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  1. WCIA: U of I hosting 21st Dump and Run event for students to donate unwanted items

    Associated Project(s): 
    Dump and Run
    Issue Press Releases and Sustainability Reports

    by: Noah Nelson

    Posted: May 6, 2023 / 02:00 PM CDT

    Updated: May 10, 2023 / 06:13 PM CDT

    CHAMPAIGN-URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — U of I Facilities and Services (F&S) announced that the 21st annual Dump and Run event is expanding to multiple campus locations this year beginning Monday, May 8.

    The U of I said the Dump and Run event, a collaboration between University Housing and U of I F&S, is designed to achieve campus sustainability goals, including reaching zero waste targets and preventing trash from reaching waterways and landscapes.

    Officials said in past years when the event was hosted at the University YMCA, more than 30 tons of material was recycled and kept from reaching the landfill because of these efforts.

    U of I officials said expanding the Dump and Run event this year makes it easier for students and others to donate unwanted items at the end of the semester. They said eight 20’ x 8’ mobile storage units will be placed near campus residence halls for the event, including:

    • Barton Hall/Flagg Hall/Weston Hall/Student Dining and Residential Programs Building
    • Busey Hall/Evans Hall
    • Florida Avenue Residence Halls (Oglesby Hall)/Pennsylvania Avenue Residence Halls
    • Hopkins Hall
    • Illinois Street Residence Halls (Wardall Hall)
    • Lincoln Avenue Residence Halls (Allen Hall)
    • Nugent Hall/Wassaja Hall
    • Taft Hall/Van Doren Hall/Snyder Hall

    University volunteers will be available at the sites to help prevent overflow and ensure additional pickups as necessary.

    “We’re excited to bring the Dump and Run event right to where the students live and closer to the majority of faculty and staff,” said Daphne Hulse, F&S zero waste coordinator. “This setup offers everyone a simple way to give back to local nonprofits while preventing littering and keeping items that can be reclaimed from reaching the landfill unnecessarily.

    Each day, the containers will be opened at specific times to accept donations. Officials said individuals can donate surplus or gently used items by putting them into bulk boxes inside the containers. Accepted items include:

    • Accessories (handbags, belts, scarves, hats, etc.)
    • Appliances – small to medium size (coffee makers, kettles, mini-fridges, microwaves, etc.)
    • Books
    • Collectibles/antiques
    • Computers and equipment (printers, cables, speakers, hard drives, monitors, etc.)
    • Clothing (rips and tears are okay – but must be washed)
    • Electronics
    • Furniture
    • Housewares (dishes, mirrors, decorative accessories, etc.)
    • Jewelry
    • Linens
    • Lamps
    • Multimedia (DVDs, CDs, records, etc.)
    • Shoes
    • TVs (flat screen only)

    Throughout the week, officials said the donations will be collected by local participating charities Salt & Light and Goodwill.

    “We are pleased to continue to support the Dump and Run initiative, which is a benefit to our residents, the campus, and the local community,” said Alma R. Sealine, executive director of University Housing.

    The donation schedule includes:


    OBA_TRANS.png

    • May 8: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
    • May 9: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
    • May 10: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
    • May 11: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
    • May 12: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
    • May 13: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

    U of I students and staff can donate accepted items in one of the available mobile storage units during open hours until Saturday, May 13.

  2. 5-3-23 Housing + F&S meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Dump and Run

    Agenda

    • · Shipping container locations - finalize
    • · SDRP
      • o Concern from Housing staff about the location. They say it is blocking the emergency drive to SDRP.
      • o Checking with Stacey DeLorenzo.
      • o Bollards are up in front of the container - must they remain this way? Confirm safety standpoint, and then they can be lowered.
      • o North bollards on Euclid Dr - receiving route schedules from the non-profits
      • o On Friday - non-profits will be dropping of gaylords to each of the containers
    • · F&S will lock and unlock each day
    • · Volunteers
      • o A little over 10% of the volunteer spots are filled.
      • o Crafting an internal message for F&S employees.
      • o Send the crafted message over to Bryan.
    • · Advertising/messaging
      • o Submitted to iNews as a general advertisement for students
      • o Second volunteer message at Eweek, GradLinks

