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Project Updates for collection: Living Lab Facilities / Programs

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  1. weekly digest

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all,

    This past week was good.  I built the cargo bike, went to the the all employee expo, and got a lot done.  We built several bikes for sale and got a lot of cleaning done.  I worked on search committee items as well.  We sold 1 build-a-bike for $130, 5 student memberships for $125, and grossed $1279.58.  There were a lot of people who came by and checked out the cargo bike.  I was able to get Rick Langlois to demo the bike for 2 weeks at his department so we can see what issues may arise.  I have FAA lined up to be the next.  They will have it longer.  I also spent some time helping Rick find bikes and accessories for the departmental bike share he is starting.  I completed the emergency plan and have had all students review and sign the document.  I spent some time working on our performance reports.

    This week I will be participating in the Bike Summit, working on making some tools, and cleaning the shop.  I will also be preparing for a class I have scheduled on Nov. 5th with the athletic department.  I will continue work on the performance reports as well.

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl
     

  2. weekly update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all,

    last week was good.  We fixed a lot of bikes, and got somethings repaired at the shop.  We sold a build-a-bike for $40, 4 student memberships, 1 community membership, 1 family membership, and grossed $893.

    This week I will build the new cargo bike, work on search committee items, and work on getting the cargo bike loaned out to a department.

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  4. Fall 2015 project proposals

    Associated Project(s): 
    CEE Project Based Learning (PBL)

    There are six projects, as follows:

    1. Hot n Cold: This group is interested in reducing HVAC energy demand through review of occupancy rates for certain buildings.  They are still finalizing the buildings and methods for collecting the data, but it will likely include Newmark Civil Engineering Lab (NCEL) and measure occupancy, temperature, and energy usage. 
    2. Natural Gas for Campus Fleet: This group is interested in studying the potential to run campus vehicles using compressed natural gas obtained from the UC Sanitary District.
    3. Engineering Quad pathways: This group is seeking to study the pathways of students who do not use the Bardeen Quad paved paths.  They believe that the pathways on the Bardeen Quad are not optimal, and they plan to make recommendations for changes.  They will use a video recognition program per one of the engineering faculty, which will count the people during class change times. 
    4. Turf Field Water Fountains: This group believes we need additional drinking water fountains at the turf fields on campus.  They intend to focus on the health aspects of being hydrated and the high occupancy rates of the fields. 
    5. Arboretum rainwater irrigation: This group is interested in proposing a rainwater capture system for the Hartley Gardens. 
    6. Solar Pavement: This group would like to bring Solar Roadways technology to campus.  They plan to recommend a location for installing the solar roadway cells on campus, perhaps as a sidewalk near an engineering area.  They also intend to compare the traditional pavement plans on Green Street through the MCORE project to the Solar technology option.

  5. weekly update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all,

    I came back Tuesday just in time for Volunteer hours!  The Center is in good shape and the students are anxious to fix bikes.  There was a suspected gas leak that turned out to be a false alarm.  It was good practice.  It also alerted us to the fact that we don't have an emergency plan.  It was decided to get an emergency plan setup and registered with the emergency service departments.  We sold 3 bikes for $380, 2 build-a-bikes for $190, 7 student memberships for $175, 1 community membership for $40, and grossed $1328.00.  I also meet with the Active Transportation Search Committee and work on that item. 

    This week I plan on getting an emergency plan for the Center.  I will be doing more work with the search committee.  I plan on building more bikes, and continuing to organize the shop. 

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  6. weekly update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all,

    This past week was great.  We were closed for part of the week so I could go to a bicycle conference.  We were busy other wise.  The Center sold 2 bikes for $260, 2 build-a-bikes for $90, 1 membership for $25, and grossed $877.22.  I worked on preforming my duties as a member for the Active Transportation Coordinator search committee.  I also was able to build a couple of bikes. 

    This week I plan on continuing work with the search committee, cleaning the shop, and building bikes to make room in the back of the shop for my long term goal of a educational area.

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  7. weekly update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all,

    This past week was busy but good.  I was able to start our partnership with the school of education and orientate the EDU 201 students.  I registered quite a few bikes, and we had strong attendance at the Center.  We also lent a pair of bikes to the Krannert center for a performance, which is said to have been wonderful.  We sold 1 bike for $120, 12 student memberships for $300, and 3 community memberships for $120.  The Center grossed $1278.  I went to the BPAC meeting.  Nothing of note there, we just went over the MCORE plans.

    This coming week I will be training students from the EDU 201 class on how to help us at the Bike Project and Bike Center.  I will be preparing for my absence in October for Bike!Bike!.  I will also be training new employees, and making sure shop operations are up to standard.  With the busyness of fall, and trying to fill in for the not yet hired active trans coordinator a lot of things were not attended to as well as I would have liked. 

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  9. weekly update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all,

    This past week was very busy.  We did lots of good stuff.  We successfully pulled off the LTN 2015.  We served quite a few people, and found a new person to work at the shop.  We sold one bike for $160, 2 build-a-bikes for $100, 6 memberships for $150, and grossed $10,078.57.  I made more shop fliers, and continued to setup the EDU 201 course.  Stacey and I have been following up on the cargo bike situation, and I met with Jeff Yockey about the Bike Summit.  No bike built.  We have been too busy.

    This week I will finalize hiring a new employee who will substitute when staff are now here/transition into staff.  We will be losing two staffers in December, and more in the spring.  I am working on getting the shop back into shape after the student rush, and organizing it a little better.  I will also be doing orientation for the EDU 201 course Wednesday night.

