The John A. Logan Sustainability Center

At the beginning of the fall 2012 semester a new statewide program called the Illinois Home Performance Equipment Loan Program (IHPELP), was quietly launched from the JALC campus. Not only was the College instrumental in the design and development of the program, but we were the first community college in the state to sign on to it, and to implement it on their campus. The IHPELP was created to loan residential energy auditing equipment such as a blower door, thermal imaging camera, and combustion gas analyzer at no charge to individuals seeking to become energy auditors for the purpose of enhancing their skills. A little background might help you understand the program a little better, and how and why JALC became involved with it.

Studies show over 40% of all Americans are familiar with the blue Energy Star label which was created in the early nineties as a joint project of the EPA and Department of Energy to identify and promote energy efficient products such as appliances, electronics, and lighting. The Energy Star program was soon expanded to include not just the products in a home, but the home itself. How well a home is air sealed and insulated, and the efficiency of the HVAC system has a huge impact on the homes energy use. The Energy Star Certified New Home designation was created to identify new homes built that were 30% more energy efficient than a standard home. Because there are more existing homes than new being built, the EPA is now partnering with organizations around the country to offer a home retrofit program called Home Performance with Energy Star. In this program, trained professionals provide homeowners with detailed home energy audits and make cost effective recommendations to improve efficiency and comfort of the home. In partnership with the EPA, Illinois is putting the finishing touches on the IL Home Performance with Energy Star program and it will be launching across the state over the next 12-24 months. The IL DCEO is the overall state sponsor, but they have engaged a statewide coordinator, Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA) to manage the program and coordinate contractor training and homeowner education. MEEA has recognized the need for more trained energy auditors who need access to energy auditing equipment they can practice with, and asked the Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN) to help create an equipment loan program. IGEN turned to John A. Logan to lead a statewide workgroup of volunteers from several IGEN member colleges to make the loan program happen. IGEN knew we had several certified residential energy auditors and instructors at the College we were familiar with the equipment and its use.

Over the course of the past year, our workgroup managed to overcome various legal and insurance hurdles to create a participation agreement for colleges (which includes allowing colleges to use the equipment for classes when it’s not being loaned) and a borrower agreement for users. We secured five sets of equipment and created a logo and website: www.energyequipmentloan.org/index.php, where borrowers could find out about the program, apply for membership, and reserve use of the equipment. After launching at JALC in August, the program is now in place at Lewis and Clark CC, and Illinois Central CC. The remaining equipment will soon be going into service at two northern IL colleges.

In addition to the pivotal role we play in the IHP Equipment Loan Program, the College continues to be a leader in the area of building science and home performance education and training. We offer Building Performance Institute certification classes and we certify contractors working in the state low income housing weatherization assistance program. We’ve also hosted several classes this past year for contractors and building officials on topics such as upcoming changes to the commercial and residential energy codes. And we continue to expand our offering to students with the creation of new degrees and certificates in energy management and green technology which will help them find employment in the growing home performance industry. You can keep up with what we’re doing by going to the JALC Sustainability Center website: www.jalc.edu/green. And if you’d like know how to save energy in your home, you may want to take a look at: www.illinoishomeperformance.org/.

Six inches of pervious concrete was poured over a base of 18 inches of coarse gravel and another 6 inches of small, clean gravel.

For those not familiar with pervious pavement, here is how it works, courtesy of the ConcreteNetwork.com:

Essentially, pervious concrete is a structural concrete pavement with a large volume (15 to 35 percent) of interconnected voids. Like conventional concrete, it’s made from a mixture of cement, coarse aggregates, and water. However, it contains little or no sand, which results in a porous open-cell structure that water passes through readily. Pervious concrete can take in storm water at a rapid rate of 3 to 5 gallons per minute per square foot of surface area, which exceeds the flow rate needed to prevent runoff in most rain events. The coarse gravel layer underneath the pavement stores the rainwater and allows it to percolate slowly into the underlying soil. Because the pavement itself acts as a retention area, it helps to prevent much of the polluted runoff that normally occurs with impervious pavements. The filtration process also helps to purify the water. As the water percolates through the open cells of the pavement, aerobic bacteria in the voids help to break down harmful pollutants and chemicals.

The new pervious lot will not only help with erosion issues during heavy rains, it will ensure that oil and gas and other contaminants from parked vehicles do not wash directly into the nearby creek and Crab Orchard Lake.

Scott Hunziker and Dale Marrs balance high above the pool in the Aquatic Center while Mike McCuan with Pulley Electric passes up a light.

Perhaps you've heard some folks commenting that things seem a little "brighter" on campus lately. They literally are, thanks in most part to an extensive interior lighting renovation project the College recently completed.

