iCAP.  A procedure is currently being finalized within the campus administration to evaluate and endorse SWATeam recommendations; more details should be available soon.

Each SWATeam, once fully populated, will have two faculty members (one serving as chair), two staff members, and two students.  Each team also has an iSEE intern serving as a "clerk" for the group.  In the near future, each SWATeam will also populate a "consultation group" of experts and stakeholders across campus to provide input and feedback to the SWATeam.

The current membership of the SWATeams (clerks shown in square brackets) is:

From: Lev, James R
Sent: Monday, April 21, 2014 3:52 PM
To: Bartels, Bart A
Cc: Johnston, Morgan B; Architecture Review Committee
Subject: RE: Reycling in the Quad

Bart,

ARC approves of the new recycling program using the two containers at 30 Quad locations. We understand that this is an experimental program to encourage recycling.   Please keep us informed as to the success of the program. 

Jim

From: Lev, James R
Sent: Monday, April 21, 2014 4:37 PM
To: Geoffrey Chambers
Cc: Eller, Jonathan Randall; Johnston, Morgan B; Architecture Review Committee
Subject: RE: Approval for SSC Proposal: Shelter Bicycle Parking for CLSL and RAL

Geoff:

Thank you for your summary and request for review comments on your proposed project. 

ARC finds no significant issues with the proposed locations of a cover bike shelter adjacent to the Chem Life Sciences Building.  

ARC would want to consider shelter designs on a location by location basis.  The shelters may not be acceptable everywhere on campus.   Each site would need to be considered on its own merits and appropriateness of design.  We would like to see a proposal for these two suggested locations: size, location, number of racks, costs and the design.   We’d like to see what you have in mind. 

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Jim

Present:

Fred Hahn, Doris Reeser, Brian Deal, Claire McConnell, Karl Helmink, Josh Whitson, Dhora Patel, Kevin Duff, Eva Sweeney

Campus needs a comprehensive Energy Conservation Master Plan.  The SAIC report is now outdated, and the Utilities Master Plan focuses on generation, not conservation.

It can be difficult to balance energy conservation goals with programmatic needs.  Some examples:

Illinois Plumbing Code still limits our ability to pursue gray-water systems Historic Preservation of building exteriors impacts building envelope improvements Facility Standards call for buildings designed for a 100 year life.  Is this appropriate in all cases?

Life Cycle Analysis of buildings - not merely cost analysis but including program benefits, social, etc Can researchers be persuaded to e.g. run experiments at night to save peak energy costs?

Need to "connect the dots" with departments and budgets so that energy and programmatic needs are both met

Need greater involvement from Space Planning, especially for the Net Zero Square Foot goal

How much low hanging fruit is left?  Energy conservation so far has been ahead of schedule but will become more difficult as we go.  Most felt that achieving 30% reduction is "easy", 50% not so easy, >50% is difficult.

Can we truly achieve net zero carbon?  Research activities will necessarily produce emissions and use energy.

ASHRAE 90.1-2010 is now state law; this raises the bar significantly for building energy efficiency on all projects

LEED Platinum also raises the bar starting 2015.  One challenge is that connection to our central plant utilities limits every project's ability to earn energy points, due to Abbott fossil fuel use.  Other points must be pursued.

Goals set should be high, because this spurs investment in projects to achieve them.  We have seen the results of this already with significant increase in energy conservation funding due to iCAP.

Fume Hoods remain a major opportunity for savings, but departments need incentives to upgrade or remove.

Otherwise they will keep existing fume hoods "just in case".  Possibly implement utility fee per fume hood?

** Decentralized billing for utility consumption is a major priority.  Units need to be stakeholders in energy savings, if they can reap the benefits they will make more efforts to conserve.

Increase transparency/outreach so campus community can see progress.  Energy Dashboards, etc.

DIA involvement should be increased (Memorial Stadium, Assembly Hall) as they are a large energy user.

** Net Zero Space initiative was discussed.  Currently the iCAP targets do not align with the Campus Master Plan which shows overall growth.  Space Planning needs to be involved.

Currently, departments have no incentive to give up unused or underused space.  Many buildings have space that could be utilized more fully rather than construct new. 

Space Planning needs much more involvement in general, this can reduce construction of new space, save energy and construction costs.  Currently, F&S Planning asks units to justify space needs, but this process is not robust.  Nobody has authority to say "no".

Some individuals have 3 or more private offices assigned to them around campus--wasting space.

