Hi Tony,

I met with folks from Housing yesterday about incorporating sustainability into RA training. Eric and Daphne were also on the call. We identified a few approaches for sharing content. I now need your help developing the materials.

One approach is to provide a short (3 min max) video for RAs to view, followed by questions to assess learning. As a framework, I suggest we use the sustainability guide that the interns developed with Meredith (attached). Do you have any video content that would be appropriate? The student training video is too long, but hits all the highlights. Is this something you could shorten? We need to send the video by mid/late June.

A second approach is to provide content for a microlearning session that would pair with the facilities session. They prefer a mixed mode approach, i.e., not just lecture/slides. We need to provide the content within the next two weeks. Is this doable? I shared the sustainability guide with them and am awaiting feedback.

A third approach is to distribute materials during the RA resource fair, which is held August 10th.

Finally, Housing is open to sharing information via their “Housing Insider” newsletter and digital platforms. It would be great to have your help developing content for those.  

Let me know what you think and we can also touch base at the management meeting today.

Thanks,

Jen

Hi all,

This is a friendly reminder that we are scheduled to meet to discuss EPP tomorrow (Thursday) from 2 – 3 PM via Zoom (link below). Looking forward to speaking with you all then!

Thanks,

Meredith

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

Good morning,

Here is the current draft I’ve put together for the EPP Guide. I’ll be ready to discuss at our meeting this afternoon.

Thanks,

Aaron M Finder

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

Good morning,

I wanted to follow up to make sure this stays on everyone radar. Does anyone have anything to add to the attachment?

Thank you,

Aaron M Finder

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

Hi Aaron,

Thank you for following up on the EPP Guide last month. I am wondering what the current status is - are you still looking for feedback from us?

Thanks,

Meredith

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

Hi Meredith,

Syd was able to send over some comments but I am awaiting a responses from the others on this thread. If anyone has any recommendation for improvements or wants to forward this document to other UIUC stakeholders for their input, that would be appreciated. To ensure we maintain progress, could everyone have their comments in by 6/30/2022?

Thanks,

Aaron M Finder

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

Hi all,

Thanks for including me. I attached my comments. As I am joining this conversation late, you may have already discussed some of the issues that I raise. Generally, I think we could provide more specific criteria in some places. The UC System has a very detailed document that we could consult for guidance. I am not advocating for the stringent guidelines they use, but putting this out there as a nice resource:

Happy to chat about this if desired.

Thanks,

Jen

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

Hi Aaron,

Can you provide a status update on the procurement document please?

Thanks,

Jen

 -------------------------

Hi Jennifer,

To date, I have only received comments from you and Pete’s former intern. I was hoping to receive more input from F&S as they will be the department most impacted. If F&S does not have further comment, we can work towards finalizing the document.

Thanks,

Aaron M Finder

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

Hi Aaron and Jen,

Please see the attached EPP document with additional comments from F&S.

Thank you,

Daphne

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

Hi Morgan,

Putting this back on the radar! This was the most recent document we have with our EPP guidelines, sent to Aaron Finder. Where should we go from here?

Thank you,
Daphne

Brent, Morgan,

I am working with CSL on a small project for some solar panels near their satellite office in the North Campus Parking Garage. CSL mentioned that Canadian Solar is one of the approved suppliers to the campus.

You probably know that Canadian Solar, in spite of its name, is mostly a Chinese supplier, although they have a more modest plant in Canada. The largest Chinese supplier is Jinko Solar, which in my experience is a bit better in quality.

I am hoping we can spin up a higher-quality U.S. supplier, such as Sunpower, as an alternative to the various foreign providers.

Philip T. Krein, Ph.D., P.E.

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

Hi Sush and Brian,

I am working on this research project at the North Campus Parking Deck to put solar panels on the canopy on the outside of the south side of the building.  They will be feeding them into a research space to power servers.  They actually want to have the panels directly power a battery and then power the servers from the battery.  I provided the cutsheets of the panels we used at the President’s Shed.  These fit the weight and size dimension requirements.  As we have used them before, they are therefore “pre-approved.”  One of the researchers, Philip, is asking about using something different in the email below.  Can you please assist in a response? 

