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Energy consumption is less this week (Friday, March 20 - Thursday March 26) than last (Thursday, March 12 - Wednesday, March 18). We will continue to monitor energy consumption at BIF as most students and employees are not on campus due to COVID-19 concerns.
I-Pollinate is a citizen science research initiative, through the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, designed to collect state-wide pollinator data. I-Pollinate enlists citizen scientists to participate in three research projects and collect data on monarch egg and caterpillar abundance, pollinator visitation to ornamental flowers, and state bee demographics. If you are interested in participating and want more information, visit the website site at https://ipollinate.illinois.edu/.
All, This is a digest for the week of 3/9 - 3/13. Last week we were closed for spring break and now we’re closed for the pandemic. I’ll be back to reporting when we reopen.
The numbers:
Visitors: 38
Sales: $162
Memberships: 2 for $60
Thanks!
- jake
Hello Tree Campus USA Committee,
Thanks to those of us who were able to join the web-call this morning. Here are brief notes about our discussion and next steps:
Our next group meeting is April 27 at 9am, but we will be in touch during the next few weeks to finalize plans for April 24th.
Thank you,
Morgan
Message from the Arbor Day Foundation: http://adestra.arborday.org/q/120OBVMvRZTmL6qMkonn/wv
Due to concerns about volunteer safety, the stay-at-home order for Illinois, and anticipated continuation of the COVID-19 social distancing, we are officially cancelling the Dump and Run collection from University Housing this spring.
I am very sorry that this is the case, and I hope that all of you are safe and staying calm during this crisis.
We intend to still hold our next group meeting on April 14 at 1pm, via telephone. We will discuss options at that time for providing some of the benefits from the fall sale to our future incoming students. We will also include an update from Shantanu about the preparatory work that can occur this spring and summer.
Please let me know if you have any suggestions or concerns which we should also address during our next group meeting.
Thank you and best wishes,
Morgan
The University YMCA has coordinated a waste reduction program called "Dump and Run" since the early 2000's. At student move-out, hundreds of volunteers help collect the reusable materials for resale after summer break. Then the weekend before school starts, the YMCA's staff and volunteers sell the materials at a massive "garage sale" in the Stock Pavillion. The University YMCA is a local non-profit, and they work with the International Student and Scholar Services department on campus, as well as University Housing.
An excel file containing Indoor Collection Container Information @ Housing (2019) for Dump and Run is attached below.
University Housing submitted the attached Scope Change request to the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) to transfer the key contact for the Dump and Run grant from Housing to Facilities & Services.
The power consumption at the Busines Instructional Facility (BIF) is lower this week, as students leave for spring break, and staff transition to working form home. Stay tuned for additional screen shots as the COVID transition continues.
"Shantanu Pai with Facilities and Services is serving as the point person to coordinate the Dump and Run event. Although University Housing submitted the request for funding and is currently holding the grant money awarded by the Student Sustainability committee, we would like to transfer the funds from University Housing to Facilities and Services. This will allow Shantanu more control and better tracking of the expenses as he plans and executes the event." -Bryan Johnson (2020)
A file containing information on the Dump and Run scope change is attached below.
A Scope Change Request for Dump and Run is attached below.
Hello all,
Shantanu and I have held a few planning meetings with Marc and Kasey from the YMCA for Dump & Run. We’ve talked with F&S communicators and the staff who will be clearing out of the space we intend to use. Shantanu has put together a draft communications plan, and he identified an improved collection container which we can purchase with the Student Sustainability Committee funds. We also began planning for a community drop off location that would not be at the F&S building.
On Friday, Bryan Johnson arranged a quick phone call with Shantanu, Bryan, me, and Joe Glass at Housing. We discussed the changes in campus and the anticipated student behavior, related to living in the residence halls. We talked about the potential for several students leaving at random dates throughout the remainder of the semester, and how we could potentially still collect materials. We also talked about the possibility of needing to cancel entirely for this year. Ultimately, that decision will need more clarity about who is here in May. Because we will not know which students choose to come back to campus after spring break until at least March 23, we are going to have a follow up discussion on 3/25.
In the meantime, I am cancelling the meeting we had scheduled for tomorrow. Our next group meeting will be on April 14 at 1pm, and it will be a Skype call.
Thank you,
Morgan
Please see attached the meeting minutes from the meeting on March 16th. Also attached are the slides from this meeting.
Attended by: Yanfeng Ouyang, Shelly Zhang, Morgan White, Stacey DeLorenzo, Sarthak Prasad, Weichen Li, Rui Feng She, Barb Robbins, Paul Jensen, Gina Lee-Olukoya, Dementro Powell.
Justin Chen, from the University of Illinois joint student chapter of the Water Enviroment Federation-American Water Works, and the rest of his design team have been hard at work this school year!
Some project updates via the co-captian:
Click here to find out more and how you can become involved with WEF!
All, Truncated week for me as I was out of the shop on Wed – Fri recuperating. On Tuesday night I was hit by a car on my bike ride home. No injuries beyond some scrapes and sore muscles. I was very lucky it wasn’t much worse.
Ultimately, we have a long way to go when someone who rides as defensively and as safely as I do can get hit by a car on a quiet residential street.
This week I’ll be meeting with my newly-hired Program Assistant to work out his schedule and responsibilities. I’ll be picking up more bikes from the warehouse, meeting with a student design group for transportation/climate issues (Design For America’s “Social Hack”), and building/scrapping bikes as needed.
The numbers:
Visitors: 63
Sales: $32
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Manager, Campus Bike Center
In order to reach the iCAP objective of 25,000 MWh/year of solar energy by FY25, additional panels will need to be installed. Large scale, ground mounted panels appear to be the least expensive route towards achieving the FY25 objective.
Dear Stacey, Morgan, and Prasad,
The CEE research team (including Shelly, Weichen, Ruifeng, and I) has held two weekly meetings and discussed our ongoing project. Below is a summary of the ongoing efforts:
As for the next step, we wonder if there is a good time to schedule a quick interview with you, and/or the stakeholders you mentioned last time? The purpose is to understand the design options and restrictions (i.e., types of barriers, guideways, and/or booth-location choices).
Thank you.
Yanfeng
All, Happy March! Looks like it’s coming in like a lamb for a change.
Still slow around here as far as visitors are concerned. On Friday of last week we got 7 bikes donated, all of which will be junked or passed along to Salt & Light (3 kids’ bikes). That’ll give the student staff something easy to do this week. Elsewhere: Our grinder wheel bit the dust so we’ll be all analog on filing housing and cleaning parts until that is replaced. Less electricity use = more sustainable!
This week I’ve got an interview for a student worker, our Fix-a-Flat class on Thursday and on I’ll be setting up some of my staff to have key-access when I’m away.
The numbers:
Visitors: 45
Sales: $132
Membership: 1 for $30
Tires/tubes: 4 for $49
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Manager, Campus Bike Center
Good morning Morgan,
I have gathered the numbers that correspond to an acre of solar cover.
The estimate is that an acre of solar canopy could generate 760,536 kWh annually (this estimate takes into account the weather patterns of our location and possible shading/system inefficiencies).
I remember you saying that right now the University pays $0.05 per kWh. Our solar farms are charged $0.045 per kWh that they generate. This means that $0.005 is saved for every kWh generated. That can be used to estimate that an acre of solar canopy would save roughly $3,800 per year.
I thought that I would also include the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s estimate for what a solar retailer would charge per kWh of electricity in our area: $0.036. This would mean that $0.014 could be saved per kWh on a solar canopy system, or roughly $10,650 per acre.
Let me know what else I can find,
Ryan Day
