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Project Updates for collection: Living Lab Facilities / Programs

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  1. Invitation to Award Ceremony 2023

    Associated Project(s): 

    Dear Friend of the Reimagine our Future sustainability competition,

     

    Thank you for your fantastic support for the 2023 Reimagine our Future competition as a participant, specialist advisor, judge, sponsor, media representative, or interested person. This year we had a record number of 243 participants and 44 submissions from 10 higher education institutions.

    The roughly 100 initial judges have reviewed the submissions, provided comments which will be sent to the teams, and selected 12 finalists. (The list of finalists is available below this message.) These teams or individuals will briefly present their projects during an award ceremony on Saturday Dec. 2, 2023, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (US Central Time). The winners of nine awards...Expand »

  2. Weekly Update: Kids bike giveaway, Cranksgiving

    Associated Project(s): 

    All, Busy week on the sales floor as the weather warmed up and we sold a few bikes. Also, got a half dozen or so kids bikes repaired for the KBG event in December.

    Over the weekend the Bike Project held their Cranksgiving bike food drive. Riders were able to collect ~400 lbs of donations to Faith UMC Food Pantry!

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 43
    Sales: $1,173.75
    Bikes (refurb): 3 for $530
    Memberships: 7 for $210
    Tires/tubes: 26 for $229

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center

  3. Apprentice program for electrical work

    Associated Project(s): 

    Hi Josh,

     

    Do you know if we could request apprentices work on the 15kw solar install?  That could potentially bump us from a tax credit of ~$5500 to $33,000 if this goes through.

     

    Best,
    Tim

     

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

    How much of the labor has to be apprentice? 

    Joshua Robin

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

    15%  thanks!

    Morgan White

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

    Thanks Morgan!

     

    With a small crew, if they had one apprentice, that might catch what we need. 

     

    I overestimated below at 6x the base $5500, where apprentice would make it 5x, so only 27,500. 

     

    Best,
    Tim

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

    Thanks all. The contractor can put one apprentice on there.  Tech services and in...Expand »

  4. iCAP Resilience Team Meeting 11-10-23

    The iCAP Resilience Team Meeting met on November 10th, 2023 to discuss current project statuses, review the 2016 resilience commitment, and further discuss the mission and goals of the team.

    Meeting minutes, a supplemental slideshow, and recording is attached.

    Meeting recording: https://uofi.box.com/s/7xow5bqoe8zz0xk3qxyctdxi1duvg0mf

    Powerpoint: https://uofi.box.com/s/7ysynolap0ykpcaoxboxojaieispjn8a

  5. Illinois EPA Announces $27 Million NOFO for Public Light-Duty Electric Vehicle Fast Charging Infrastructure

    Today, through its Driving a Cleaner Illinois program, the Illinois EPA announced the Driving a Cleaner Illinois – Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) EV Charging Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the purchase and installation of new Direct Current Fast Charging (DCFC) light-duty electric vehicle charging stations at publicly accessible locations. This $27 million opportunity is being made available through Governor Pritzker’s bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital plan for electric vehicle projects authorized under CEJA. The NOFO and related documents have been posted to the Illinois EPA website. Applications must be submitted to EPA.EVCharging@Illinois.gov by 5:00 pm CT on December 22, 2023.

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

    Hi...Expand »

  6. RECs for small solar rooftop arrays

    Hi Rob and Tony,

     

    Tim Mies asked me who “owns” the RECs from small scale solar arrays at individual buildings.  I said I’d have to check into it.

     

    At first I thought all RECs are owned by central campus (UES), but then I questioned myself.  For a rooftop solar array, we don’t include it in the M-RETS program, and at ECE, we only “sold” them the solar farm 2.0 RECs.  We let them count their rooftop solar directly and they have the DOR accordingly. 

     

    So is it appropriate to tell him that the RECs associated with the 14.7 kW array he is planning to install at the Energy Farm (not the SCAPES project) will be considered “used” at the Energy Farm?

     

    I would caution that we do not want individual...Expand »

  7. Weekly Update: Cranksgiving, Halloween last week

    Associated Project(s): 

    All, Halloween was last week, and we are still awash in candy and Halloween-themed cellophane.

    Weather bumped back up, too, and we had a wait for stands on Friday. As the mercury goes, so do we. Accordingly, Monday and Wednesday project to be busy. 

