The Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) is providing seed funding for two new research projects at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign that will use automation to enhance waste sorting for campus recycling efforts and reduce manual labor costs in small urban farming operations.
Both projects are funded through iSEE’s 2023 Campus as a Living Laboratory (CALL) program, which supports research teams that tackle interdisciplinary sustainability issues on campus or in neighboring communities. They focus on leveraging campus infrastructure and enhancing researchers’ capacity to address critical knowledge gaps and ultimately secure major federal, foundation, or private funding.
“U of I researchers are applying the latest advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) technology to overcome environmental challenges confronting our communities and the world at large,” said Jeremy Guest, iSEE Associate Director for Research. “Through these grants, our engineers, scientists, and university staff will tackle the pervasive problem of municipal waste and help make sustainable farming more accessible to all, using our own facilities as a model.”
The U.S. EPA estimates that half of municipal solid waste ends up in landfills, contributing to significant methane emissions that harm our climate, and the problem is growing with the spread of urbanization. New refined resource recovery methods are needed to expand recycling and meet the demands of global recycling firms for higher-quality material. Robotic systems with mechanical arms and machine learning can sort waste more efficiently, reducing processing time and turning waste into treasure.
A new project led by Nishant Garg, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will use advances in computer vision to more efficiently classify the more than 5,000 tons of waste generated on campus each year, which is now sorted by hand for recycling. Using cameras installed at the Waste Transfer Station, a machine-learning model will classify waste on a conveyer belt into six categories: paper, plastic, food, metal, glass, and yard waste. It will feed that data into a live dashboard, to motivate the campus community to follow best practices for waste disposal and recycling and to help meet zero-waste goals in the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP).
Another new project addresses the manual labor costs associated with high tunnels — curved metal structures covered with greenhouse plastic that are ideal for growing plants on small urban farms. Cost-effective and adaptable, these high tunnels can extend the growing season, protect against severe weather, increase crop yields, and improve the quality of fruits, vegetables, and cut flower. But they are labor-intensive, requiring an extra layer of management to ensure quality crops.
The Robot Integrated High Tunnels (RobInHighTs) project will use AI-powered robotics to automate operations for high tunnels at the Sustainable Student Farm – leading to improved crop yields, reduced manual labor costs, and higher profits. Led by Naveen Kumar Uppalapati, Research Scientist at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), the team will also evaluate the profitability of RobInHighTs and identify barriers to their use by urban and minority farmers. RobInHighTs can ultimately help transition amateur urban gardeners and growers into profitable long-term farmers, enabling efficient and fresh local food production and opening up new income streams for small and underserved communities.
The Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering (MechSE) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is positioning itself to become one of the most innovative engineering departments in the country. It recently completed the $41 million “Transform MEB” project, which expanded and modernized the 73-year-old Mechanical Engineering Building.
The transformation includes a five-level, 30,000-square-foot addition to the east side of the building, a 3,000 square-foot-space increase on the north side of the building, and complete renovation of the existing 66,000-square-foot south wing.
The building was renamed the Sidney Lu Mechanical Engineering Building (Lu MEB for short) to honor a U of I alumnus who donated more than $21 million to support the project. Lu graduated in 1981 with bachelor’s degrees in both mechanical engineering and mathematics from the university, and now works as the chairman and CEO of Foxconn Interconnect Technology, Ltd.
The building was originally constructed in 1950 and was officially known as the Mechanical Engineering Building. By 1987, the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering had begun to recognize the need for more instructional space to meet growing demand for the program. The 2018 Transform MEB project sought to address the need for space, greater technological innovation, and a collaborative environment.
Second-floor interior. Credit: HED
The renovation was designed with student input and guided by three pillars: Education, Innovation, and Community. Damon McFall, Director of Facilities and Operations for the department, reviewed research of industry publications, attended national conferences, and consulted with campus faculty and the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning to develop space and classroom designs. He also relied heavily upon Campus Technical Services and the Office of the Provost to ideate technological interfaces and classroom designs that would accommodate online learning.
“There were many iterations and review meetings,” McFall said, “but what guided everyone was the goal of providing an interactive, healthy, inviting, and active learning space that was flexible and allowed for the greatest diversity of teaching methods.”
To increase opportunities for collaboration, Lu MEB has open “neighborhoods” on each floor, corridor pods for small group or individual work, maker spaces conducive to team projects — including the Jackson Family Innovation Studio, and quiet study spaces on the lower level. A Starbucks on the first floor further contributes to the community culture of the building. McFall included biophilic design elements throughout each of these spaces to encourage student wellness, including soon a living plant wall on the second floor.
“We sought to provide a stimulating physical environment in which our faculty and students felt inspired to push the frontiers of knowledge,” McFall said.
And the building isn’t just a beautiful place to study. The sustainable design of Lu MEB contributes to the goals of the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) in multiple ways, and as of February 2023, the building is certified LEED Gold.
During the construction process, many demolished and packing materials were recycled. Lu MEB designers specifically chose paints and furniture with reduced or zero pollutants and recyclability, and all plants for the outside landscaping were locally sourced. The building contains LED lights, plant-based floor tile, energy-efficient appliances and fixtures, and recycling stations on every floor.
The building façade is embedded with special solar panels called building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) panels — one of the only installations of this scale nationally. It will serve as a learning tool and research opportunity for both faculty and students.