Increase shared offices, hoteling, teleconference, etc.

Implement some kind of "rent" on building space would provide incentive to downsize?

For reference, regular building maintenance is approx. $2.50/sq.ft. exclusive of energy.

My information is a bit dated, but I had calculated $5.25/cfm for constant air versus $3.23/cfm for variable flow hoods.

John M Prince

I just want to let you know that the RecycleMania Game Day results have been released.  Here is the overview:

• Over 100 volunteers participated.
• As far as the RecycleMania Results go:
  • Diversion Rate was 31.5% ranking 19th overall.
  • Per Capita Recycling was .041 pounds per person ranking 24th overall.
  • Waste Generation was .13 pounds person ranking 6th overall.
• Weights were:
  • 1180 pounds of landfill
  • 542 pound of recycling

For all the details go to: http://recyclemaniacs.org/gamedayresults

Thanks so much for your help and willingness to collaborate on this. 

Cheers,

Bart

From: Mies, Timothy A
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2014 4:54 PM
To: Halverson, Robert; Ben McCall <campus-sustainability@illinois.edu> (campus-sustainability@illinois.edu) (campus-sustainability@illinois.edu); Johnston, Morgan B; Rajagopalan, Nandakishore
Subject: Quick summary and highlights from Marc's visit

Just a quick summary of the discussions that occurred with Marc Caluwe from Caluwe Biomass  Heating Solutions in MA, US.

Heizomat is the manufacturer that Marc is a representative for in the US.  I have several brochures that I can pass along that have details on the product line including the RHK-AK model that Marc recommended.  Key points of interest for this group in selecting / approving a boiler:

• This unit utilizes a drag chain conveyor across the burn bed to handle / stir the material as it burns until dropping into an automatic ash clean out.
• We discussed what emissions controls would be needed, and Marc indicated that would be a decision campus would have to address.  Marc will be forwarding a brochure that compares emissions values from several manufacturers in the UK.  Options in order of cost would be a cyclone and then an electrostatic reciprocator.
• UL certification on this model is pending in approx. May of this year.  Due to the cost of ASME certification, they do not plan on testing to that standard.  Instead, in the US they run the boilers at atmospheric pressure with a vent on top.  In this configuration, a plate heat exchanger would be used between the boiler and a thermal storage tank (they recommend old propane tanks as acceptable).  The boilers when used in EU are rated and run at 2 bar (30psi).  Marc cited National Board Synopsis NB370 (http://www.nationalboard.org/index.aspx?pageID=409) that farms would be exempt from this requirement to run at atm.,  but universities / state / industry would not be.  It would be nice to get confirmation of this from engineering.
• The boiler recommended has an infinite turndown ration (VFD on blowers) to 10% and then shuts down.  A hot air ignition system in used for lighting / relighting.
• When running on MXG, in order to minimize clinker caused by low melting point of ash, a lower operating temperature is required, also requiring an 30% approx. upsize  in the model to get the rated output.  If we want 200Kw, we need to consider stepping up to a 250Kw model.
• Material handling / storage / feeding was discussed at length, and Marc was going back to Heizomat to get their recommendations for the best system.  Heizomat does not offer a bale processor at this time, but has a bulk bin feed system to collect chopped material to be burned.

Marc indicated that he would provide estimates (hopefully  by Friday noon) on a boiler system including a storage feed system, and also the same system installed in a cargo container, prewired, plumbed, etc.

In addition to the discussions with Mark, Luis Rund presented a very nice plan / rendering of a cargo container size boiler housing that had glass fronts on one half for viewers, and the other half a biomass storage container.  Probably out of our price range at this point, but would make a nice travel display for shows, demos, etc.

I also had a call later in the day from a representative of Biomass Energy Solutions in MO who is a sales rep for Uniconfort  (Italy) and we had very similar discussions on running at atmospheric pressures.  More literature is coming, and Jared Findley with BES forwarded some links I had looked at initially for the bale processors used for animal feedlots. 

Let me know if you have any further questions or need clarification on above.

Tim

The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) is spearheading an initiative called the “Billion Gallon Water Challenge” to preserve and protect water resources in Illinois.

We have just completed an RFP for water conservations projects and will fund, through our sponsored research grant program, a number of companies and organizations and municipalities to help reach our goal to save 1,000,000,000 gallons of water in Illinois. We will also be conducting outreach and technical assistance to these entities to assist with their water-saving ideas and projects.