  3. Green Research Committe 2nd meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Green Research Committee
    Green Lab Program

    May 2, 2023 Green Research Committee Meeting 2

    Present: Mitchell Bryant, Shari Effert-Fanta, Paul Foote, Jennifer Fraterrigo, Stephanie Hess, Daphne Hulse, Maisie Kingren, Tim Mies, Lisa Moore, Jeremy Neighbors, Chad Stevens, Sabrina Summers

    Absent: Morgan White

    Discussion:

    • Meeting with leadership on Friday (Jeremy and Stephanie)
    • Discuss ideas for each team:
      • Team 1
        • Mitchell: outreach to graduate students who are disposing of waste. What can and cannot go down the sink and other waste diversion mechanism to keep it from reaching the environment.
        • Stephanie: what kind of waste?
        • Mitchell: plastic waste is an issue in itself in the laboratory. There’s a balance because some things need to be sterile.
        • Stephanie: can we repurpose any waste? Hexane for example can be used as fuel unless disposed of improperly.
        • Tim: every lab needs a point contact for lab safety. Don’t leave it to the students alone to know what they are doing.
        • Jen: you must have standard operating procedures in the lab safety binder. Students must review and sign off that they’ve read it. Also includes waste disposal.
        • Maisie: One point of contact for waste disposal and another contact for other responsibilities would be ideal.
        • Mitchell: not many people know to close the sash.
        • Stephanie: how to reach grad students? Stuff on walls becomes wallpaper eventually.
        • Mitchell: flyers at labs, fume hood posters, buildings have digital boards that scroll especially if it’s a lab building. Newsletters to reach different audiences.
        • Paul: fun competitions to promote good behavior. Pizza parties, trophies for winners. Chem Life Sciences proximity alarm for shutting the sash.
        • Jeremy: energy saving technology on ventilation systems. It would be good to establish a policy on what those systems should be helpful to know what we are getting out of it. Not necessarily energy, but the maintenance/safety side of reducing maintenance for things (duct/conduit). Lab space management - objective 2.1 in the iCAP. objective 4.1 is reduce water consumption. Adding to the chilled water is really expensive.
          • Paul: be a liaison between facilities on campus to know what’s going on, to coordinate, and ensure better outcomes. Nobody has a roll assigned to this.
          • Stephanie: some faculty no longer do research but still have their lab space. It may be because they think they might return in a future year. Regardless, departments need to know how many active wet labs they want to maintain. Some people are exclusively hired for outdoor lab work but still have indoor labs.
            • Safety issues arise when researchers are hired and have to use tiny spaces.
            • Research work is going more interdisciplinary as we go. The traditional way to manage space was to do it within facility, but some people need to share space across disciplines.
      • Team 2
        • My Green Lab training was very good, according to Stephanie. Could encourage grad students to do it, only an hour long.
        • Stephanie would like to composting with animal bedding.
          • Jen and Daphne have explored composting, but have found that Central Illinois is not there yet in terms of infrastructure needed to compost on a larger scale.
        • Daphne introduced recycling and waste management.
          • Currently only recycle 5 items: plastic 1 and 2, aluminum, paper, cardboard, and scrap metal.
          • There may be an opportunity to grow in our plastic 5 recycling. This is a material that seems to crop up a lot in research. Vet med is doing a small scale recycling program, and is sending their items over to ISTC.
          • Summer and fall 2023 F&S is rolling out a program to recycle paper hand towels from bathrooms and laboratories. Piloting in a few buildings this summer and upon success will roll out into more buildings. Paper towels are not heavy, but they are a source of waste in labs that can be reduced through this new program.
        • Group question - are the brown glasses for recycling, or for disposal? Stuff we don’t know about that we should explore.

