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Project Updates for collection: Living Lab Facilities / Programs

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  1. Weekly Update: Bike to Work Day, Light the Night

    Associated Project(s): 

    All, I was out sick all last week with some combination of flu/cold/sinus infection. My staff handled operations in my absence. However, there were some issues tracking visit numbers, unfortunately.

    Last Thursday was Bike To Work Day. Some very awesome people stepped up and filled in for me. Sounds like it was a banner year! Congrats to all involved.

    Tomorrow evening is Light The Night. We’ll be hosting at a different location this year. Should be a better spot for folks to get their lights.

    We were inundated with donations last week. I’ll bring in staff off-hours to help scrap the junk bikes and reorganize this week. Hopefully we’ll have our space in better shape by our open hours on Wednesday.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 8*
    Sales: $1,242.50
    Bikes (refurb): 2 for $215
    Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $40
    Memberships: 17 for $510
    Tires/tubes: 9 for $55

    *See above issue with visit numbers.

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  2. 2023 Competition Update

    Associated Project(s): 

    Dear Friend of the Reimagine our Future student sustainability competition,

     

    We are writing to provide a brief update about Reimagine our Future.

     

    As you know, the aim of this competition is to harness the creativity and intelligence of undergraduate students, challenging them to develop ideas and solutions that will contribute to the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and encouraging them to feel empowered as engaged problem-solvers.

     

    Registration is now open for the 2023 competition, and we have some exciting developments to report.

    Students from nine participating higher education institutions can enter the competition this year either as individuals or as members of teams. (Students from any higher education institution anywhere may be on a team that enters the competition provided that team is led by a student from a participating institution.) An up-to-date list of the participating institutions is here.

    This year we added two special awards for the best submission dealing with some aspect of climate change and for the submission that went furthest in implementation.

    Also, Mike Yao, a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign professor with appointments in the College of Media and the Gies College of Business, will serve as a mentor to the winning entrants, irrespective of their home institution, as they attempt to develop and implement their proposal.

    The important dates for the 2023 competition are available here.

    If you are an advisor on student projects, you may receive – any time between now and November 19th - a request for advice from one or more students who are planning a submission in your area of expertise or interest.

    If you are a judge, we will ask for a few hours of your time during November 20-24 to help develop the list of finalists.

    Special thanks to those who are playing both roles!

    Our list of advisors and judges includes specialists from various universities, companies, and institutions and from many backgrounds, fields, and disciplines. This broad-ranging list encourages submissions from students in many areas.  We expect to continue to add to this list.

    Thank you again for your ongoing help with this sustainability competition and for bringing your unique background, skills, professional history and more to this project. If you have advice or suggestions about any aspect of the competition, please let us know.

     

    Yours sincerely,

    Leon Liebenberg (Teaching Professor, Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering, UIUC) 

    Warren Lavey (Adjunct Professor, College of Law, School of Earth, Society & Environment, and College of Medicine, UIUC) 

    Robert McKim (Emeritus Professor, Department of Religion, UIUC) 

     

    (Reimagine Our Future co-founders and coordinating committee)

  3. Weekly Update: very busy week

    Associated Project(s): 

    All, Another doozy of a week. Long wait times for stands, cash offers to “hold” bikes, and my favorite: “When will you get a new shipment of bikes?”

    This week promises to be a little better with more staff on board, and presumably fewer folks coming for their registration sticker. We’ll also have our first Friday Ride of the semester. Weather looks good for it!

    Tonight is the Bike Project Members’ Meeting. I’ll mention it to all the new members we sign-up today.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 142
    Sales: $2,631.38
    Bikes (refurb): 5 for $855
    Bikes (B-a-B): 2 for $100
    Memberships: 28 for $840

    Tires/tubes: 37 for $263

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  4. Weekly Update: Students are back, Illini Frenzy

    Associated Project(s): 

    All, The semester has officially started! People are knocking on the doors at all hours, we’re almost out of sale bikes, the 529 registrations are a near constant, and there’s a wait for stand time by 3p every day. Demand is never higher than this time of year.

    On Saturday, we had the Illini Frenzy, and our spin-a-prize bike wheel was a huge hit. Something Pavlovian about the act of spinning a wheel. Even when we were out of all our freebies, people spun it anyways, and a line formed almost immediately. I’ll need to work out a couple of things with it, but I think it’s a keeper for outreach events and the like.

    On Friday, Daniel and Rick—two experienced volunteers—came by to lend a hand—and boy did we need it! Many thanks to them. Also, thanks to Todd for grabbing scrap over the weekend.

    This week I’ll try to throw some bikes together during our off hours, send out some offer letters for new hires, and do some trainings for our new/returning staff.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 156
    Sales: $3,127.75
    Bikes (refurb): 13 for $1,840

    Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $50
    Memberships: 21 for $630
    Tires/tubes: 10 for $84

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  5. Sustainability LLC iCAP presentation

    On 08/16/2023, Morgan, Daphne, Sarthak, Quinn and Hrushikesh attended/ hosted Sustainability LLC iCAP presentation for the upcoming and aspiring undergraduate students to provide them information about all the aspects of iCAP and other entities. Additionally it was also a great mode of communication to connect with the young minds and get to know their vision regards the same cause.