    Getting some bikes on the sales floor and tackling some organizational projects; will continue to do so this week. Will also tackle some more kids bikes as we ramp up production for that.

    This coming Saturday (11/11) the Bike Project is hosting Cranksgiving, a bicycle ride/food drive to collect donations for a local food pantry. I’ll mention it to my staff and patrons this week.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 43
    Sales: $484
    Memberships: 9 for $270
    Tires/tubes: 8 for $59

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    ...Expand »

  8. Land & Water iCAP Team November 2023 Meeting

    The Land & Water iCAP team met on Teams from 1-2 PM on Friday, November 3rd. The team discussed permeable pavers at State Farm Center, the meadow at Orchard Downs, cover crops on the South Farm, and the iCAP 2025 rewrite of the Land & Water chapter. Meeting minutes are attached.

  9. F&S YMCA MOU

    Associated Project(s): 

    Hi Pete,

     

    Please see attached for the draft we discussed today.

     

    Thank you,
    Daphne

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

    Hi Daphne,

     

    Can you give me an update on this YMCA MOU?

     

    Thanks,

    Morgan

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

    Hi Pete,

     

    Throwing this question up to you 😊 Have you had a chance to send the MOU over to Ehab?

     

    Thank you,
    Daphne

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

     

    I meet with Ehab this afternoon and can discuss with him at that time. However, are you working on an MOU with Housing as well? I’d rather give him both at the same time if possible.

     

    Thank you,

    Pete

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

    Hi Pete,

     

    Yes, I have a working draft of the Housing MOU, too. I’ve attached it here for review.

     

    Thank you,
    Daphne

  10. AV FARM next steps - Re - Bid Information

    Dear Team,

     

    Kindly verify the attached document from Ryan to ensure it meets the requirements for a bid posting. We've initiated an inquiry about a potential sole source option, and we're awaiting a response.

     

    Regarding the meeting scheduled to discuss CO and AZ designs for the rebid, it remains on track. We will also plan another meeting for next week.

     

    Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

     

    Best regards,

    Basia

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

    Please see latest proposed layout for 100kw system for discussion.

     

    Best,
    Tim

    Attached Files: 
  11. RE: Green Research Committee

    Associated Project(s): 

    We will be setting up a few meetings starting after Labor Day to meet our upcoming deadlines, with our final report due by November 15. Please review the attached Word file and supplemental attachments ahead of the meetings. Please feel free to post comments/thoughts to our Teams site.

     

    Thanks

    Jeremy

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

    Good morning, everyone,

     

    I have put the files Jeremy sent on Aug 18th into teams. They are under “files” in the “General” channel. You probably saw the invitation to meet virtually on Sept 20th. Hard to get a busy group together. This is a long time from now and we were hoping to meet sooner. Since we can’t meet sooner, we ask that you review these new documents in the next couple weeks. Add comments to...Expand »

  12. University Landholdings in CU/new construction in next 2 years

    I'm doing some work with the USFWS on an urban pollinator habitat project and have a couple questions I'm hoping F&S can help me with (or send me in the right direction.)

    1. Do we have an accurate map or GIS layer of current UIUC landholdings (including properties connected to the south farms, etc). I've been able to locate some very low-quality, generalized maps but nothing that is either current or very detailed.
    2. Is there a way for me to find out where on campus there will be construction/renovation projects that will occur in the next 2-3 years?

    Thanks,

     

    BRODIE DUNN

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

    Beth, are you able to assist with item 1 in the below email from Brodie regarding obtaining a map or GIS file of UIUC properties?...Expand »

  13. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 

    All, Made some headway on the abandoned bikes and already have six on the sales floor. We tabled at the Green Quad Day last week as well. This week I’ll work on tallying inventory--and the marketing/publicity—for the Kids Bike Giveaway as well as getting regular bikes up for sale.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 47
    Sales: $862
    Build-a-Bike: 1 for $40

    Memberships: 14 for $420

    Tire/tubes: 17 for $131

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center

  14. 70/80 building dashboards complete!

    Associated Project(s): 

    Currently, 70 of the first 80 building dashboards are complete, which represents 92% of the University's energy consumption. Many of the dashboards are visible on building video displays for all building occupants to view. They continue to vet the data streams and will add more dashboards as they continue our efforts in the future. We contract Hawkeye Energy Solutions to develop and maintain the dashboards.

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