When you’re an elevator mechanic, you’re always testing. That’s what these F&S experts do yearly at every one of the 360 cars, dumbwaiters, and chairlifts on campus. When testing, elevator mechanics basically want to make sure that governors, locks, brakes, and doors all operate as they should – the car shouldn’t go too high or too low, should stop at the right place when called, … Continue reading Shop Spotlight: Elevator Mechanics Talk Testing
Current Challenges Participants shared a desire for better Main Quad gathering spaces and made observations that some of the walkways and corridors leading into the main Quad are underutilized. Students expressed need for access to power outlets and Wi-Fi hubs to support their work. Additionally, planting new trees, filling hedge gaps, and adding ground cover can restore historic design, improve rainwater absorption, and enhance views … Continue reading CLMP: Main Quad District
Current Challenges Comprised of indoor and outdoor recreationalfacilities and set within large auto-oriented blocks,this district is largely vehicular oriented, characterized by large parking lots and open spaces with a lack of visual consistency and cohesive branding. Key entry points, like Neil Street and W. Kirby Avenue, are vital for campus events given the location of the State Farm Center, Memorial Stadium and the many athletics … Continue reading CLMP: Industrial + Athletics District
Current Challenges The South Quad District is a pedestrian-oriented area with open lawns and walkways framed by large canopy trees, historically tied to the university’s agricultural legacy. The Campus Master Plan envisions significant infill development, reducing surface parking and reinforcing the quad framework by adding a new quad south of the ACES Library. Efforts to simplify the plant palette with native species have been limited. … Continue reading CLMP: South Quad District
The Campus Landscape Master Plan (CLMP) is a vision for a greener, more resilient campus at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Shaped by public input, it aims to create multi-functional outdoor spaces that not only foster collaboration, celebration, and gathering but are also welcoming, safe, and easy to maintain. The plan focuses on sustainability, preserving the university’s history, supporting biodiversity, and helping Illinois meet its … Continue reading A Greener University with the Campus Landscape Master Plan
The Sidney Lu Mechanical Engineering Building (MEB) completed a major transformation in 2022, including over 40,000 square feet added to instructional and research capabilities. It even got a new piece of public and interactive art. Leaders from the building and those in the mechanical science & engineering (MechSE) department, along with help from F&S, invested even more to reach WELL Certification. To accomplish WELL, the … Continue reading We’re Doing WELL
The previous color combination of interior painting at the International Studies Building (ISB) atrium, entryway, and main stairwell is either pink or mauve – a color combination popular in 1990, when ground was first broken there. But now, after the F&S painters finished up, the space is a little more welcoming to Illinois specifically, with new orange and blue tactfully chosen to accent the space, … Continue reading Shop Spotlight: Painters ‘Mauve’ It at ISB
Girl Scouts from Champaign and nearby counties visited Abbott Power Plant in April to learn about the co-generation facility that provides heat and power to most of campustown. There, they interacted with demonstrations held by Grainger College of Engineering students, who showed how electricity and steam work, toured the production floor and other areas of Abbott with Utilities & Energy Services experts, and climbed on … Continue reading Girl Scouts Tour Abbott Power Plant 2025
The F&S Card Access team keeps campus safe, by changing lock and unlock permissions of individuals on campus. For example, when a new person is hired, they can get in the parts of a building they need to; just as importantly, names and identities can be removed from entrance and exit permissions lists. The i-card holds all the value, as it is the ‘key’ to … Continue reading Shop Spotlight: Card Access Opens Doors
At the 2025 Chief Engineers & Facility Managers Conference, Mike Larson, director of utility operations at Abbott Power Plant, described part of why the Urbana campus is so remarkable in utility and energy production and distribution: chilled water. Cold water, taken down to 42 degrees Fahrenheit at five chillers in Champaign and Urbana, is pumped throughout the campus in 26 miles of underground pipes to … Continue reading 2025 Chief Engineers & Facility Managers Conference: What’s So Cool About Chilled Water