Lu MEB also uses auto-fault and detection algorithms, which actively monitor the energy systems to ensure efficiency and optimal cognitive performance for people in the building. Occupancy sensors turn off lights in empty rooms and adjust room temperature based on occupancy levels. Additionally, the building is fitted with energy wheels, which recover thermal heat and humidity in air handling units.
Photovoltaics are embedded in the fourth-floor windows. Credit: HED
“My personal hope,” McFall said, “is that Lu MEB becomes a hallmark of our campus and an example of of how to care for energy and sustainability while improving the user experience in the space.”
Since the completion of the Transform MEB project, the building has become an active and inviting community center for students.
Mechanical engineering seniors host Tradeshow Day each semester, presenting their capstone design projects in the halls and speaking with students throughout the building. Registered Student Organizations frequently host meetings, workshops, and Tech Talks in the building, and many classes give poster presentations in the halls.
This year, Lu MEB will host the largest number of groups participating in the Engineering Open House 2023 on campus, and MechSE looks to help make the experience memorable with active participation of their MakerWorks Club and spaces.
“We are very grateful to all of our donors, including Mr. Sidney Lu. His commitment to our vision has made Lu MEB what it is today and will shape future generations,” McFall said. “We are also grateful for the work of the students, staff, and faculty that made this facility possible, as well as architects, engineers, designers, contractors, and laborers.”
Students from across campus are invited to stop by and enjoy Lu MEB study spaces and common areas.
— Article by iSEE Communications Intern Lucy Nifong
Daphne Hulse talking to student volunteers at the Illini Zero Waste basketball game in November 2022. Credit: Mark Herman, iSEE
Facilities & Services (F&S) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a team of talented and dedicated employees who plan, build, maintain, and serve the campus. And along with these services, F&S aims to support the university’s sustainability goals.
Daphne Hulse is F&S’ new Zero Waste Coordinator. In this Q&A, iSEE Communications Intern Kratika Tandon sat down with Hulse and discussed her work in supporting Zero Waste goals on campus.
What are some of the responsibilities that come with your position and what might a day at work look like for you?
I was told during the interview process that because this is a new position, there really are no bookends yet to this job, which can be challenging but also very exciting. It’s cool to be a part of the process that determines what this position looks like day to day. Starting and ending, I typically respond to and send emails. There are some responsibilities that are consistent, such as tracking and measuring the weight of landfill and recyclable materials that come through campus. This is important for our strategic plans — I have been asked to understand those waste metrics and how they’re changing over time. I would say the middle of the day is where things can diverge greatly. Generally, this is a time when I’m either attending or leading meetings with various students, faculty, and staff on these initiatives to advance objectives for the Zero Waste Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) chapter. This is really the bulk of my work. It’s very collaborative, hence the “coordinator” part of the position. I’m very rarely working alone on a project. Usually there are various stakeholders throughout the process that I’m engaging with, and every now and then, there are some pretty exciting things. For example, there are guided tours that we have at our Waste Transfer Station. The station is where we bring in all of the landfill and recyclable materials. We take the visitors through that, and we talk about the process of collecting, transporting, and sorting this kind of waste. It really helps the people on campus understand waste and where it goes after we put it into the bin.
You mentioned that you often work with various stakeholders. Could you elaborate a bit on who exactly you might be working with?
At F&S, we have a Zero Waste team that consists of myself and two interns, and it’s the three of us engaging with these various stakeholders. To give you an example of what that would look like, every spring we have campus move-out, and we really hope to create a consistent plan of action for how to deal with the quantity of waste that we produce at this time of the year. In the past, we collaborated with the University YMCA on that project. They now run their own operation, so it’s part of our responsibility on campus to create a program that could continue for years to come. Part of that process is advancing “town and gown” relations. We ask ourselves how the university can connect with the larger Champaign-Urbana community. We hope to partner with nonprofits or those that take donations. That’s an example, as well as thinking about initiatives like this, which would require the use of volunteers. We’d have to think about who in the community might be interested in assisting with something like a Spring Move Out Collection program.
Tell me about your background. What does your educational path look like, and what did you study?
I started my educational path on the West Coast in the state of Washington for a year. I attended a university there and studied environmental journalism. I really enjoyed storytelling and writing, and I still really do. But at that moment in time, I started wishing that I could be more like some of the folks I was interviewing who were taking action on climate change and making a difference in their communities. That led me to transfer to Purdue University in Indiana, where I shifted my focus to environmental science, involving some of the more physical sciences and understanding the science behind climate change. So, I focused on that. During that time, I was wondering how I could start getting involved in a local community. If you’re at all familiar with the organization Citizens Climate Lobby, they’re a national nonprofit and they have various chapters throughout the world, who are focused on enacting policy change within U.S. Congress. I started a student group of that at my university at Purdue, and we focused on talking with our representatives and senators. That got me involved in climate change and politics. Just understanding how students can get involved was very enlightening for me. I think that really has shaped my desire to continue wanting to work with students because I think they’re such an integral part of climate change. They’re the future, so we want to make sure we’re carving a path that is healthy and sustainable for them too.
What sparked your initial interest in sustainability as a broad discipline and potential career choice?
I first became formally aware of climate change in high school during a junior year environmental science class, and that was the first time where I felt like I was faced with the issue. I had to see it for what it was. It was in that moment that I realized the scope of the problem. I realized there was nothing else I could focus on other than this issue. I could not picture myself working anywhere else than in a position working on climate action.
What brought you to the University of Illinois specifically, and why did you decide to take this position?