     

  4. Weekly Update: TBP equity membership policy change, Bike Moving Party

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Last week was a TBP members’ meeting where it was decided to reduce TBP work equity memberships from 8 to 4 hours, as well as no longer offer First Visit Free at either space. Staff can still help with small on-the-spot repairs as they see fit. Both changes are good for the Bike Center and the campus community.

    I also participated in the Bike Census and Campus Transportation Advisory Committee meeting last week.

    Thanks to TBP volunteers we were able to progress nicely on clearing out the abandoned bikes, per the request of Parking. TBD on hosting a Bike Moving Party on a weekend in May.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 38
    Sales: $782
    Bikes (refurb): 3 for $525
    Memberships: 3 for $90
    Tires/tubes: 2 for $23

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  6. Campus Landscape Master plans, native plant experimentation

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Landscape Master Plan (CLMP)

    Hi Brodie,

     

    I recommend talking with Brent Lewis, the University Landscape Architect (copied here).  Brent, I’m not sure what the discussions have been with the Hartley Garden area at the Arboretum, so feel free to bring us up to speed.

     

    Brodie, I also recommend you come to the Arbor Day Celebration on Friday on the main quad at noon, near Davenport Hall.  We will be planting an Arbor Day tree, and you can talk with both Brent and the Superintendent of Grounds, Ryan Welch.  I’ll be there too.  😊

     

    Thanks,

    Morgan

    -------------------------------

    Morgan,

     

    Thanks for getting back to me - I'll plan to stop by the quad on Friday for a chat with you, Brent, and Ryan.


    Thanks,

     

    BRODIE DUNN

  7. iCAP Resilience Team May Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Resilience iCAP Team
    Develop Local Carbon Offset Program [ARCHIVED]

    iCAP Resilience Team had their last meeting of the academic year on Tuesday, April 25th, at 1PM. The team edited the Carbon Offset Statement. The team will send this this statement as a recommendation format to the iWG. Afterwards, with the approvals of iSEE, iWG, and F&S, the team will send this statement to Chancellor Office. Attached is the meeting recording. 

     

     

  8. April 21, 2023 Illini Lights Out

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illini Lights Out

    At Friday's Illini Lights Out event, 4,145 light bulbs were shut off that otherwise would have been left on all weekend, saving $631 in energy costs. This also prevented 5.07 metric tons of CO2 equivalent from entering the atmosphere, which is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from the consumption of 570 gallons of gasoline. That's a huge impact!

    Friday's event was the last Illini Lights Out event of the semester. Stay up to date with other sustainability-related events and news by signing up for the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) newsletter here! You can also find iSEE on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

    iSEE is hosting a TED Talk: Eco-Edition series event on Thursday at 6 pm on the topic of climate change engagement. Sign up here!

    Illini Lights Out addresses objectives 2.2 and 2.2.2 of the iCAP, or Illinois Climate Action Plan, to increase energy efficiency and reduce building-level energy. Find out about other iCAP objectives here and read the entire iCAP here.

    Illini Lights Out is a certified Green Event! Click this link to learn how to green-certify your own event.

  10. Weekly update: Green Quad Day, Donations

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, On the whole, an uneventful week. We tabled at Green Quad Day last Friday, but other than that it was business as usual. A local bike shop is scaling back their operations, and we got a lot of donations as a result, including NOS handlebars, fenders, and tires. Always welcome! There is, too, the potential for more demand with one less option locally for folks to fix their bike. We’ll see how that plays out over time.

    Tonight is the Bike Project Member Meeting, which I’ll attend.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 42
    Sales: $362
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $170
    Memberships: 1 for $30
    Tires/Tubes:  9 for $72

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  11. Resilience iCAP Team April Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Resilience iCAP Team
    Carbon Credit Purchasing Program (C2P2) with Second Nature

    Resilience iCAP Team had its online April meeting on Friday, April 14th, at 1 PM. The team had two guests: Annie Cebulski and Kejsi Ago. Annie presented the carbon offsets that the university has to purchase and gave some recommendations on how to complete these purchases. Afterward, the team discussed next steps for a potential statement and/or recommendation on this carbon offset purchasing. Meeting minutes are attached. 