Why lighting? Building energy experts say that lighting systems typically account for up to 25% of a building's electricity use. This percentage can be even higher where lighting has not been upgraded in several years, as was the case in several areas of our campus. Recognizing that Interior lighting is some of the low hanging fruit to go after when exploring ways to increase a building’s energy efficiency, the College had already completed projects such as upgrading the gym and cafeteria lighting, and converting all exit lights to LED.

IGEN ICCTES grant. The opportunity to make more lighting improvements came in the form of the Illinois Community College Targeted Energy Savings grant secured this past year by the Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN), funded by IL DCEO. Money for this three year long grant does not come from taxpayers. It originates from small charges put by statute on utility customer's monthly gas and electric bills specifically for energy efficiency programs. IGEN's grant proposal argued that working collectively, significant electric and gas savings could be achieved at multiple IL community college campuses. Making these improvements would not only save energy and reduce costs by aggregating purchasing power, but help raise the level of energy efficiency literacy of the more than one million people who utilize IL community colleges each year.

To be eligible to participate in the ICCTES grant, colleges had to have completed a campus wide energy audit performed by a third party. Thanks to the foresight of our administration who understood the benefits of such an energy audit and already had one done, we were one of only 18 IL colleges able to meet that requirement and take advantage of ICCTES year one program funding. Terms of the grant required colleges to contribute 25% of the total costs of the project, while the grant picked up 75%. The total JALC year one project cost was expected to be in the neighborhood of $ 125,000. The administration and board recognized that upgrading interior lighting for just 25 cents on each of those dollars was a winner. Making the project even more attractive was the fact that a college’s 25% contribution could be in the form of in-house labor if it had the staff expertise required for equipment installation. The challenge came in trying to meet the grant timeline. First year projects had to be completed by May 31st, 2012 or funding was in jeopardy.

Upgrades Accomplished and a Job Well Done. Due to delays in the procurement and shipping process, the first load of fixtures did not hit our campus until almost the end of March. It took about a week just to unpack, identify, and distribute the lighting equipment before the installation process could begin. Our excellent campus electrical contractor, Pulley Electric was tasked to handle the bulk of the lighting upgrade, but to meet the project deadline, our talented maintenance department guys stepped up to assist. This was about the same time they had to transition the campus from the heating to cooling season, a big job itself. Hat's off to Dwight Hoffard and his hard working maintenance crew, with special thanks to Dale Marrs, Scott Hunziker, Wayne Odell, and Curt Simmons for a job well done. These four guys alone put in over 715 hours of work on the lighting project, a lot of it evenings and Saturdays. To give you an idea of the scope of what was accomplished, here are some numbers. Over 1600 lamps and 450 plus ballasts were changed in existing light fixtures. A total of 528 new fixtures were installed, and 50 new occupancy sensors were placed in rooms where it's easy to shut the door and forget to turn off the lights. A rather special challenge was changing the lighting over the pools in the J building. The guys came up with a very innovative system that got the job done while letting both pools essentially remain open. In fact, the whole project was done with very little disruption to campus schedules and activities. The cooperation shown by students and employees in those areas where work was performed was very much appreciated.

Energy and Dollar Savings. Because newer bulbs using less wattage replaced older ones, a total of 108,940 total watts of lighting was removed and replaced with only 57,477 watts. In many cases, because the new lights do such a good job of illumination, fewer fixtures or fixtures with fewer bulbs were put back in than removed from an area. The energy audit mentioned earlier projected that this upgrade will save JALC over 220,000 kWh of electricity per year. For comparison, the average home uses about 12,000 kWh of electricity per year. Statewide, the ICCTES grant is expected to save almost 3.5 million kWh at IL colleges combined. Bulk purchasing of lighting equipment in year one alone saved nearly $ 200,000 on $1,100,000 of materials bought.

Other Benefits. Upgrading our lighting has benefits beyond energy and cost savings. It's been shown that better lighting increases productivity. Good indoor lighting reduces eye strain and headache inducing glare. Informal reports from building occupants indicate overwhelming approval of the new lighting. Of course you can’t please everyone. There has been a rumor that some students are finding it harder to sleep in classrooms converted to the bright new lighting, and a few men on campus are worried about the possibility of needing sun screen on top of their heads. Maintenance is looking into both issues!

What's Next? The College will be participating in year two of the ICCTES grant, which will include more interior lighting upgrades, and daylighting controls which automatically adjust lighting levels in areas where sunlight streams through windows. We also hope to change all of our parking lot lighting to LED lights, which a lighting survey showed can reduce energy use by 60% over our existing parking lot lighting. While lighting projects are obviously the most visible, the College is also actively working on increasing efficiency and improving occupant comfort with heating and air conditioning system upgrades in several areas of the campus. John A. Logan has been, and will continue to be a leader among IL colleges in greening our campus and improving energy efficiency.