When I first saw this position posted, the first thing I did was explore the iSEE website, and that’s when I found the Climate Action Plan. I read through that and read through the Zero Waste chapter, and realized that this school is taking sustainability seriously. It was very exciting to see how comprehensive this plan was. It wasn’t just empty words — it was “this is how we’re going to get this done by 2050.” I think it really was humbling to see such progress made at the school, and it made me very excited. I think what really sealed the deal was the people I talked with. In any interview, I ask why they still wake up in the morning and go to their job every day. I asked them, “what makes this a good place to work?” Every single one of them said it was the people that work with the community. And that has stood true. In the four months that I’ve been here, the people have made this such a great job.
What do you like most about working with F&S?
The people here have always been so welcoming to those coming in. This is my first full-time job, and they’ve just been very accommodating and kind to work with. I think the mission of F&S of serving the campus community and getting the job done is wonderful to see and wonderful to be a part of.
What are your career goals within and outside of F&S?
I’m sure you’re familiar with the “Think Global Act Local” phrase that’s commonly used with climate action. I think that’s true for myself as well within my career. I hope to follow that mindset. I always want to be advancing climate action that helps globally. The way I see that being done is by working within communities such as this campus. At F&S, I hope to be a part of these initiatives, see these changes occur, and grow with this community. That’s my short-term goal. Long term, I hope to see myself always within the environmental industry.
Do you have any recommendations for students, staff, and faculty who are committed to zero waste? What can people do to make a difference on campus?
My way of thinking with zero waste is that it’s better for the entire community to be pursuing zero waste imperfectly than for one person to be doing it perfectly. Start out small, because I know it can be very intimidating hearing the phrase “zero waste.” It’s really an aspiration and an ambition, and it shouldn’t be treated as an expectation. I think the best way to get involved is to find communities that already exist. For example: this campus community. We have the Zero Waste iCAP team, and I would invite any interested students, faculty, or staff to join in on a call sometime. You get to see what it’s like working collaboratively with people who are interested in implementing these kinds of changes, and to make sure they understand they’re never alone in this in this fight for zero waste. It’s all of us together.
What are some of your favorite zero-waste tips that you personally implement in your day-to-day life?
I actually tend to think of zero waste largely as a food approach. Something that we think about more than once a day is food, and so, for me, grocery stores are a big place where we have that agency to reduce our waste. I always say no to plastic bags and bring my own for grocery and produce. I think waste is a very broad term. For example, when you’re choosing to buy a product that was grown locally, there’s a lot of reduced emissions in that purchase versus choosing something that was brought over thousands of miles. I think there are many ways that we can think about waste.
Running a marathon, bicycling a century, or swimming 1,500 meters requires a lot of energy. Finding that energy, however, is a different matter entirely. The world’s most elite athletes spend years tinkering with and perfecting exactly how their energy consumption will give them the slightest competitive edge. Case in point: fuel type matters.
University of Illinois Campus Recreation functions daily like a constantly exercising body. Its mission of serving thousands of students, faculty, alumni, and community members in a multitude of highly specialized, complex athletic facilities demands significant resources. And just like an athlete, how Campus Rec is fueled matters. Only this time it’s in the race against climate change.
Campus Recreation’s website details 15 different initiatives highlighting its sustainability profile. Some actions are fairly minor — using foam soap and recycled paper, for example, has been standard practice in many campus buildings for some time. Others are more substantial, especially in terms of energy savings: The ARC exclusively uses LED bulbs, and there are plans in place to do the same with Campus Rec’s outdoor fields.
Three of Campus Recreation’s largest facilities can serve as good litmus tests for its sustainability progress and potential improvement. Let’s take a look.
The Campus Ice Arena
ABOVE: The Campus Ice Arena. Credit: Gabe Lareau. TOP: The indoor pool at the Activities and Recreation Center. Credit: Campus Recreation
Built in 1931, the Campus Ice Arena has retained its original use to this day. While the university has long enjoyed the wildly entertaining, if cold, benefits of having its own skating rink, the building’s design leaves much to be desired in terms of efficiency.
The arena is entirely brick. While brick fits seamlessly into the campus’ architectural milieu, it also notoriously lacks any insulating properties; the refrigeration system has to expend significantly more energy to keep the ice icy.
No one’s specifically to blame. The Ice Arena was built at the onset of the Great Depression — a time when frugality trumped efficiency. Plus, even though the Great Plains were being ravaged by the Dust Bowl, scientists had made little connection between human industrialization and a negative impact on the environment. The term “climate change” wouldn’t be coined for another 30 years nor regarded as urgent for another 70.
At present, two things are true: 1) We live in a time when climate change is urgent; and 2) according to former President of the American Institute for Architects Carl Elefante, “The greenest building is the one that already exists.” So, what to do?
Thankfully, Campus Recreation has implemented several solutions. As its website reports, “between new cooling towers, a new (Astro-foil) ceiling, new lights, and a low-emissivity foil system, the energy load at the Ice Arena should be reduced by 30-45%.” Low-emissivity foil is an energy-saving surface; it keeps the cold in.
Ice Arena Director Bill Zeman on the electric Zamboni. Credit: Gabe Lareau
Though exact figures on energy savings weren’t available, the difference is still apparent. The old cooling system lies out of use and permanently locked away in the basement, an image straight out of an H.G. Wells novel — cobwebbed cast iron tanks, rusted wheels, and a maze of pipes crowd the room. At one point, a blast of steam shrieked out from God-knows-where.
