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Project Updates for collection: Living Lab Facilities / Programs

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  2. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    C-U Bike to Work Day

    Hello all, this past week was slow, but that was good because it allowed for us to get ready for Bike to Work Day.  We sold 1 bike for $110, 1 build-a-bike for $50, 2 memberships for $50, and grossed $690.50.  We built a lot of bikes and got a lot of work done.

    This coming week we will participate in Bike to Work Day, host a special wheel building class and continue to build bikes.

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  3. Arbor Day Celebration

    Associated Project(s): 
    Tree Campus Higher Education

    https://news.illinois.edu/blog/view/6367/355381

    Facilities and Services and the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment will host an Arbor Day celebration from noon to 1 p.m. April 29, on the Quad near Noyes Laboratory. Associate Chancellor Mike DeLorenzo will kick off the celebration by reading the Arbor Day proclamation. Attendees will be able to help plant the tree and take part in a trivia contest.

    Attached Files: 

  4. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Earth Week
    Mechanics Classes at the Campus Bike Center

    Hello all, this past week was very busy.  We had a good number come in, but events were the big thing.  We sold 2 bikes for $280, 1 build-a-bike for $50, 11 student memberships for $275, 2 community membership for $80, and grossed $978.  I participated in the Bike Census.  It was very well organized by Lily, and went well.  The BikeFace organized Ride with the Chancellor was a success.  I hosted an open house at the center before the ride.  The Chancellor seemed to enjoy the ride.  She mentioned not knowing the Bike Center existed until I explained what this strange garage filled with bicycles was.  I'm thinking about sending her a post card inviting her back.  I did a deep clean of the shop in anticipation of the visit and it keeps getting cleaner and better.  I made a informational document about cargo bikes for FAA.  Lily helped with some great improvements to the document that made it more friendly to non-cycling readers.

    This week I am going to work on classes, building bikes, and find out our commitment to Bike To Work Day.  It's been hard getting everything out of the warehouse, but I'm hoping to get this done this week. 

    From the Campus Bike Center,
    James Roedl

  6. ECBS SWATeam Meeting Minutes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam
    Certified Green Office Program (CGOP)
    Illini Lights Out

    Discussion on the development of a campus sustainability brand continued, with the input of iSEE Communications attendees Tony Mancuso and Olivia Harris.  The Big Picture Recommendation discussion moved forward as well, and a subcommittee meeting was set for April 26.  The Green Office Program is up and running again, with Olivia Webb replacing Nishant Makhijani as iSEE Sustainability Programs Coordinator.  The Building Standards Consultation Group is planning to call its first meeting, led by Morgan Johnston and Fred Hahn, before the end of the semester.

    Attached Files: 

  7. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Departmental Bike Sharing

    Hello all, This past week was good.  We saw better weather and as a result a huge bump in attendance.  The newly reorganized space has gotten lots of compliments.  We'll see if it works in the long run.  We sold 6 bikes for $740, 1 build-a-bike for $30, 5 memberships for $140, and grossed $1490.80.  Lots of cool things going on.  I took a bunch more bikes out of the warehouse, and am building them to sell/make space.  I setup the wheel building class for May.  Lily and I presented the cargo bike to FAA, and agreed to work on sustainable transportation solutions with them.  I got a lot of work done on the annual reports in anticipation of the end of the fiscal year.

    This week I will be making a short report of sustainable transportation options for FAA, cleaning up the shop, helping with the Bike Census, participating in Ride with the Chancellor, and continuing to work on the annual reports.

