Category: Insider

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CLMP: Industrial + Athletics 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

Jalynn Bugaj
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CLMP: South Quad 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

Jalynn Bugaj
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A Greener University with the Campus Landscape Master Plan

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

Jalynn Bugaj
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We’re Doing WELL

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 Platinum Certification. To accomplish WELL, … Continue reading We’re Doing WELL

Travis Tate
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Shop Spotlight: Painters ‘Mauve’ It at ISB

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

Travis Tate
Insider

Girl Scouts Tour Abbott Power Plant 2025

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

Travis Tate
Insider

Shop Spotlight: Card Access Opens Doors

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

Travis Tate
Insider

2025 Chief Engineers & Facility Managers Conference: What’s So Cool About Chilled Water

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

Travis Tate
Insider

2025 Chief Engineers & Facility Managers Conference: Keynote Recap

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a world-leader in teaching, collaboration, research and workforce development – and a conference has helped position Illinois as a leader within the state and region for those who perform similar work to F&S. The Illinois Chief Engineers & Facility Mangers Conference was a two-day gathering held in March, meant to spur discussion and find solutions to common issues at … Continue reading 2025 Chief Engineers & Facility Managers Conference: Keynote Recap

Travis Tate
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Shop Spotlight: Temperature Control Brings the Heat

Like most other past winters in Champaign-Urbana, a cold front hit campus hard in January 2025, causing temperatures to plummet to around 0 degrees Fahrenheit for days on end. That’s when the F&S Temperature Control shop does some of their most important work, bringing the heat to buildings, or parts of buildings, that may start suffering from cold. Most impressively, a combination of efforts helped … Continue reading Shop Spotlight: Temperature Control Brings the Heat

Travis Tate