“We decided to move on to something that wasn’t going to break every year,” Ice Arena Director Bill Zeman said. The new refrigeration system, installed five years ago, sits atop the Ice Arena’s roof. “It runs really efficiently,” Zeman said, “especially during the colder months.”
Although the Ice Arena is still made of brick, Campus Rec’s efficiency upgrades are most certainly a start and represent integral steps toward sustainability. Combined with two electric Zambonis — most arenas use propane — a reflective ceiling, and that shiny new refrigeration system, the Campus Ice Arena seems to be on its way.
Turf Fields
The Marching Illini practice on the artificial turf fields along Stadium Drive in Champaign. Credit: Marching Illini
Home to a host of intramural sports, as well as Marching Illini practices, Campus Recreation has converted 295,000 square feet of its field space from natural to artificial turf. This initiative is listed under the “How We’re Green” section of Campus Rec’s website.
Scientists disagree on which option is more environmentally friendly. In 2009, the University of Arkansas published a report citing how synthetic turf’s makeup, lifespan, and overall artificiality result in more carbon emitted compared to regular grass.
Artificial turf mimics natural ground by intermixing fake grass with sand grain-sized rubber pellets — “turf turds” as the Marching Illini (un)affectionately call them. Unaffectionate because these little bits of shredded tire get everywhere, including into the natural environment. It’s unnoticed, unthought-of pollution.
Plus, artificial turf requires not only a foundation made of concrete — a huge carbon emitter in and of itself — but also a replacement every decade or so.
That’s one side of the fence.
On the other lies good, old-fashioned, natural grass. Grass turf supports (somewhat) a natural environment. It naturally intakes carbon and cools its immediate surroundings, unlike its artificial counterpart. Its maintenance, though, is a continual environmental catastrophe.
Scientists at the University of Delaware found that grass maintenance, which is overwhelmingly gas-powered, emits about a kilogram of carbon every year for 1 square meter of grass. Most leaf blowers and lawn mowers are far less efficient than cars; a whopping 5% of the entire U.S. carbon output is attributed just to grass maintenance, according to the EPA.
Watering residential lawns consumes more than 7 billion gallons of water every day — 50% of which is estimated to be “wasted due to evaporation, runoff, or over-watering,” according to the Grand Strand Sewer & Water Authority. This number increases exponentially after accounting for the country’s thousands of golf courses, parks, and recreation fields. As an added bonus, 3 million tons of nitrogen-based fertilizer used in the U.S. every year often finds its way into water runoff, polluting the water stream.
These, and a variety of other factors, led scientists to publish a 2014 study in Environmental Science & Technology that concluded “that the environmental impacts of artificial turf fields were lower than equivalent grass fields.”
While the argument of artificial turf vs. natural grass may be more or less an environmental toss-up (with artificial turf gaining a slight edge), Campus Rec decided to pivot toward the former — one of many examples to come of how the more sustainable option is also the most cost-effective.
Activities & Recreation Center
The Activities and Recreation Center. Credit: Campus Recreation
If Campus Recreation operates daily like a working body, then the Activities & Recreation Center (ARC) lies at its very heart. This 340,000-square-foot megaplex holds three gyms, two pools, and equipment for almost every sport imaginable.
“At one point, the ARC was the sixth largest energy consumer on campus,” said Assistant Director of Facility Operations Mike Merriman. The ARC requires 20 air handler units running 24/7 for proper climate control, guzzling the largest portion of the building’s energy.
The environments that require the most intricate temperature control are the pools. Both the indoor and outdoor pools — each a behemoth in its own right — require a consistent temperature of 82˚F.
“All of our pools,” said Cody Demas, Assistant Director of Aquatics, “are operated with steam heat.” This steam is generated at the Abbott Power Plant — not ideal in terms of sustainability.
But things are starting to change in terms of how Campus Rec gets its energy. “We’re not using inefficient means to create our newer projects,” Demas said.
Almost 10 years ago, the ARC installed a solar heating system for both pools. It doesn’t account for much, only about 10 percent on the sunniest of days, but it is a start, especially for the bottom line. “Most of the pool is heated with steam, but that 10% — the dollar and cent savings are considerable,” Demas said. “The little things over the course of time really add up.”
Most everyone at Campus Recreation framed their sustainability efforts in the same way — the number of dollars saved. When the entire ARC was converted to LEDs: money saved. Campus Rec’s plan to convert their fields’ lighting from high-pressure sodium to LED’s: “We will save,” Merriman said with conviction. Money was saved especially when members of Facilities & Services’ Retro Commissioning Team (our campus’s unsung climate heroes) came to adjust the aforementioned 20 air handlers.
Part of the indoor pool’s solar heating system at the ARC. Credit: Gabe Lareau
According to Merriman, “It cost us half a million dollars to have everything tweaked, tuned to perfection.” Such small tweaks paid big dividends. Campus Rec made up that $500,000 in the following two years and has saved money (and energy!) every day since.
Those air handlers, by the way, are uniquely efficient. “If there’s not a lot of people in a certain area, (the air handler) senses that and slows the fan down.” Therefore, the fans rarely run full-blast; one was only at 34% power during a recent visit.
Portraying sustainability in terms of money saved is a double-sided coin. On one side, it doesn’t frame efforts as sustainable for its own sake. “Sustainability” was not mentioned in either of Campus Rec’s 2020 or 2021 annual reports. But the fact that becoming sustainable has continually proven to be the money-saving option makes it the clear choice moving forward. And the attitude seems to be contagious.