  6. Weekly Udpate: Interviews for CBC

    Associated Project(s): 

    All, Short week for me as I was out Wed – Fri last week. My staff covered in my absence.

    In the couple days I did work, we got the rest of the bikes out of the barn and began some Tetris-like work in reorganizing our space and bikes. Got a deluge of applications since I was out, which is great. I’ll schedule interviews for this week.

    Likely will get very busy this week as students return. I’ll build bikes as I can.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 20
    Sales: $1,021
    Bikes (refurb): 3 for $480
    Memberships: 8 for $240
    Tires/tubes: 4 for $52

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  7. Monthly Meeting with Jake

    Associated Project(s): 

    On 08/07/2023, Sarthak and Hrushikesh had a monthly meeting with Jake.

    Meeting Notes:

    - Actively promoting Bike Registration to students or commuters visiting and using the Campus Bike Center.

    - Campus Bike Center should have printer QR code sticker/ flyer for Bike Registration.

    - Bike Friendly Application will be submitted on 08/08/2023.

    - Light the Night Event near Ikenberry Hopkins Hall and ARC.

    - Bike Lights including the screw fitting types will be used for the events.

    -  Bike Safety Quiz is recommended to be promoted by the Campus Bike Center.

    - Merchandise purchase order is placed.

    - How to use Outdoor Pumps video can be made by the Campus Recreation marketing team.

    To do for Sarthak:

    - Find out Campus Bike Center Built-up area for UIC recommendation.

    - Try to get the merchandise before August 20th for the Campus Bike Center events.    

  8. Weekly Update: Calm before the storm, getting ready

    Associated Project(s): 

    All, These days feel like the calm before the storm. Starting to get phone calls and emails from families and folks looking for bikes as they plan to come to town. We’ll sell out of our supply of bikes before the semester begins, if past demand is any indication.  We’ll work on getting a few more B-a-Bs prepped and ready to go, as demand looks to increase in the absence of refurbished bikes.

    I’ll be out of the office Wednesday – Friday this week. My staff will cover open hours on those days.

    The numbers:

    Sales: $572
    Bikes (refurb): 2 for $345
    Memberships: 2 for $60
    Tires/tubes: 6 for $43

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  9. 8/3 Meeting to discuss location at Hope Village

    Associated Project(s): 

    Illinois Solar Decathlon President Rachel Chen met with Marty Smith to discuss the possibility of having the current next solar decathlon home built at the hope village project. Marty discussed possibilities for a separated subdivision of homes. But the more likely option would be to construct a library or community building than a single family home. Either of these options would be more likely during the next building cycle for solar decathlon.

  10. Weekly Update: Less abandoned bikes, Kids' Bikes

    All, Slow visitor-wise, but busy otherwise. Moved almost all the bikes out of the round barn, and the very last of them I’ll get this week. Sounds like we’ll have less bikes from the round up than in years’ past, something I am happy for. Hopefully, it means more people are caring about and actually riding their bikes—a guy can dream!  Irrespective of the reason, less bikes means less grunt work, and that’s a huge plus in my book.

    We are still up to our ears in kids’ bikes, as the ones we have are not coming together as I’d like. Lots of short-supply parts are needed. I’ll need to dedicate some off-hours time to this as these kinds of projects are not well-suited to student staff/volunteers, apparently.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 25
    Sales: $890.34
    Bikes (refurb): 3 for $535
    Memberships: 2 for $60
    Tires/tubes: 5 for $50

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  11. Weekly Update: Abandoned Bikes, potential new hire

    Associated Project(s): 

    All, Calm and slow week. All the abandoned bikes out front of the Bike Center were removed. We had a few people in wondering where their bikes had gone, so there’s some “educational” opportunities around the process still.

    As the abandoned bike removal process is underway, we still have around 30 bikes to get out of the round barn, which we’ll tackle this week with the help of Bike Project volunteers.

    I’ll be interviewing a potential hire this week who’s a PhD student from the Netherlands. I’m eager to get their perspective on ways we can improve our community—or ways we’re already doing well!