Also, as far as I knew, we hadn’t done any large battery systems on campus.  Possibly that is incorrect, but in asking recently I came up with nothing.  Please take a look at the cutsheet for the enphase and see if we would be ok with this one.  If not, please provide some additional direction.

Thanks!

Brent.

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

Brent,

I’m not aware that we have approved “vendors” for solar panels nor for inverters and such equipment.  Also, I not aware of where we would have a PV system using storage, the few I’m familiar with are grid tie systems.

How big of a system are they looking at?

Brian Curtis Finet, PE

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

Brian,

We will still tie this to the grid as a back up, back up power supply.  They would have 18 panels total along that canopy. I know we don’t have any officially “approved” vendors, but since we used the ones at the President’s House, we had approved them through construction.  Originally the researchers picked out what they wanted, but the manufacturer didn’t want to deal with us, so I threw out using the ones we’ve already installed here at least once. 

I am not 100% certain if this is to power 3 new servers with 3 new batteries, or 3 new servers, with only one battery.  Based on the last email, it appeared we would only be looking at one battery for the backup.  I can put you in touch with the MEP if you would rather talk directly.

Thanks,

Brent.

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

Brent,

Apart from Brian’s comments, here some things I would consider if the owner has concerns and this is how I would plan on choosing a panel vendor.

1. Panel Efficiency, Im talking about the amount of energy produced with respect to area. w/m2 (Also depends what type of panel polycrystalline or monocrystalline). Higher the panel efficiency higher is the energy produced per m2.
2. Next is quality, Chinese panel have a reputation of being made of cheap material but Canadian solar has been good performing for its price. It can measured by knowing history of the panel performance.
3. Warranty, I would compare at the 10 years manufacturer warranty and make sure there isn’t any expensive service contract involved. Also key to understand where so you have to send the panel incase you receive a faulty one.
4. Panel specifications are another factor, compare characteristics like coefficient of temperature & power tolerance.
5. Lastly, cost and aesthetics, since it is on the canopy I would think they want something pretty and cost, how much are they willing to shell.

My final thoughts - Sunpower has a better rating, reliability and warranty compared to Canadian solar (last I checked its been a year or so) but it also comes at higher $$.

Thanks,

Sushanth Girini

Jen and Morgan asked Brent Lewis about the use of plugs instead of seeds. They also want to explore partnering with schools and community groups to collect seed from local sources and that The Urbana Free Library has a seed library, in which we could help encourage participation.  Also, Jen would like to engage University Primary School, which is adjacent to the prairie where students found a lot of milkweed. One of their lessons is about monarchs. Milkweed pods are easy to harvest in the fall.

Brent responded with the following message:

Hi Jennifer,

If we are doing butterfly weed on the main part of campus, then I want to use plugs.  For this recommendation, we’ve shifted to enhancing the low mow areas.  In that case, we are talking about a huge amount of space.  Due to the easy nature of growing these from seed and the large impact we are looking for, having them broadcast seed through these zones is the most effective way of accomplishing this. 

We will make sure to get some out at the school there too.  That’s a great suggestion.

Thanks,

Brent.

Link to the recording

Hello XMT,

If you or your staff are planning to submit an application for Student Sustainability Committee funding this spring, please copy me and Lisa Peacock, so we can advocate and support the F&S applications during the committee review periods.

The step 1 applications are due this Friday, March 24, and the info is online here: https://studentengagement.illinois.edu/student-sustainability/ssc/funding/.

Thanks,

Morgan

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

Morgan,

Is there a funding limit for SSC?

Thanks

David Hardin

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

Hi Dave,

They don’t really have a funding limit, but they are more likely to fund something under $250k, especially if they are contributing to a project with other funding too.  A lot of student-led projects are only $50-10k.  They probably have about $750k available this spring and they will have more in the future, as they just got approval to raise the fee.