    Attached Files: 

  12. iCAP-IGT2030 Overview 2022-2023 DRAFT-FINAL

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy-Efficient HVAC Infection Control

    Sarthak + Morgan,

     

    Please see the attached PDF. It includes all iCAP and related activities for 2022-2023.

     

    We have included direct and indirect impacts such as those originating from: active IAQ legislation, public awareness and concerns, capacity and capital building, workforce equity initiatives, violence prevention and cross-disciplinary collaboration between public health officials and building designers.

     

    See you shortly, Sterling

    Attached Files: 

  15. WPP Building 1258 geothermal metering system installation request

    Associated Project(s): 
    Geothermal at WPP

    Good morning,

    Here is what I found.

    Al

     

    --------------------

    Hi Robbie,

     

    Here are the engineering documents and pictures of the heat pumps. There are 5 heat pumps.

     

    Andy

    -------------------

    Team,

     

    Here's another geothermal system needing to be metered. It appears to need both ST, RT temperature RTD, and flow meter installation and tied into alpha controller and programming. 

     

    Thanks.

     

    Robbie Bauer

    ----------------------------

    Andrew,

     

    The team surveyed it this week and a meter is planned to be installed shortly.  I’ll keep you updated.

    -----------------------------

    Hi Yu-Feng,

     

    Robbie Bauer from F&S is finishing the meter install on the last geothermal system on campus. So going forward we will have access to data from all the systems. At the very least, inlet and outlet temperature, flow rate, and energy going into the borefield will be collected. Robbie is interested in calculating the annual energy avoidance for each system.

     

    Best,

    Andy

    ----------------------

    Thanks for the update.

     

    Yu-Feng

  16. Professor Yu-Feng Lin Featured on 'Wired' Article

    Associated Project(s): 
    Geothermal Battery at Energy Farm

    UIUC's Yu-Feng Lin was featured on a "wired" article. Andrew Stumpf explains, "The authors did a simulation for a residential district in Chicago. They don’t provide much detail about the geology and hydrogeology that is the basis for the geotechnical model. In Chicago, aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) has yet to be used because groundwater is pretty scarce in the shallow subsurface and one would need to tap aquifers deeper in the bedrock. In the northern and western suburbs, the subsurface conditions in the glacial deposits is much better and I believe Kane County is looking into using the aquifers for a geothermal resource."

    The article can be found at: https://www.wired.com/story/the-massive-batteries-hidden-beneath-your-fe...

    UIUC newsletter: https://emails.illinois.edu/newsletter/32/64507332.html 

    The referenced article is attached.

    Attached Files: 

  18. Weekly Update: Bike sales, Bike Fix-it day, Stripping junk bikes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Business as usual over here. We’ve almost fully occupied the front lobby space with for sale bikes—which will likely diminish a bit this week with the warm weather. Fingers crossed.

    This upcoming Saturday we have a partnering event with the Urbana Parks District to help with a bike fix-it day from 10  - 12p in Urbana at the Phillips Recreation Center. Will be nice to get off campus and help folks where they are—or maybe closer to where they are. The event was successful last year and will hopefully be so again this year. Although, offsite repairs always mean you can’t bring every tool for every possible repair, which is a strong impulse.

    We’ve hit a bit of a stride with some volunteers and staff stripping junk bikes. This, of course, has the added bonus of creating a surplus of used 26” tires. We’ll have no trouble working through those in due time. Accordingly, I’ll be grabbing a few more from the warehouse this week.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 44
    Sales: $529
    Bikes (refurb): 2 for $240
    Memberships: 1 for $30
    Tires/tubes: 8 for $31

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  20. Building Energy Modeling

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Models for Campus Facilities

    Hi Yun, Tom, and Joe,

     

    Here are the links for the original SWATeam recommendation, the iCAP Working Group assessment, the F&S response, and the link to the energy modeling page: https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project-update/energy005-modeling-energy-code-compliance-successful.  The original recommendation is attached here, and the iWG assessment says, “We recommend that Facilities & Services assign a staff member from Capital Programs or Utilities and Energy Services (possibly from Design Review) to work with Dr. Yun Yi’s class to develop the related energy models, on a timeline that matches the academic course abilities.”

