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Project Updates for collection: Campus Sustainability Tour

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  2. Inquiry regarding volunteer time at Rain Garden

    Associated Project(s): 
    Red Oak Rain Garden

    Community member, Karen Folk, inquired about the potential to establish the Red Oak Rain Garden as an official volunteer location for the Master Naturalists and Master Gardeners to help maintain.  Eliana Brown, currently a Water Resources Outreach Specialist, asked Superintendent of Grounds, Ryan Welch.  Ryan indicated that he would be willing to approve the volunteer program, and the first step is to define a Memo of Understanding (MOU) describing the volunteer work to be done.  He said, "I am agreeable to this, as long as the work is done strictly by volunteers and there is a MOU for the maintenance responsibilities between F&S and the Master Gardeners."

  3. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, this past week was a short one; I was out of town Thursday and Friday. We had 45 visitors. Our gross sales were $625; we sold one bike for $103; and 10 memberships for $300.

    This past week the date for moving bikes out of the warehouse was finalized for Friday, November 4th. A very nice volunteer-oriented fraternity has pledged help with the event, which is awesome and will really make a one-day event like this possible. Lily also contacted me about F&S potentially purchasing some bike-share bikes—great news!

    With the weather cooling down, the staff and I have the time now to dedicate ourselves to walking people through—and teaching the skill and reasons for-- repairs and fixes.

    This coming week I plan to coordinate with the parking department on a few days each week between now and the 4th of November when I can prep and organize the bikes in the warehouse as well as having their assistance on the 4th. I will be helping count bikes on Wednesday for the bike census. And, of course the day-to-day bike building and organizing will happen.
     

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  4. Weekly Update

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

    All, this past week we had 107 visitors. We grossed $1,185.60. We sold 11 memberships; 1 bike for $120; 1 build-a-bike for $75.

    This past week I also reinstated the First Visit Free policy that The Bike Project had kindly let me suspend for the new school year rush. Traffic to CBC has slowed enough that I can accommodate small and easy repairs. I don’t have numbers on that but it was only a few people that had minor enough problems to warrant a free visit; most who think they have a small repair in truth have many, many small repairs equaling large amounts of time/resources and we have them become members.

    On Monday of last week our cargo bike Bluebird was loaned to the Psychology Department for a day.  Lily delivered and retrieved it from them and I believe it was a successful endeavor.

    This coming week will be a short one. I will be out of town Thursday and Friday. During this abbreviated week I plan to work on storage ideas for the surplus of wheels we have in the shop, strip the half a dozen or so bikes that are taking up dead space, as well as the standard operations of building bikes and managing new-parts inventory.

    Jake Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Manager

  5. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, for the week of 9/26/16 – 9/30/16 we had 101 visitors into the shop. We had $998.50 in gross sales; 14 memberships for $420; sold one build-a-bike for $40; and one refurbished bike for $100. Things are definitely slowing with the weather cooling down.

    This past week I spoke to a University of Illinois police officer--Aaaron, I believe—who is interested in getting one of his officers in here to work on bikes. Apparently the U of I police force has about six bikes that they routinely maintain at Durst cycle and they’d like to know how to do those repairs themselves and save time and money.

    I also continued to coordinate with the parking department and working bikes to send approximately 400 bikes to Tanzania. Apparently, as the working bikes representative put it, we are “too good at collecting bicycles” and we have to reschedule for a larger shipment.

    One of my student workers, Jose, had to resign. I will begin the hunt for his replacement.

    This coming week I will continue to coordinate the bike shipment. I will build bikes, price our nicer inventory of used parts, and look for a new employee.

    Have a pleasant week!

    - Jake Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Manager

  6. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Light the Night
    Bicycle Education

    All, we had 88 visitors last week—and that includes being closed on Monday and Thursday! We grossed $1,145.30; sold 19 memberships for $570; one bike for $120; and one build-a-bike for $40.

    Last week was eventful. We had The Illinois Bike Summit, Light The Night, and on Friday I counted all the bikes in the warehouse: 517! Light the Night was very successful, installing 1188 lights (or 594 sets) at Alma Mater; numbers on the Illinois/Lincoln location are to-be-determined.


    In tandem with Working Bikes, we’ve set the date for the Bike Warehouse to be emptied: October 7th. I will coordinate with Parking to insure we have access on that date.

    I also set up a Facebook account to promote events and better connect with the cycling community.

    This week I will work on building new bikes that I acquired from the warehouse, continue to organize for the Bike Warehouse event, and persist on the Sisyphean task of organizing inventory and streamlining volunteer tasks to make better use of everyone’s time.

    Sincerely,

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  7. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all, last week we had a gross sales total of 2,049.50. We sold 31 memberships for a total of $930. We sold 3 refurbished bikes for $360 and one build-a-bike for $80.