In addition, we are encouraging the people of Illinois to join the challenge by making a personal pledge at the Billion Gallon Water Challenge website: http://istc.illinois.edu/water.cfm. So join in the Challenge; take the pledge today and let us know how you will help save water!  And spread the word to your friends to join, too!

ISTC is a division of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

see file

We have been able to remove all 413 of the bikes from the parking warehouse and they have started their journey to El Salvador.
 

Dear SWATeam Members, A couple of important reminders and points:

1. Next Monday, starting at 9am is the iCAP Forum, to be held in the Illini Union Rooms A & B. Please join us for whatever time you are available that morning, so you can interact with members of the campus community and get their insights/feedback.
2. Each team will need to present a <5 minute presentation on their assessment. Hopefully each team has already decided who will be its representative? These presentations will begin around 9:30.
3. There are a lot of exciting Earth Week events you may wish to attend -- see http://sustainability.illinois.edu/earthweek2014.html
4. I would greatly appreciate it if you could send me at least a draft of your assessment by tomorrow, so that I can begin the process of putting together a poster for Monday afternoon's symposium.
5. Campus is still finalizing a procedure to handle recommendations from the SWATeams, but we are converging on this.

Once Earth Week is complete, I look forward to engaging your teams in broader discussions of where the campus should be going, and revising the iCAP itself. I hope that the teams can remain active over the summer (if at a more relaxed pace), using Skype as necessary. Thanks again for all your hard work!

Cheers,

Ben

From: Henson, Kenneth D
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2014 5:39 PM
To: Johnston, Morgan B
Subject: RE: weather strips on buildings?

Morgan,  Nothing in particular, just routine repairs as they are determined to be necessary.  We recently did the weather stripping at BIF Building to tighten it up a bit.  We have also done some on other buildings that needed it but it’s not anything we’ve been documenting.  Dean

From: Johnston, Morgan B
Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2014 1:15 PM
To: Henson, Kenneth D
Subject: weather strips on buildings?

Hi Dean,

One of the recommended to do items in the 2010 iCAP was basic weatherization of campus buildings, with things like weather stripping.  I know that Building Maintenance funded the weatherization of the small houses on campus, based on that student effort a couple years ago.  But is there also a group working through the campus buildings to put in weather stripping on doorways and such?

Thanks!

Morgan

Please find attached the pricing documents for the Temple Buell Hall Lighting Controls project. I have included the items discussed at the 95% review and I think we are ready to proceed.

Gary Schweighart and I will schedule a meeting soon to determine pricing, project execution and schedule.  We are aware of the 5/30 date to spend funds and will do our best to accommodate.

If you have trouble with the PDF files, or would like hard copies printed, please let me know.

Best regards,

-Eva

Tomorrow, April 12, Champaign County will be holding a free residential electronics collection event. Note that this one will take place at Parkland College, rather than the News-Gazette Distribution Center, which was the location for past collections. See http://wp.istc.illinois.edu/blog/2014/04/11/free-residential-electronics-recycling-collection-event-champaign-co-41214/ for further details, including the list of acceptable items.

Presentations were given by Global Environmental Brigades and USGBC (UIUC chapter).

Global Brigades overview:

• Global Brigades’ Mission: To empower volunteers to facilitate sustainable solutions in under resourced communities
• Global Brigades’ Vision: To improve equality of life, by igniting the largest student-led social responsibility movement on the planet.
• Video from 2013’s brigade http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Aekhz8LHnQ

USGBC Projects:

• “Green your dorm” (at LAR)
• Green Building Conference and expo
• Student Sustainability Symposium

Fellow Big Ten CCN participants,

OSU is hoping to benchmark our results against our peer institutions, not for marketing, but as an internal measurement.  Lucid was kind enough to provide our website hits when we asked them to.  I’d like to share with the group this information in hopes that you’ll share yours with us. 

We had 8 halls competing with a combined 5000 or so residents.  Results of our website hits are in the attached CSV file.  Competition dates were 2/10-3/3.  This is our first year, and we’re hoping to do better in the future, of course. 

Facilities and Services at the University of Illinois is partnering with Champaign County Bikes to count every bike on campus. The bicycle data collected is critical for future university decision-making and planning including: determining the location and quantity of additional bicycle parking needed to meet demand, estimating the increasing number of cyclists on campus, and prioritizing bicycle infrastructure projects.

Volunteers are needed to help with the count and can register at http://tinyurl.com/kcbc4t4

Please contact bike@illinois.edu for additional information.