Given the ARC’s huge footprint, Merriman would love to see its roof covered in solar panels. Demas is exploring how to boost the pool’s solar heating load to 11% or 12%.
“Campus Rec has a great product today. What can we do to make tomorrow even better?” he asked.
Like all of us, Campus Recreation has some habits that it’d be better off without. But next time you find yourself at the ARC working off the holidays on the treadmill, just know Campus Rec is right there with you, keeping pace in the race against climate change.
— Article by iSEE Communications Intern Gabe Lareau
Beekeeping club members are responsible for maintaining hives and ensuring the bees within are happy and healthy. Photo credits: Kratika Tandon.
For many college students, Saturday mornings are nothing short of sacred; a chance to sleep in, relax, and simply catch their breath.
Members of the University of Illinois Beekeeping Club spend their Saturday mornings quite differently. They wake up early, don long-sleeved clothes, and head off to the Sustainable Student Farm, where they tend to the farm’s beehives.
The University of Illinois Beekeeping Club, active since 2019, is a Registered Student Organization of about 150 members that provides students with the opportunity to learn about our local pollinators and get hands-on experience with biweekly hive visits.
All general members can get involved, from simply taking the caps off the wax seals to literally sticking their hands in for the honey extraction process. The club has a total of five hives with several beecombs each, which are reused each year. These hives house about 250,000 bees year-round, and club members take great care in ensuring that the bees stay safe and healthy.
Regularly scheduled hive visits involve basic maintenance to guarantee that all standards are being followed. Club members check on frames, population growth, how much honey is being produced, and general behavior. As the seasons change, different measures are put in place to keep the bees healthy. The bees must be insulated before the winter, and the de-insulation process for the summer is timed accordingly so the bees don’t overheat. Honey extraction generally takes place during the fall months and requires up to 10 hours of work. This honey then gets bottled and sold with priority to club members. The wax, which is generated as a byproduct, is used to make chapstick, candles, and wax wraps.
Maintaining bee populations in a controlled environment is beneficial to general ecosystem health, as well as for the pollinators themselves. The bees get guaranteed protection from predators, external support against hive pest invasions, and insulation during the winter, all of which help significantly extend their lifespan.
The Beekeeping Club works with European honeybees, which are actually invasive in the U.S. Midwest. However, the these bees don’t bring any harm to native pollinators and plants because they are carefully managed by the club.
Honeybees are also advantageous for agricultural environments, as they can quickly pollinate farm crops. This increases agricultural productivity, which benefits ecosystems as well as the economy. Having pollinators on our campus makes a huge, tangible impact. The Sustainable Student Farm has a number of peach trees and berry bushes, and a lot of the Club’s bees are responsible for their pollination. Supporting native flora and fauna is a main objective of the organization.
These hives house approximately 250,000 bees year-round.
The Beekeeping Club values staying connected and maintaining outreach through relationships on campus. Wherever pollinator support areas are located, the club members do their best to get involved and to help establish and maintain the community. For instance, the organization has done Mother’s Day flower sales in conjunction with the Horticulture Club in the past. The students also maintain close communication with Bee Campus USA, a national initiative established to bring communities together to inspire them to take steps toward pollinator conservation.
The Beekeeping Club provides an outlet for members to learn about and appreciate pollinators and the ecosystems around them. Vice President Maja Wlodarczyk said her favorite part about the club is “being able to see people become really passionate about this subject and to see them want to express it in other areas of their lives.” The organization fosters a sense of community for these individuals with shared interests and goals for campus sustainability.
“We feel that it’s important to be able to get people interested in sustainability,” Wlodarczyk said. “And something as exciting as beekeeping can be a really good way to draw people in.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was written in April 2020, and our campus has since installed Grind2Energy systems at all dining facilities. Check out the video above for the latest information as of Fall 2022!
As of Spring 2020, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign educates 48,947 students. This means that 48,947 students are consuming food, and ultimately wasting some portion of that food.
So, where does the food waste go? For many students it will travel to a landfill; however, for those with a dining hall plan, their food waste will ultimately go through a system called Grind2Energy.
Grind2Energy is similar to the garbage disposal under the kitchen sink — but with a lot more power, said Doug Brokaw, Director of Sales for Food Services at InSinkErator.
“What we would see in a kitchen is usually a half horsepower to three-quarter horsepower. The Grind2Energy system is 10 horsepower, so it is about 20 times more powerful than what you see in a household setting,” Brokaw said.
When dining hall workers collect all the food scraps, they move them to the grinder (above). As the food is ground, it is carried through a tube system and into a holding tank (pictured at top and below).
Once this food waste goes through the grinder, it becomes a “slurry.” The slurry is pumped into a holding tank right outside the dining hall, then gets picked up from the holding tank by a liquid vacuum truck and offloaded at the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District, said Thurman Etchison, Assistant Director of Housing Dining Services for Equipment and Facilities.
“When the tank gets 80% full we get notified and the vendor who hauls the food waste gets notified,” Etchison said. “They come, they pump out the tank, and then they drop it off at the sanitary district, where they put it in their anaerobic digester. From there, they collect methane from it and they produce electricity to run their plant.”
Essentially, one can think of the system as a metaphor of the human body, Brokaw said.
“Take a look at the human body. If we look at the processing table we provide our customers, the grinder is the mouth, the pump is the throat, the holding tank at the University is the stomach and the digester (located off campus) is the intestinal tract — on a macro level,” he said.
