The Illinois Conservation of Resources and Energy project, or ICORE,
is part of the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center's technical
assistance program. The technology center, a unit of the Prairie
Research Institute at the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign,
provides expertise for energy and water conservation improvements to
all of Illinois' government and industrial sectors. ICORE focuses
those benefits on populations in small, rural communities in parts
of the state that have had little access to such programs. The
MVP2 Award, the third received by the Illinois Sustainable
Technology Center, will be awarded on Sept. 19 at the National
Pollution Prevention Roundtable headquarters in Washington.
During the program's first four years, ICORE provided on-site
expertise to seven communities and 51 businesses with matching funds
from the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency. The project is currently in its
fifth year, and funding is allocated for next year.
In addition to the environmental benefits of improving the
efficiency of water usage, wastewater generation, energy consumption
and carbon emissions, the ICORE program showed a return on
investment of between $6 and $9 per dollar spent over the four years
through conserving resources and reducing wastes.
ICORE participants have included municipal wastewater treatment
plants and small- and medium-sized commercial and industrial
facilities.
Cost savings were derived from reducing energy by 49 million
kilowatt-hours, water by 54 million gallons, nonhazardous wastes by
almost 7 million pounds and hazardous materials by more than 108,000
pounds. The project also recorded reductions in carbon dioxide
emissions of more than 97 million pounds over the four years.
Environmental engineers Dan Marsch and Mike Springman with the
Illinois Sustainable Technology Center were credited with the
success of the high-performing project by ICORE's principal
investigator, Debra Jacobson.
"Mike and Dan are two extremely dedicated professionals who
genuinely want to help companies achieve measurable results,"
Jacobson said. The two engineers operate from offices in Peoria and
Godfrey, where they have become well-known among business owners and
local government leaders. With each successful direct contact they
build relationships and earn trust in the region, Jacobson added.
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The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center partners with clients
on a wide range of sustainability issues, including pilot testing
and evaluation of advanced manufacturing technologies, compliance
assistance, supply chain optimization, and byproduct reuse.
"We are proud of this project and the benefits it has brought to
the people of Illinois," said David Thomas, interim director of the
technology center. "ICORE is a model of proven value that could work
just about anywhere in the U.S. It extends the value of green
industry to even the smallest business enterprises."
In 2008, the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center won an MPV2
Award for its partnership with the Illinois fabricated machinery and
metal products sector to help industries extend the life of
metal-working fluids to save money and help the environment.
In 2011, the center received the honor for its
Sustainable
Electronics Initiative, dedicated to the development and
implementation of a more sustainable system for designing,
producing, reusing, remanufacturing and recycling electronic
devices.
[Text from file received from the
Illinois Sustainable
Technology Center] __
The Prairie Research
Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is
the home of the Illinois State Scientific Surveys: Illinois Natural
History Survey, Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Illinois State
Geological Survey, Illinois State Water Survey and Illinois
Sustainable Technology Center. It was established by statute in 2008
and builds on the reputations of the survey units for basic and
applied research and service.
The Illinois Sustainable
Technology Center was established in 1985 and joined the Prairie
Research Institute with the survey units in 2008. Its mission is to
encourage and assist citizens, businesses and government agencies to
prevent pollution, conserve natural resources and reduce waste to
protect human health and the environment of Illinois and beyond.
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