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  10. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Mechanics Classes at the Campus Bike Center

    Hello all, this past week we ramped up visitors slightly.  The weather really hurt attendance, which would have been much higher.  We still had people coming in and good attitudes abounded.  We sold 2 bikes for $300, 1 build-a-bike for $30, 2 memberships for $50, and grossed $1353.50.  We have been storing a lot of things we dont' need, and have lost a lot of space to idle items.  This week I realized how limiting this has been and how we need to change our work flow.  Also at the member meeting we discussed a front desk area with a host  and how many workspaces benefit from this.  Since we have a membership database promised to be coming soon I built a front desk area to capitalize on this. I reorganized the back and threw out a lot of useless junk.  The space is much more open now and we have more room to work and store useful items like tools and bikes.  We held a 3 speed hub class which was requested by at least 10 separate individuals, but no one attended.  I will be looking into a remedy.  I was able to update a good portion of the shops reports thanks to all the time freed up by Lily's hard work.  Lily and I continued our work on getting a sponsored donation site for the residents halls so normally abandoned bikes can be directly donated saving us all a lot of work and headaches.  We got a few bikes built, but were slow because of large donations and other projects. 

    This week I plan on continuing to update the shop's reports.  I will be working with Lily on presenting the cargo bike to FAA.  They had a change in leadership and some other set backs so we are restarting the relationship with a cool bike demo and presentation.  Lily's heading this up so I will be supporting her.  I will be trying to get some more bikes out of the warehouse and processed in anticipation of the spring cutting.  Lily is working with the residence halls on the donation event, and doing most of the planning work, but I may go to some of the meetings since I will be in charge of the implementation of the event.  I'm going to seek the assistance of Lily in ways to promote the Thursday afternoon classes.  I will also be sending out information on the wheel building class this week.

    From the Campus Bike Center,
    James Roedl

  11. Campus Honored with Tree Campus USA Recognition

    Associated Project(s): 
    Tree Campus Higher Education

    The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was honored today with 2015 Tree Campus USA® recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management.  

    tree campus USA logoTree Campus USA is a national program created in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation to acknowledge colleges and universities for successful campus forest management initiatives and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals. Currently, only 10% of four-year, degree-granting campuses nationally have achieved this prestigious certification.

    A Campus Tree Advisory Committee was established in 2015 to help seek this designation and act as an advisory body to Facilities & Services (F&S) whose Grounds department is responsible for the maintenance of more than 20,000 trees on campus.

    http://www.fs.illinois.edu/resources/news-announcements/2016/04/07/arbor...

    Attached Files: 

  12. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Departmental Bike Sharing

    Hello all, This past week was busy.  We lots of folks coming in to fix their bikes, but the weather made it weird some days we were empty others we had a 15 minute wait for repair stands.  We saw a lot of new faces, and made some new friends.  The shop sold 4 bikes for $630, 1 build-a-bike for $35, 5 student memberships for $125, 1 community membership for $40, and grossed $1517.  I talked to some of the people involved in the cargo bike loans, but was unable to get any progress yet.  I was unable to build a new desk welcome area, but did acquire a commercial hook wall for free!

    This week I will be working on meeting with people for the cargo bike program, and getting things ready for the residents hall donation program.  I will also build more bikes to sell.

    From the Campus Bike Center,
    James Roedl

  14. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all, This past week was super chill.  We had a steady trickle of people come in and it was a good mood.  I was able to build some bikes and the stable is bust'n with rad steeds.  I was able to clean and organize the shop to an even greater level.  I am trying to make it more accessible to new comers.  I was able to catch up on some work which was nice.

    This week I plan on setting up some new fixtures in the shop and maybe building a sign in/register desk area so we can have a host greet people, sign them in, check them out, and register their bikes. 

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  15. ECBS SWATeam Meeting Minutes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam
    Energy Dashboard Project

    The SWATeam continued the discussion about its Big Picture Recommendation for energy conservation regarding the Campus Master Plan.  Students reported their findings on what undergraduates want to see on energy displays in campus buildings.  Smaller updates on fume hood efficiency efforts and Illini Lights Out followed.  Green Labs Initiative intern Natalie Pelekh attended this meeting to present her research on Green Labs programs at other schools and to discuss factors that need consideration before launching our own Green Labs program.