     

    This is the link directly to the Energy Modeling project page on the iCAP Portal:https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project/energy-models-campus-facilities.

     

    Thanks,

    Morgan

    -----------------------------

    Hello All

     

    I like to follow up with our last discussion. 

    To check any update on the list of possible buildings for energy modeling next semester.

     

    Many thanks

    Yun

     

    -------------------------

    Yun,

     

    Apologies. This slipped off my radar for a bit. I will get those to you as soon as I can.

     

    Tom

    --------------------------

    Yun,

     

    Here are some with interesting designs:

    1.       0409 – ECE – Chilled beam and dedicated outdoor air unit (DOAU). Energy recovery.

    2.       1517 – Design Ctr. – Passive chilled beam, variable air-volume (VAV), DOAU. Energy recovery.

    3.       1545 – Campus Instr. Fac. – Chilled radiant, hot radiant, and DOAU. Geothermal. Energy recovery.

     

    Here are some smaller ones that may be easier to complete/complete more:

    1.       0154 – Personnel Services Bldg. – Packaged chiller, steam perimeter heat, constant volume fan-coil units.

    2.       1528 – African Am. Cultural Ctr. – VAV.

    3.       1584 – RIPE Greenhouse – Packaged direct expansion (DX), geothermal.

     

    I hi-lighted the one with a complete native energy model on-hand (I modeled the building and performed several lifecycle cost analysis). Several of those have PDF energy files that could be used as a back-check or instructional piece if desired.

     

    Thanks,

     

    Tom

     

    -----------------------

    Hi Tom,

     

    Thanks for sharing a list with me. I am wondering if there is little more typical (education/office} buildings and with some meter data.

    Could you be able to recommend a few of the buildings in this criteria?

     

    Many thanks

    Yun

    -----------------------

    Hi Yun,

     

    Most all of our buildings have metering at some level (minimum utility level). Some of the buildings we discussed and I was thinking of are:

     

    0339 – Temple Buell Hall – This one is big and has a complex initial design and re-commissioning history. Series-flow fan-powered VAV (original). Frankenstiened to VAV bu re-commissioning group.

    0209 – Speech and Hearing – AHUs replaced recently and a small/medium sized building. VAV.

    0075 – Children’s Research Ctr. - AHUs replaced recently and a small/medium sized building. Constant volume re-heat.

     

    Thanks,

     

    Tom

    ------------------------

    Hi Tom,

     

    Many thanks for the additional list. Sorry for the confusion, I meant real-time meter or sub-meter buildings that students can look into more detail.

    However, these buildings are good candidates for the class.

    I am wondering if F&S can share a building list that has some kind of information on building age, energy consumption, and buildings that have some type of energy model simulation outcome or results. 

     

    Many thanks

    Yun

    ----------------------

    Hello Everyone,

     

    Hope everyone had a nice winter break. Sorry for the delay.

    The class went well and I have EnergyPlus models and reports from the students that I can share with you.

    I'd like to ask my TA to review the students' models to ensure they were done correctly before sending them to you.

    I hope you can wait a few more weeks, but I can send you the reports if you'd like to see them.

     

    Best

    Yun

    ----------------------

    Hi Tom,

     

    Sorry for the delay. I thought that after getting tenured, I would have more time to work on the project, but I was wrong.

    Anyway, thanks for waiting. I have all the calibrated and reviewed DesignBuilder files and reports in the following folder.

    If you'd like, I can convert the DB file to an EPW file for your convenience.


    lease let me know if you'd like to discuss the outcome of the report.

    I'm happy to talk about the next group of buildings that we can model.

     

    Best

    Yun

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