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 32
    Sales: $569.45
    Bikes (refurb): 2 for $325
    Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $50
    Memberships: 2 for $60
    Tires/tubes: 5 for $ 50

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  12. Weekly Update: e-bike questions

    Associated Project(s): 

    All, I’m having more and more conversations with folks about e-bikes. One older woman I spoke with last week said the nearest place able to service her e-bike is in Springfield, IL. Anecdotally, folks don’t seem aware of just how big and dangerous e-bike batteries are from an insurance perspective and thus why bike shops can’t work on them. I see myself having a lot of similar conversations over the next few months…

    We’re hovering around 20 bikes on the sales floor, but we’ve got almost 20 kids’ bikes taking up real estate, too. Plan this week is to fix a dozen or so of those and move them along, hopefully to some of the groups/orgs we’ve worked with in the past.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 21
    Sales: $711.65
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $400
    Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $60
    Memberships: 3 for $90
    Tires/tubes: 7 for $98

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  13. YMCA preparing for August Big Sale - F&S supporting

    Associated Project(s): 

    From: Marc Alexander <marc@universityymca.org>
    Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2023 1:05 PM
    To: Hulse, Daphne Lauren <dlhulse2@illinois.edu>
    Cc: White, Morgan <mbwhite@illinois.edu>
    Subject: D&R August Work Order

     

    Hi Daphne,

     

    At our last meeting we had discussed F&S continuing to support a couple of the hard costs for the August portion of D&R, soecifically the tables and dumpster. I wanted to reach out to make sure we were on schedule for both of those work orders. For your reference I have attached last year's work order, which I think just needs to be updated with the dates and times for this year. I've listed those changes below.

     

    Additionally, I should have marketing materials for collections and the sale ready by the end of this week, that can be shared with Housing and any other campus units.

     

    Thank you, and let me know if you have any questions!

     

    -Marc

     

    Work Order Changes:

     

    Tables :

    • DROP OFF: Change to MONDAY, 7/31/2023 by 9 AM to the SOUTH SIDE ENTRANCE
    • PICK UP: change to MONDAY, 8/21/23 IN THE AM

    20' pan/dumpster:

    • ON SUNDAY, 8/20/23 IN THE PM (by 3PM), DELIVER A (20) YARD PAN TO THE WEST ENTRANCE OF THE STOCK PAVILION FOR THE "DUMP & RUN" EVENT. PICKUP FOR RETURN ON TUESDAY, 8/22/23 IN THE AM
  14. Meeting with Jake

    Sarthak and Hrushikesh had a meeting with Jake about improvements in the resources available on campus for bicycle and pedestrian friendly access.

    Notes from Meeting:

    - Total 9 Bike Repair Stations, including 5 new Locations namely Grainger Library, Foellinger Auditorium, Smith Hall, Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), and  Loomis Laboratory Of Physics

    - Giveaways/Incentives for students that visit the Campus Bike Center or during any event related to Bicycles.

    - Events such as Learn to Ride, Light the Night, Bike Classes (Fix a Flat), 

    - October can have a few events as it is the month of Sustainability.

    Discussion on Bike Plan 2024

    - Bike Audit (can be held in Fall): 

    The Audit will cover: 1) Connection of Bike Network within the Campus and the Community

                                     2) Condition Assessment of Bike paths and lanes

                                     3) Bike Racks (Only with Campus Limit)

     

  15. Met with Habitat for Humanity ReStore

    Associated Project(s): 

    On July 7, 2023, Daphne Hulse met with Habitat for Humanity ReStore Director Chad Hoffman and Executive Director Brandon Fischer to discuss participating in the 2024 collection event.

    • Daphne gave a brief overview of the history, and how the operations worked for the 2023 event
      • 8 undergraduate hall locations
      • All locations were shared between Goodwill and Salt & Light, so that hard items and soft items could be separated
      • Daphne indicated the desire to eliminate the "sharing" of containers and to instead have non-profts operate by locations, gathering all that is dropped off
    • Habitat for Humanity does not take any of the soft items listed: clothing, bedding, linens, shoes
      • Suggested that Salt & Light or Goodwill could pick up the soft items left at these locations
    • Would like furniture
      • Agree that it aligns better to target locations which would have furniture, more likely (family and graduate housing)
      • Do not want any damaged furniture
    • Closed Sundays and Mondays, so could not pick up on these days
  16. Status Update

    The following is an email conversation between Morgan White, Ahmed Hassan, and Johnathan Hasselbring.

    On Jul 6, 2023 Morgan sent the following:

    Hi Ahmed,

    Thanks for sending another email!  I meant to get back to you earlier, so thanks for the additional note.

    Jon, can you provide information to Ahmed about the current status of the geothermal system at CIF, or connect him with the appropriate people?

    Ahmed, please use this info to request the energy data access:

    The Energy Billing System (EBS) is a web-based software application that offers utility cost and consumption by month, building, and meter. It allows users to view current and historic information, compare buildings, and see trends over time. It requires Blue-Stem authorization and users must request access from F&S.

    Thanks!

    Morgan

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

    Dear Morgan, 

    Thank you very much for the prompt response. Your contribution is highly appreciated. 

    Best Regards 

    Ahmed 

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

    Hi Ahmed,

    The geothermal system is in operation and coupled with a heat recovery chiller and radiant heating panels.

    Geothermal provides about 75% of the heating and cooling needs for the building, with the heat recovery chiller and radiant panels supplementing the remaining 25%.

    Please let me know what questions you might have, and I will gladly connect you with more members of the team.

    Thanks,

    Jon

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