Illinois Geothermal Coalition
F&S is pleased to be a founding member of the new
Illinois Geothermal Coalition. "F&S has a long history of supporting the use of the campus as a living-learning laboratory, and our recent academic collaborations have allowed for exciting innovations, like the Illinois Geothermal Coalition," said Morgan White, F&S Associate Director for Sustainability. The University of Illinois is building a coalition of corporations, non-profits, and researchers to establish Illinois as a leader in geothermal energy. This coalition will work together to strengthen and advance the implementation and design of geothermal energy systems in the Midwest. Sign up online at:
https://go.illinois.edu/geothermal_coalition, or use the QR code on the left.
Facilities & Services has led the formation of the Illinois Geothermal Coalition that works together to strengthen and advance the implementation and design of geothermal energy systems in the Midwest. The coalition was originally formed from representatives across F&S, the Prairie Research Institute, the Illinois Water Resources Center, and university professors. It has quickly expanded to include the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment, and regional geothermal groups, such as the Geothermal Alliance of Illinois. This coalition supports the ongoing endeavors of geothermal energy installations around the UIUC campus, in the local community, and in the midwest region.
Within the last ten years, several projects on campus were undertaken for optimizing the use of ground source heat pumps. Building retrofit projects reduce the reliance on campus utilities, and shrink the carbon footprint. This effort included investigating innovative and cost-effective methods designs for integrating geothermal energy within the University’s facilities. The campus community includes a robust technical and scientific knowledge base from faculty and academic staff representing multiple university-affiliated groups with extensive experience undertaking geothermal projects, and the experts at Facilities & Services work with the researchers and regional advocates to guide operational decisions and provide engineering and policy direction and advice. The Illinois Geothermal Coalition brings together this expertise that supports the campus goal of making the University a leader in geothermal energy research capable of assisting campus to achieve Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) goals.
Recent Updates
The
iCAP Portal is a repository of campus sustainability efforts. The following list shows recent project updates, for the
Geothermal on Campus project.