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  11. weekly update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    The past few weeks have been very busy.  I have not been able to write a weekly digest.  We have seen a massive increase in people coming in.  The shop has been operating at above capacity, but with some patience on the part of those coming in as well as some kind volunteers we have gotten by.  We have tabled at the International Student Check in, Quad Day, and the Paraprofessional Resource Fair.  We pulled about 80 bikes from the warehouse, donated quite a few bikes to Habitat for Humanity, and a couple to the YMCA.  I helped coordinate bike volunteers for Dump and Run and helped a little coordinating volunteers for Habitat for Humanity.  I helped the organizers of the Illinois Bike Summit find speakers for the Community Bike Shop portion of the Summit.  I helped create some new advocacy materials.

    This week I plan on reorganizing the Center to fix the chaos of the last few weeks, building bikes, printing more advocacy materials, and working on ordering bike parts.

    I will see about creating a class schedule for the semester.

    From the Campus Outpost,

    James Roedl

  12. Chicago Radio News

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Farm 1.0

    A mention about the Solar Farm project (see submission below) will be read on Chicago radio (popular morning show) in September as a part of the university’s branding/marketing efforts.

    UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA - CHAMPAIGN

    Did you know the U of I is building a 20 acre Solar Farm on campus this year that will be one of the largest university solar arrays in the nation?   It will produce enough electricity yearly to power 700 typical U.S. homes.  Just another cool fact brought to you by the U of I.

  16. news mention

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Farm 1.0

    Nice Solar Farm reference in this article about Ohio University….

    “We can learn from and be inspired by these models. Meanwhile, other schools also developing significant solar energy projects, such as University of Maryland (2 MW), Rochester Institute of Technology (2 MW), Elon University (3 MW), University of Illinois (5.87 MW), and Pennsylvania State University (the class of 2015 is holding a solar-array design contest to determine its gift to PSU).”

    http://www.athensnews.com/opinion/readers_forum/ou-can-start-transition-to-green-energy-by-working-with/article_a18cc578-3086-11e5-9dfe-7f529356389c.html

  17. YMCA leaders meet with sustainability staff

    Associated Project(s): 
    Dump and Run

    Emily Cross and Mike Doyle from the University YMCA met with Ben McCall from iSEE, Nancy Holm from ISTC, and Morgan Johnston from F&S to describe the history and process of the YMCA Dump and Run.  The program has been around for approximately 15 years, and a couple years ago they expanded collections to include the campus residence halls.  There are many opportunities to grow the program, and thereby reduce the waste going to landfills, but the YMCA staff are currently at capacity for managing the program.

  18. vertical solar idea

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Power on Campus

    The Architecture Review Committee (ARC) got an inquiry about the possiblity of mounting solar vertically on south-facing walls (without windows).  This could be a sheer flush-mounted solar PV array immediately against the wall.  The PVs would not produce as much energy as a roof-top array, but there could be fewer issues with rooftop penetrations, etc.  The ARC noted that there is not a specific policy about this idea yet, and they would willing to work with the idea on installation on a case by case, building by building basis, at least until there is a comprehensive policy in place.

    For a given capacity of PV modules, a vertical wall will harvest 78% of the energy that a flat roof would, and 67% of the energy that could be harvested at a 40 degree tilt. While this is not ideal, the costs may be lower and the maintenance and roof loading concerns would not pertain.  Two possible candidates are the south wall of NSRC (which has no windows in the "central" part) and the south facade of the Tryon Festival Theater in Krannert, which is actually somewhat tilted.

    <post edited on 7/15/2024, added "Vertical Solar Panels on MEB" project, mbwhite>

  19. IBI student leaders meet with iSEE representatives

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illinois Biodiesel Initiative (IBI)

    Adam Dornford, Rahul Gogia, and Tarsis Sousa met with Professor Ben McCall, Professor Madhu Khanna, and Morgan Johnston at iSEE.  The discussion revolved around the faculty advisor needs for the group.  Madhu Khanna will be the faculty advisor of record, and Ben McCall will continue to participate with the program.  There may be a graduate student in analytical chemistry who could assist with the chemical aspects of the program.

    Issues reviewed at this meeting included:

    • numbers of students anticipated to participate once IBI is running again - at the height of the IBI program in the past, there were nearly 100 students involved - need to recruit some new students - partnering with I-energy - would be good to have hands-on work for getting students interested
    • equipment selection for the new program - they will start with using the existing 50 gallon plug-n-play items BioPro 190 have two of them in the basement of ABL
    • soap program - for Dining Services pre-wash of dishes
    • consider tracking utility costs for the overall program - with a Life-cycle Cost Accounting (LCA), and associated GHG emission reductions
    • potential bench space options AESB, RAL?
    • what information does IBRL need in order to fully support IBI being included in their facility? feasibility analysis.  

    Emails from each group - Dining, Car Pool, Energy Farm, SSC - to document what you will do...  prepare a mini proposal (with short term and long term plans) and send to this group - include:

    • organizational structure - who is doing what, including faculty advisors and all students, management plan - how many students are going to be in and out of the facility
    • phases for process - over a 3 year plan, to show continuity
    • business plan for operations - how will you do it
    • financial program - costs to operate and anticipated revenue

  20. IBI key student leaders gearing up for the fall

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illinois Biodiesel Initiative (IBI)

    IBI representatives, Adam Dornford and Rahul Gogia, are meeting with campus stakeholders to get ready for the fall semester.  Discussion topics include:

    • temporary storage space (move from ISTC)
    • long term lab space
    • funding for new equipment (some funding is allocated already by the SSC)
    • faculty advisor options
    • end users on campus for the biodiesel that will be produced
    • supply of waste food oil from Housing
    • benefits to students, and ways to reach out to get new student members across disciplinary lines
    • business case to IBRL for a continuous operation at their new facility

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