Safety and Efficiency in Fume Hood Selection

Laboratory fume hoods are critical in protecting laboratory personnel from chemical exposure; however, fume hoods may also be the largest energy consumers in a research university campus. The Grainger College of Engineering Office of Safety invites campus facilities, safety and laboratory personnel to an in-depth presentation on the latest developments in fume hood technologies, and how to leverage them to create the safest and most energy-efficient laboratories. More details and the registration link can be found at: https://emails.illinois.edu/newsletter/30/871793530.html

March 27, 12–1 pm • 3002 Electrical and Computer Engineering Building

Edward Chainani • Grainger College of Engineering

The prior annual reports were not submitted, so F&S worked to update the Bee Campus Committee members, update the Charge Letter, and submit the 2023 data.  The Xerces Society approved the 2023 Bee Campus USA report on March 5, 2023. 

The meeting covered several key updates and discussions on sustainability initiatives. The Chair provided updates on the Green Training Program survey, seeking feedback on student engagement strategies. The Vice Chair discussed efforts for a greener campus, including outreach to Greek Life. The Clerk emphasized the importance of in-person meetings and marketing materials. Guest speakers highlighted upcoming events like Sustainapalooza and Illinifest, stressing the logistical challenges and opportunities for student involvement. Discussions included promotional outreach, sustainability projects such as Greener Chapters yard signs and low-maintenance greenery at ISR, and the importance of connecting sustainability efforts across campus. Additionally, engagement team members offered support for these initiatives, and an approved course for next semester was announced. Adam encouraged members to consider speaking at the sustainability film festival.

The Department of Pyschology acheived Monarch Level Green Office Certification!

Professor Yun Yi provided an update on the building energy modeling project:

With the help of students, I created initial energy models for three campus buildings: Newmark Civil Engineering, Bevier Hall, and Allen Hall. The students were able to build detailed models of the HVAC systems for each building. The next step is to calibrate these models using actual meter data. While the students made good progress, the calibration still requires some advanced fine-tuning.

I’m planning to hire a student to focus on this calibration work. As we discussed, your help in hiring an assistant for the semester would be greatly appreciated. This would be a 25% appointment for a master’s student, with compensation similar to last semester.

As expected, we were slow last week. We held an instructional course but did not get any attendees as it was cold and snowy—no surprise there! We will schedule more classes next semester.

We’re still low on kids’ bike donations and hovering around 50 or so. Have a meeting with IMC folks this week to discuss logistics.

As a late decision, the Bike Center will be the starting point for a community bike ride this coming Sunday, December 15th at 2p, which will hopefully get some folks aware of our space that may not have been otherwise.

The numbers:

Visitors: 25
Sales: $209
Memberships: 2 for $60
Tires/tubes: 5 for $39

We were closed all last week for the break.

We’re ramping up for our Kids Bike Giveaway event. We even got some coverage on WCIA: https://www.wcia.com/news/champaign-county/annual-bike-giveaway-planned-for-dec-14-in-urbana/

As is, we’re a little low on donations compared to years’ past, so hopefully this’ll be a good bump.

This evening is a lecture/instructional class on bike repair, but with colder and snowier weather, attendance will likely be low.

The numbers:

Visitors: 35
Sales: $497.50
Memberships: 8 for $240
Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $50
Tires/tubes: 3 for $36

Spent time tracking down a few new sources for kids’ bikes, as this year we aren’t receiving a large number of donations yet. At this point, we're looking at a little more than 20 kids bikes. 

Visitors: 53
Sales: $724.25
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $225
Memberships: 8 for $240
Tires/tubes: 7 for $50

The Bike Center received a few more donations and started processing the abandoned bike pile which they'll continue to tackle throughout the week. There was a mention in E-Week for their Kids Bike Giveaway and already have donations lined up. 

Visitors: 66
Sales: $575.10
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $140
Memberships: 8 for $240
Tires/tubes: 9 for $69