    Attached Files: 

  16. Deer excluders at SAW

    Associated Project(s): 
    Native Plants at Arboretum

    Over the weekend student and community members put up 3 deer excluders at the South Arboretum Woods. 

    WE will be continuing with honeysuckle removal and general cleanup. 

    We also now have a decent shed with a lock on site thanks to the Natural History Survey.  We can store items in it including red bison things. 

     

    John C. Marlin PhD.

    Research Affiliate

    Illinois Sustainable Technology Center

    Attached Files: 

  17. ECBS SWATeam Meeting Minutes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam
    Energy Dashboard Project

    The iCAP ECBS Objective 2 consultation group is forming, and the first meeting is planned for the week after spring break.  Karl updated on fume hood efficiency efforts, which have led to several fume hoods being shut down.  The Energy Dashboard project was discussed and give to the Objective 4 Subcommittee as a new item to work on.  The team also discussed ways to advocate for energy conservation funding in the campus master plan and decided to create a proposal to send to the Office of the Provost.

    Attached Files: 

  18. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Bicycle Education

    Hello all, This past week was good.  We saw steady increases in attendance with relation to the weather.  The weather even allowed us to open the doors which is a great improvement to visibility and atmosphere.  We sold 7 bikes for $750, 4 memberships for $100, and grossed $1470.  I was able to build bikes, and organize the shop a bit with the help of volunteers.  We've been able to integrate mobile time cards into shop staff procedure which has already shown dividends in saved time and complication.  I hired Lucas Hsu, an Urbana volunteer, on to the staff to replace Mike who took a degree related internship with the city.  I was able to get some bikes from the warehouse and assess the remaining handful.

    This coming week I will be having America table at the EcoFeminism sustainability event on campus.  I will building bikes for the spring rush.  I will work on removing the rest of the warehouse bikes, and cleaning up the warehouse. 

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  19. weekly update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Departmental Bike Sharing
    Bicycle Registration

    Hello all, This past week was great.  We weren't too busy, and we got some cool stuff done.  We sold 5 bikes for $640, 1 build-a-bike for $60, 4 memberships for $100, and grossed $1161.10.  We had a lot of volunteers come in and we were able to clean up the shop.  It looks great and is more functional.  I was also able to sort and organize a lot of the parts and we are much better for it.  We scrapped a lot of damaged frames, and low quality parts.  I added a couple of new tools to make things go faster and easier.  I worked on the cargo bike demo program, and am lining up a new department to lend the bike to.  We built several bikes and have about 40 for sale.  I was able to start ordering from the new supplier accounts I setup it was cool and we got some deals on parts.  We scrapped a lot of damaged frames, and low quality parts making some space.  We started using the new registration database.  The database is fully functional and awesome.  I meet with Stacey and Lily we did some pre Bike To Work Day planning.  I had a volunteer get all the advocacy materials organized and setup to be handed over to Lily. 

    This coming week I plan on getting more bikes from the parking warehouse, building more bikes for the spring rush, and continuing to clean and organize.  I'm going to work on setting up more classes for the spring.

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  20. Project status update

    Associated Project(s): 
    ECE Rooftop Solar PVs

    ECE rooftop solar project update:

    1) The original PO bought approximately 500 panels for $240,925.  This was funded with $100K from the DCEO grant, and $140,925 from the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) funding. 

    2) The original funding plan was for a total project cost of $900,000.  It was made up of $225K from the SSC, $250K from DCEO, $100 from the Grainger Center for Engineering, and $325K from the department and college.  When DCEO cut the grant funding with the state budget crisis, the project stalled with just the initial purchase of panels completed.

    3) Current campus project implementation methodology requires this project to go through the Capital Programs process for installation of the panels.  ECE is seeking project funding and approval for the full installation.

    4) ECE has initiated a PO for the remaining 421 panels from a sole source vendor, at a discounted rate. 

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