Once the food slurry is put into the digester, which holds methanogens — microorganisms that eat food waste — the waste is digested and methane is generated as a byproduct. Eventually, the methane rises to the top of the tank and is sent to fuel a power generator, which produces electricity to run the plant. In some cases, if there is more energy produced than needed to run the plant, the surplus can be sold back to the electric grid. In some instances, the methane can also be compressed into natural gas to run vehicles.
The concept of turning food waste into energy is not new. Germany, which is half the size of Texas, has been using this method since the 1920s and has more than 10,000 digesters. In comparison, the United States has about 2,000, Brokaw said.
However, the University of Illinois wanted to use this technology to continue efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.
The holding tank for the slurry created by the grinder inside the dining hall. Once the tank hits capacity, the slurry is transported to the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District.
Etchison said the Grind2Energy system was implemented at the beginning of the 2019-20 school year.
“We just started implementing Grind2Energy at the beginning of the school year, and FAR was our first one. We had the system installed at ISR, and when the facility opens up in the fall it will be going there. We are in the process of trying to procure one for Ikenberry as well as LAR and PAR,” he said.
Because University-scale composting is not feasible and sending all the University’s food waste to the landfill generates so much methane, Grind2Energy is the best option for the dining halls, Etchison said.
Besides turning food waste into usable energy, another benefit of Grind2Energy is improving hygiene for the facilities using the system, “predominantly because Grind2Energy captures the material in a sealed holding tank, which contains the odors and prevents airborne insects and rodents from getting to the food waste inside,” Brokaw said. “Most of what goes into the system is not leftovers or table scraps. The majority of what gets put through the system is the rinds, the peels, and the trimmings from food preparation — the stuff you can’t donate or do anything positive with.”
Although the University cannot turn all of the food waste on campus into energy, the dining halls are a start. And, Etchison said, “Hopefully this small piece will be part of a bigger system down the road.”
— Article and photos by iSEE Communications Intern Chloe Rice
The new Campus Instructional Facility is heated and cooled by a geothermal energy system. Credit: Lucy Nifong
Geothermal is often overlooked as a renewable energy source, but at the University of Illinois, multiple organizations and campus units are championing it as a solution to meet clean energy goals. Geothermal energy systems take advantage of the stable temperatures underground to heat and cool buildings. In the winter, fluid in underground pipes absorbs and carries heat stored underground to a building, while in the summer, pipes carry heat away from the building and into the ground, thus cooling the building.
In April 2021, the largest geothermal energy system on campus became operational to condition the new Campus Instructional Facility (CIF). The heating and cooling capacity of the shallow geothermal energy system is based on 40 vertical borehole heat exchangers that circulate fluid from 100 meters underground to CIF to maintain steady indoor temperatures throughout the year. U of I Facilities & Services expects the CIF geothermal system will reduce the building’s energy consumption by 65% compared to the energy use of a building with a traditional heating and cooling system. So far, the system has successfully met the majority of CIF’s heating and cooling demand, but operational testing is still underway to optimize the system.
John Zhao, a Ph.D. student in Agricultural and Biological Engineering, has focused his research on holistically evaluating the performance of the CIF’s energy system by modeling it with commercial software. Conventional techniques for determining energy efficiency in buildings with geothermal systems include measurements of electricity reduction, carbon emissions, and the coefficient of performance (COP). Zhao takes this process a step further by examining how geology and the flow of ground water impact the system’s performance. He contends, “we need to add more complexities into the system so that we can accurately predict and analyze the performance.”
Heat is carried to or from the building via underground pipes. Credit: dbHMS
Installing a geothermal energy system is no easy feat; just the process of drilling 100-meter-deep boreholes and installing heat exchange loops can take months. According to Zhao, one of the university’s greatest concerns regarding new geothermal infrastructure is land availability for drilling; “even though the land can become parking lots or athletic fields afterward, (the installation) still requires a lot of time, which could inconvenience campus operations.” Along with land availability, the existing underground infrastructure (pipes and utility lines) must be considered when planning to drill. Adding to this complexity is the fact that borehole heat exchangers cannot simply be located wherever it is easiest to drill. Engineers must determine the optimal flow rates of fluid in the geothermal loops to avoid wasting energy by designing an optimal spatial layout for the boreholes.
While many issues remain to consider, the installation of geothermal energy systems has become more economically feasible for the university. Andrew Stumpf, an Associate Quaternary Geologist with the Illinois State Geological Survey, postulates that the recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act will “supercharge the campus” to increase geothermal energy use. “Previously, tax credits for geothermal energy were only available to entities that paid taxes,” which excluded universities, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, the university is now eligible for the 30% base credit to install geothermal energy, which significantly reduces the up-front costs of implementing a new geothermal system. The university is eligible for additional 10% bonus credits if domestic materials are used for its construction and if prevailing wage requirements are met.
Said Zhao: “Right now I don’t see any F&S proposals for new geothermal energy projects on campus, but I believe the (Student Sustainability Committee; SSC) would love to see projects like that.” SSC has contributed funds to many renewable energy projects, including Solar Farm 1.0 and the CIF geothermal system. Zhao encourages students to submit proposals for future geothermal projects.