    We’ve had a decent stream of volunteers at the campus bike center this past week, which has been welcome. Lily and I also attended the Illinois Bike Summit on Monday. It was an informative and empowering event to see so many like-minded people working for better biking in Illinois. We are continuing to prep and promote for Light The Night on Thursday.

    This coming week we will host LTN, Lily is hosting Bicycling 101 and attending Urbana BPAC, which was eventful. I will continue inventory and the building of bikes as well continue to work on arranging for the bike warehouse exodus.
     

    Sincerely,

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  8. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all, first, the numbers: We had 78 visitors last week that signed our digital guestbook. We had $1,062.83 in gross sales; 15 memberships totaling $450; and a single build-a-bike for $120.

    Things of note: The Bike Project voted at the last meeting to implement a two week trial policy of no-free-visits for the Campus Bike Center, which netted us a lot more memberships than we otherwise would’ve had. But it also served to quickly inform people that the CBC is a cooperative, investable space not a free university-provided service.

    This past week I began reorganizing the shop, built up for-sale bikes, and organized a staff orientation meeting set for this evening.

    This week I will build more bikes, continue to arrange and organize the space, finalize a student workers’ schedule for this semester, and begin to coordinate with Parking and Working Bikes on a shipment of bikes bound for Lesotho and Botswana.

    Jake Benjamin

    Campus Bike Center Manager

  9. News Gazette Mailbag question about Solar Farm

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Farm 1.0

    http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2016-08-26/toms-mailbag-aug-26-20...

    UI solar farm
     

    “The solar panel field located near the corner of Windsor Road and First Street has become overgrown with tall weeds. Do the panels still work with that much foliage under and above them? Also, would hiring sheep or goats to ‘mow’ the weeds be harmful to the sheep or goat (heat from the panels)?”

    The Solar Farm on the University of Illinois campus was implemented as a power purchase and land lease agreement with Phoenix Solar South Farms, LLC, said Steve Breitwieser of the UI’s Facilities & Services Department.

    “The agreements designate Phoenix as responsible for all maintenance of the Solar Farm during the 10-year contract, and this includes vegetation control.

    “A contractor hired by Phoenix was on site in mid-June, and they are performing additional weed control activities this week.”

    When the agreement with Phoenix ends, Breitwieser said, the UI will assume Solar Farm maintenance responsibilities.

    And — how about this? — preliminary discussions have begun with research faculty regarding the use of sheep or low-height food crops in the future, he said.

    Meanwhile, neighboring plant growth has not impacted solar production, said Breitwieser.

    Solar array data can be viewedat: http://go.illinois.edu/solar.

  12. Call out for Volunteers at Light the Night 2016

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Bicycle Safety Materials

    This years Light the Night has 1,090 bicycle light sets for installation on bicycles in the span of four hours. We need all the volunteers we can get! Sign up on the facebook page of the wiki!

    http://thebikeproject.wikispaces.com/light-the-night-2016

    https://www.facebook.com/events/247904592263343/

    Any questions or other ways to help the event, contact Lily Wilcock, lwilco2@illinois.edu .

  13. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all, this past week was busy, we had a lot of people in.  We sold 7 bikes for $860, 4 build-a-bikes for $190, 5 memberships for $150, and grossed $1855.70.  We got a lot done, I meet with Stacy and Jim and discussed problems and solutions on the University side of things in regards to the Bike Center.  Phil held a conflict resolution meeting with Barry and I and went very well.  I setup posts for closings and made a temporary schedule for keeping the shop open with Lily and Jake running the shop.

    This coming week I'm heading to Colorado.  Jake and everyone else will have to write the next chapter.

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  14. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all, this past week was a mixed bag.  The patrons were in a good mood and we got a lot done.  We sold 7 bikes for $810, 1 build-a-bike for $65, and grossed $1914.10.  I built several bike and got about 90% of the reports done.

    This coming week I will be organizing the shop, building bikes, and Jake will be job shadowing me. 

    This is my last week at the shop, and I will close it at 5:30 on Friday.

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  15. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all, this past week was good.  We were slower than normal, and the 4th of July shaved a day off the week.  We had several people building bikes, and some cool projects came in.  We sold 3 bikes for $280, 1 build-a-bike for $60, and grossed $871.  We are doing particularly well on bike sales this year.  I'm wrapping up reports and YTD bike sales should be about 101.  This gets some cash, but the real benefit is the community service that gets more people on reliable bikes.  It lowers our work load because considerably less people leave without a bike only to come back with a broken down craigslist find that needs far more work than it is worth.  We have also seen a reduction in build-a-bikes, but the completion rate of build-a-bikes has gone from 5%-10% up to 90%.  The mood at the shop is much more relaxed because those coming in have small repairs like flats and brake adjustments rather than complete rebuilds.  I have been working on yearly and quarterly reports quite a bit as well as getting the shop clean and organized.  I have hosted several tours for different student groups who are new to campus and are looking for sustainable transportation.  This past week the tours of note were a class of freshman football players, and a group of freshman engineering students.  Lily came to the football tour and helped with the talk.  She will most likely be in charge of future advocacy events with the athletic dept.