Thanks,

Morgan

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

Morgan,

I asked Dylan to submit an application for Wohler’s Hall. The ReCx team identified some deferred maintenance/energy conservation work at a total cost of $450K. I spoke with Brad, and he believes there is $150K available from deferred maintenance funds, and UES can provide $150K, hopefully another $150K from SSC, which would allow us to move forward. The energy reduction would result in a 5-year payback.

Thanks

David Hardin

How can students support waste management on campus?

https://dailyillini.com/life_and_culture-stories/2023/03/17/students-was...

By Lily Perez, Contributing Writer
March 17, 2023

Have you ever placed something in a recycling bin and wondered what happens next? Does it actually get recycled, or does it just get tossed in the landfill without ever being sorted out?

Students said it can be hard to be committed to sustainability when resources to do so are not always clear.

Adeline Hoegberg, junior in FAA, said she does not have a lot of knowledge about where the trash on campus is taken or how big of a difference the University is making with their waste management systems.

“I’ve heard that all of the recycling would just end up in the normal trash,” Hoegberg said.

The Waste Transfer Station in Champaign filters out around 30% of the trash that comes in, but still sends around 50 pounds to the landfill each day. This is not taking into account busier times like holidays and move-in days for students.

The Waste Transfer Station is located just off of St. Mary’s Road in Champaign and takes in trash from all various places on campus. This includes instructional facilities, University Housing, Illini Union and the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Daphne Hulse works as the Facilities & Services zero waste coordinator, a new position focused on decreasing the amount of waste that goes through the University. Hulse works on various outreach projects, including hosting tours of the Waste Transfer Station.

“These tours are a really unique opportunity to illuminate to the broader campus community what goes on after you put something in the bin,” Hulse said.

Adam Soper, senior in FAA, recalled seeing several recycling places on campus but, like many other students, hasn’t heard of the Waste Transfer Station on campus.

“I know all the dorms have dedicated recycling bins,” Soper said. “But I’m not necessarily sure where those get dumped to.”

Another program that Hulse is facilitating in collaboration with Coca-Cola and the DIA is the “Fighting Illini, Fighting Waste” campaign. This campaign has students volunteer at basketball games to encourage recycling at sporting events. The last zero waste basketball game was March 2 and had 100 volunteers.

“(We’re) creating that general awareness for sustainability in an audience with not just students but townies, out of state folks and athletic rivals,” Hulse said.

Despite these programs, it can be hard for students to recycle on campus and even more so on their own where businesses and residencies don’t provide recycling services. Along with a lack of opportunity, some students feel that recycling doesn’t have a huge impact.

“I’m under the strong feeling that you can’t solely rely on us recycling,” Hoegberg said. “It’s more about the corporations if you really want to fix things.”

Soper said he would most likely not see discernible difference in a world without recycling.

“It wouldn’t be a whole lot different because the recycling practices aren’t widespread enough to be making a huge impact on the scale that we’d be able to really see,” Soper said.

Hulse recognizes that sustainability can seem isolating at times but encourages students to join organizations and communities that bring collective action. She highlighted the RSO Project4Less, whose members package leftover food in good condition and ship it out to food assistance programs in the surrounding area.

“The human connection component of climate change is so important,” Hulse said. “I think we often feel stuck by ‘what can I do as an individual’ in this global planetary crisis.”

Aside from joining sustainability-focused communities, Hulse also recommends learning what people can about what’s happening in the community and leading by example.  

“We know reduce, reuse, recycle. But what about at the start of all of that, refuse,” Hulse said. “What could you refuse in your day-to-day life and start small. For example, I know students really enjoy coffee and many, many, many places around campus will take your reusable cup.”

Hulse was particularly inspired by her mother who showed her that small habits, like using reusable bags at the grocery store, can make a big change. Hulse encourages students to look for that positive influence around them and wants students to be that influence in their own sustainability journey.

“A community that is pursuing zero waste imperfectly is far better than a few individuals doing it perfectly,” Hulse said.

lilygp2@dailyillini.com