The Illinois Geothermal Coalition (IGC) is another resource for those looking to implement geothermal energy on campus and beyond. The new coalition is a collaboration between the University of Illinois, corporations, nonprofits, and geothermal professionals. Stumpf, an IGC principal founder, said “our mission is to promote the wider adoption of geothermal energy in Illinois and the U.S. Midwest, which includes campus … (and) to provide expertise and information so that people can consider geothermal energy systems as an option.” With the creation of the IGC, Facilities & Services has access to experts from across the nation for advice on geothermal projects on campus.
With the success of the CIF geothermal system and the development of the IGC, the future of geothermal energy looks bright. Still, it is an oft-overlooked form of renewable energy by the public. The main components of a geothermal system are located underground, while solar panels and wind turbines can be spotted on rooftops and in fields. According to Stumpf, geothermal energy systems are more efficient than solar or wind energy because their performance is not dependent on weather conditions. An added benefit is that materials used for geothermal systems are primarily sourced domestically, while components of solar and wind installations are imported.
The lifespan of geothermal systems is impressive as well: “I don’t know of any systems that have totally been retired because the boreholes are expected to last for over 50 years,” Stumpf said. “Typically, the first equipment that needs to be replaced is the geothermal heat pump that is located in the buildings.” High-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes used for in the borehole heat exchangers are extremely durable and resistant to chemical degradation. Maintenance of a geothermal energy system is comparable to maintenance of a natural gas furnace for heating and an air conditioner for cooling, but geothermal heat pumps perform both heating and cooling functions.
The biggest challenge to adopting geothermal is the high upfront cost of installation, but both Zhao and Stumpf suggest there are ways to address the issue. “When installing single residential or building-by-building geothermal energy systems, the cost is great, but when these systems are upscaled to neighborhoods and multiple buildings, the economics behind are much better,” Stumpf said. He recalls a neighborhood in Austin, Texas, called “Whisper Valley” that does just that; each house has solar panels and is connected to a community geothermal energy system that provides the entirety of the heating and cooling. Along with the implementation of community energy systems, Zhao explains that expansion of existing geothermal systems by adding additional borehole heat exchangers is more practical and cost effective than creating new, separate systems. Ultimately, a “district-based” geothermal system is much easier to manage and maintain than many individual systems.
Don’t be surprised if you begin hearing more about geothermal projects on campus and in Illinois thanks to the work of the IGC and students like Zhao. The increased affordability of geothermal and accessibility of educational resources will boost awareness of this renewable energy source. This fall, the IGC plans to publish an interactive webpage to describe the potential of geothermal energy in Illinois and outline its environmental benefits and positive impacts on workforce training and economic development. Students interested in learning more about geothermal energy are encouraged to get in contact with the IGC.
— Article by Lucy Nifong, iSEE Communications Intern
Campus Bike Center Coordinator Jacob Benjamin at work. Credit: Gabe Lareau, iSEE Communications
There was really one way I could’ve gotten to the Campus Bike Center, literally and metaphorically. Time, the environment, my sanity, and a healthy dose of potential irony were at stake. I rode my bike.
The ride was easy. The Campus Bike Center is on Gregory Drive, sandwiched in between First and Oak streets, surrounded by roads with dedicated bike lanes for (mostly) safe passage — a rare commodity in the Quad Cities, where I hail from.
At the University of Illinois, however, providing safe cycle routes has been a mainstay of campus transportation for decades, and the Campus Bike Center reflects another shift toward sustainable transportation geared to bike repair and education. After locking up my steed at the Center — bike racks were appropriately legion — I was greeted by the Coordinator, Jacob Benjamin.
Evidenced by his lubricant-stained Illini-orange shirt, Benjamin is a lifelong cyclist. He started out as a volunteer and has held his current position managing the Center’s many operations since 2016.
Campus Bike Center employees are happy to teach members how to build and/or repair bikes.
Initially, the concept was to offer a bike-sharing program for the university and larger community. “They realized pretty quickly that that model puts a lot of strain on the maintenance side of things and keeping a bike operational,” Benjamin said. “It was a better model and idea to really create a space where people can learn to keep up their own bike.” This idea evolved into The Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign, a 501(c)(3) organization and the university’s collaborator in managing the Bike Center.
Originally starting out in a poorly ventilated, unmarked campus garage, the Center transferred over to Campus Recreation from Facilities & Services in 2018 and moved in 2020 to its current air-conditioned space at 51 E Gregory Drive in Champaign. Since then, the Bike Center has cemented itself as a university staple, serving “the community, students, faculty, staff — everybody who needs a bike fixed up and wants to learn how to do it themselves,” as Benjamin puts it.
The Bike Center has continued to grow in popularity. By Benjamin’s count, the Center sees 30 to 40 people a day this time of year. A few weeks ago, Benjamin said, “we were only open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and we had around 110-115 people in over those three days. Only being open four hours a day, that’s about 10 people an hour.”
With such a large influx, it’d be nearly impossible for Benjamin, the student staff, and the Center’s volunteers to manage every repair. That’s why the Campus Bike Center is education-focused.
Learning to fix a bike or putting one together through the Center’s Build-a-Bike program is accessible for a $30 membership fee or eight hours of volunteer service. All parts are provided, courtesy of the university, community donations, as well as the haplessly forgotten, easily salvageable cornucopia of bikes and partial bikes abandoned at the end of every spring semester.
In addition to helping cyclists become self-sufficient at caring for their bikes, the Bike Center is equally committed to its community service mission.