    This coming week I will bring all reports up to date with the end of FY16.  We will be building bike and cleaning the shop.  I will also be taking some time to write down procedures and things only I know to be pass to my successor.

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  16. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all, this past week was good.  A little slower, but good.  I suspect the summer course modules has something to do with it.  We sold 2 bikes for $330We were able to get do a really thorough cleaning of the shop both for our own good, but also for a visit from Brian and Lowa some folks from Student Affairs(right Lily?).  I spoke to a group who may be putting in a repair station for the new art and design building.  I built some bikes and got some cabinets from surplus.  We were able to further organize the shop using these cabinets.  Each seat post size has its own drawer.

    This week I will be building bikes, working on reports, and setting up the transition to my leaving CBC.

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  17. Renewable Energy Program award application

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illinois Governor's Sustainability Award [ARCHIVED]
    Use Clean Power
    Solar Farm 1.0

    F&S submitted an application for the 2016 Illinois Governor's Sustainability Award, on behalf of the Renewable Energy Program on campus and the Solar Farm.  The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is proud of its sustainability initiatives, and Facilities & Services (F&S) is honored to support the campuswide Illinois Climate Action Plan. One of the most important and challenging initiatives is a shift from conventional energy to a future of renewable energy.

    F&S is submitting this application to the Illinois Governor’s Sustainability Award for the Renewable Energy Program and specifically the new 20-acre Solar Farm. Five major Renewable Energy Program projects have been implemented since signing the Climate Commitment in 2008. The first Renewable Energy Program project was a 32.76 kilowatt (kW) solar photovoltaic (PV) array on the roof of the Business Instructional Facility. The 14 kW PV array at the Building Research Council is a research platform for the Illinois Center for Smarter Electricity Grid. Solar thermal panels on the Activities and Recreation Center roof heat the swimming pools. The fourth project was the purchase of 20,000 Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from Midwest Independent Systems Operators (MISO) wind power in April 2014. The most significant project went into commercial operation in December 2015, with the completion of the 5.87 megawatt (direct current) Solar Farm. The Solar Farm will produce an estimated 7,860 megawatt-hours annually and is expected to generate up to 91% of its original output even in Year 20 of the project. F&S is monitoring the efficiency of the Solar Farm, compared to the design specifications, and in February 2016 the Solar Farm produced 100.2% of the anticipated electricity for that month.

    Attached Files: 

  18. Circular Economy Fall 2015 Agreement

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainable Student Farm
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    The Sustainable Student Farm (SSF), has been growing sustainably produced vegetables for the U of I campus community since 2009. Since 2012, Fresh Press (FP) has been producing paper from agricultural waste like soybean stalks and prairie grass, including much of the waste from SSF.

    This project deepens the connection between SSF and Fresh Press while expanding their offerings to the community. In addition to expanding the current paper production, this project will also allow for the creation of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program at the Sustainable Student Farm, increasing the farm’s ability to sustain itself financially. Through employing students while selling their products to the campus and the community, this proposal ultimately truly creates a circular and sustainable economy on campus while furthering campus sustainability goals.

    Attached Files: 

  19. Arboretum Site Clearing and Native Plantings (2016) Agreement

    Associated Project(s): 
    Native Plants at Arboretum
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    The former forest research area south of the main Arboretum grounds (near Lincoln Avenue and Windsor Road) has been neglected for over 20 years and has largely been overtaken by invasive plantings that have forced out the native flowering forbs and bushes that normally occur in healthy woodlands – leaving instead honeysuckle, which is unpalatable to almost all native insects and mammals.

    This project clears out the invasive species and begins the replanting efforts to restore native species to the area. Not only does this improve biodiversity around campus, but it also serves as an important educational opportunity for current students to witness the restoration process firsthand.

    Attached Files: 

  20. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all, last week was great...I was on vacation for most of it.  We were only open the one day but we did well.  We sold 2 bikes for $130, and grossed $318.  Nothing of note happened.

    This week I will be receiving the 2016 LTN lights, storing them somewhere, coordinating with Lily and what I need to get done for the event.  We will be preforming tasks, dividing tasks, and discussing roles roles covering topics as advertising and volunteer coordination since Lily has not work on LTN before.  I will also be getting ready for the students coming back, by assembling new student hand outs and talking to Lily and Officer Hawk about possible what to do after a crash materials. 

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

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