Illinois Wins 'System of the Year' Award

F&S’ Utilities & Energy Services (UES) division was recently recognized as the winner of the International District Energy Association (IDEA) 2024 System of the Year Award. The prestigious award was presented to the university at the IDEA’s annual conference and trade show in Orlando, Florida, on June 17. It honors the most outstanding district energy system worldwide, one that demonstrates a high level of performance, efficiency, and reliability and best exemplifies the many features and benefits of the district energy industry.

The Urbana campus district energy system for electricity, chilled water, steam, and water production and distribution performs to near-perfect availability – achieving greater than 99.999 percent reliability. This exceptional network service is critical to supporting the university’s transformative teaching and research activities, yielding the next generation of advanced scholarship and breakthrough discoveries that improve lives and create a lasting impact.

Director of Utilities & Energy Services Rob Roman said, “This is an incredible honor for the university and a credit to the nonstop dedication and professionalism of our staff. Their operational excellence continues to strengthen on our remarkable legacy of providing dependable heating, power, and cooling to the campus through detailed long-term planning, innovation, and academic collaboration.”

Award Submission and Additional UES Information

You can read the complete U. of I. award submission here and learn more about the Urbana campus district energy system and ongoing conservation and optimization efforts on the F&S website at https://fs.illinois.edu/utilities-energy-services-production-distribution/.

About the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

For over 150 years, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has delivered advanced scholarship, breakthrough discoveries, and meaningful public engagement that decisively changes the world. As the flagship campus for the state, the university provides world-class access to research, instruction, and other educational opportunities to nearly 57,000 students from 48 states and more than 130 countries each year. Over 11,000 full-time employees work on the 6,370-acre campus, encompassing 651 buildings where students, faculty, and staff learn, live, and collaborate.

Utilities & Energy Services (UES), a division within Facilities & Services (F&S), produces, distributes, and operates campus utilities, ensuring a careful balance between safety, reliability, sustainability, and cost-efficiency. The unit is state-supported and also receives specific project and initiative funding from various sources, including energy conservation grants and Student Sustainability Committee allocations, which allows the university to integrate new technologies and streamline the processes of this $100M per year utility enterprise.

About IDEA

The International District Energy Association (IDEA) is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit industry association founded in the United States in 1909. IDEA now has a membership of nearly 3,000 industry professionals representing more than 30 countries around the world. IDEA’s mission is to actively foster the success of its members as leaders in providing reliable, economical, efficient and environmentally sound district heating, district cooling and combined heat and power to optimize energy efficiency, emissions reductions and sustainable solutions for mission-critical and community-scale markets.