On Friday afternoons, the Center hosts community rides. Annual traditions include the popular “Light the Night” bike light giveaway as well as the winter Kids Bike Giveaway where “upwards of 80 bikes are given to kids, free of cost,” Benjamin said.
The case for bicycles as the most sustainable transportation option is almost inarguable. No emissions result from a bike’s locomotion and the little carbon that is expended in its actual production is offset immediately after its 430th mile, according to Trek’s #GoByBike campaign. Any subsequent miles render your bicycle carbon negative. The Campus Bike Center, embodying this principle through its reuse and recycling of bicycle parts, makes it an exemplar of sustainability for campuses and communities nationwide.
The new Campus Bike Center building at 51 E. Gregory Drive, Champaign, has plenty of space.
Walking around the Center that morning, looking at all of the bikes lined up waiting to be fixed by those who will ride them, Benjamin directed my attention to a cluster of old, frameless wheels. He saw their potential as reusable, their jobs as unfinished.
That’s how the Bike Center takes sustainability a pedal stroke further. It finds value in every potentially recyclable part. It reminds us that teaching and serving others sustains sustainability. It serves as a living example of how we are capable — of fixing our bikes and much larger things.
As our time wrapped up, I took Benjamin outside to show him, in a moment of shameless pride, my green Fuji America that my dad and I built together. After talking about our various bike trips, Benjamin affirmed, almost under his breath, “Bikes can take you all over.”
Benjamin is right, literally and metaphorically. Commuting by car or on foot literally cannot compare to bike rides. But the Campus Bike Center is here to suggest a larger idea: that bikes have the ability to take us even further toward a service-oriented, more environmentally sustainable community.
— Article by Gabe Lareau, iSEE Communications Intern
The recent addition of a second solar farm, this one 54 acres, boosted the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Gold certification in the STARS campus sustainability rating tool.
URBANA, Ill. — New solar and geothermal energy projects, a reduction in water use, and wide-ranging sustainability research helped the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign earn its fifth consecutive Gold certification in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS).
STARS — the nation’s most comprehensive sustainability rating system — is a self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure sustainability, run by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). Based on a detailed set of criteria in 18 categories encompassing environmental, social, and economic factors, schools earn points toward one of four ratings: bronze, silver, gold, and platinum.
Illinois has consistently achieved Gold certification since it began reporting data through STARS in 2013, and the 2022 score was one of its highest to date.
“We’re proud to be recognized among the world’s leaders in sustainability,” said Madhu Khanna, Interim Director of Illinois’ Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE). “Through the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP), we will continue to build on that legacy — and work toward STARS Platinum status — as we move closer to our goal of climate neutrality.
“Each time we submit STARS reports, the standards AASHE sets become higher. And we meet that challenge thanks to the intensified actions of our students, faculty, and staff — especially those at Facilities & Services (F&S). We are also grateful for support from our administration at the highest levels here on our campus.”
Illinois is one of 89 schools — and one of six Big Ten Conference institutions — to achieve up-to-date Gold certification in the latest 2.2 version of the STARS rating tool. More than 1,000 schools in 40 countries have participated in STARS, reporting achievements in academics, engagement, operations, planning and administration, and innovation and leadership. Illinois reported extensive data on water and energy use, transportation, waste handling operations, dining services, and more, coordinated by iSEE and F&S.
Among the “points of distinction” were the completion of the university’s 54-acre Solar Farm 2.0 along Curtis Road and First Street, generating 20,000 megawatt hours per year of photovoltaic electricity on campus; a geothermal energy system for the new Campus Instructional Facility, which will provide almost 65 percent of the building’s energy demand; and the NRES 285 “iCAP Student Ambassadors” course, taught by iSEE Sustainability Programs Manager Meredith Moore and Academic Instructor/Advisor Eric Green beginning in 2021. Students are trained in a bottom-up approach to campus sustainability implementation and learn about building-level iCAP goals. Solar Farm 2.0 and the iCAP Ambassadors course were nominated as finalists for AASHE’s 2021 Campus Sustainability Achievement Award, recognizing outstanding progress in higher education sustainability.
Other highlights from this year’s report include:
A significant reduction in water use through energy conservation efforts and installation of low-flow replacement faucets;
Public engagement, including a focus on community partnerships and continuing education opportunities;
Support for sustainable research opportunities and the number of participating researchers;
Sustainable dining options, such as vegan/vegetarian, and support for locally sourced procurement through the Sustainable Student Farm and on-campus farm stand; and
Campus diversity and affordability efforts through new policies and training, including support for underrepresented groups.
“STARS was developed by the campus sustainability community to provide high standards for recognizing campus sustainability efforts,” AASHE Executive Director Meghan Fay Zahniser said. “The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has demonstrated a substantial commitment to sustainability by achieving a STARS Gold Rating and is to be congratulated for their efforts.”
Both projects are funded through iSEE’s 2023 Campus as a Living Laboratory (CALL) program, which supports research teams that tackle interdisciplinary sustainability issues on campus or in neighboring communities. They focus on leveraging campus infrastructure and enhancing researchers’ capacity to address critical knowledge gaps and ultimately secure major federal, foundation, or private funding.
Another new project addresses the manual labor costs associated with high tunnels — curved metal structures covered with greenhouse plastic that are ideal for growing plants on small urban farms. Cost-effective and adaptable, these high tunnels can extend the growing season, protect against severe weather, increase crop yields, and improve the quality of fruits, vegetables, and cut flower. But they are labor-intensive, requiring an extra layer of management to ensure quality crops.
