Presentation on required steps to become a certified green office, and various benefits.

The Land and Water team met on March 7th, 2025, at 9 am on Teams this month. In this week's meeting, the team discussed prairie strips, sustainable water usage on campus, milkweed plantings for pollinators, and activities to participate in this coming Arbor Day. The agenda and notes from the meeting are linked below. 

Still slow but have had a few people in looking for bikes or B-a-Bs but no sales on either. With the warmer weather this week, we’ll likely be busier. I’ve got a half dozen bikes to safety check while the weather is cooperating.

Last week and today we made some more headway on the abandoned bike pile. Still coordinating with some other groups to take some of the junky bikes off our hands.

Tonight is the Bike Project Monthly Meeting.

The numbers:

Visitors: 23
Sales: $82
Membership: 1 for $30
Tire/tube: 1 for $6

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.

Uneventful over here. Slow and cold. Plodding away at bikes and wheels to have a good supply of both come the busy times. This week I’ll meet some TBP volunteers to clean out the barn more, as it’ll be March soon.

The numbers:

Visitors: 19
Sales: $281.50
Bikes (B-a-B): 2 for $100
Memberships: 3 for $90
Tires/tubes: 1 for $4

The Energy Team had their February meeting on Thursday, Feb. 6th, from 2:00 - 3:00 PM. We discussed updates on the solar rooftop project, focusing on the Krannert Art Museum as a potential installation site. The team also explored funding opportunities, including the Illinois Climate Bank’s new loan program for energy efficiency projects. Additional topics included occupant engagement initiatives, lab energy optimization, and potential participation in the Engineering Open House. The meeting minutes are attached!

Our next meeting is March 13th, 2:00 - 3:00 PM.

A our last Friday's Illini Lights Out event, a total of 1329 light bulbs were shut off that otherwise would have been left on all weekend, saving $202 in energy costs. This also prevented 1.5 metric tons of CO2 equivalent from entering the atmosphere, which is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from 169 gallons of gasoline being consumed. 

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.