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The Purchasing, Waste, and Recycling SWATeam kicked off the semester with a discussion of their past and continuing efforts and proposals, their progress in achieving iCAP objectives, and goals for the upcoming year. They also gave recommendations on the creation of a Division of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA) Climate Action Plan.
At ISTC computers are required to be at least EPEAT Bronze rated.
There is mention of EPEAT Bronze in the legislation at the State level—see http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=041501500K65. Note that the phrasing in this is a little odd because some of the products mentioned (e.g. mice, VCRs, etc. ) aren’t part of the EPEAT registry. But since a wide variety of people (i.e. people who are not campus procurement personnel) may purchase equipment, office supplies, etc., and not be aware of what EPEAT is, let alone that the state has expectations related to it, it’s perfectly possible that there are researchers or IT professionals who are buying items for University use with little thought about EPEAT.
Procurement would have to confirm whether or not non-EPEAT related computers, laptops or tablets were available from vendors in UI punchouts in iBuy.
The Transportation SWATeam had it's first meeting of the year. They discussed progress on the Transportation iCAP objectives, the status of related projects and proposals, and their priorities for the year. The team identified the following three areas on which they plan to focus in the coming meetings:
1. Exploring options for offsetting air travel emissions
2. Pursuing a comprehensive intermodal transit survey (one for students and one for faculty)
3. Assessing the feasibility of various options to reduce emissions from the campus fleet
The next meeting is on October 12th.
Hello Transportation SWATeam members,
Thank you again for your willingness to help our campus achieve the Climate Leadership Commitments. There is great value provided by the bi-weekly meetings of student, faculty, and staff representatives evaluating our progress and recommending additional actions campus units could take.
The following is a list of current activities I am aware of, and suggestions I have about useful next steps. I am happy to follow up with you on any of these, as needed.
Thank you very much,
~Morgan
Hello ALUFS SWATeam members,
Thank you again for your willingness to help our campus achieve the Climate Leadership Commitments. There is great value provided by the bi-weekly meetings of student, faculty, and staff representatives evaluating our progress and recommending additional actions campus units could take.
The following is a list of current activities I am aware of, and suggestions I have about useful next steps. I am happy to follow up with you on any of these, as needed.
Thank you very much,
~Morgan
1. Ag Emissions – During the 2015 iCAP process, we included the goal to reevaluate the emissions from ACES and create a new emissions baseline for south farms. This effort was not started, but there is still an opportunity to do such an evaluation. I believe Madhu Khanna and Evan DeLucia would be good resources for this evaluation, and perhaps Ximing could help facilitate it.
2. Best Management Practices (BMPs) - The previous SWATeam considered dropping the Ag Emissions evaluation objective and adding one to encourage use of Best Management Practices for south farms. The BMPs are an important aspect for increasing campus sustainability, and the concept should be extended to include land that is leased out to other farmers within the campus boundaries (if any).
3. Sustainable Plantings – Brent has made progress on the campus plant lists. It would be helpful to have a map of existing native planting areas on campus, in GIS format. We can provide the map of low mow zones as a starting point.
4. Once there is a map, additional locations can be suggested for pollinator pockets, to support monarch butterflies and other pollinators. Such locations can also include spaces that would reduce difficulty for the Grounds crew in riding mowers, such as nooks and crannies on campus, as well as steep slope areas.
5. I suggest you invite Eliana Brown to give an overview of the efforts underway for the Red Oak Rain Garden.
6. The Campus Master Plan is in final review and will be moving toward Board of Trustee approval. The website is at https://masterplan-illinois.com/, but I’m not sure if they will have another review draft for the public.
7. Local Food – great work in Dining! I’m curious what the current percentage is from FY17.
8. We need to look at what we are doing for other campus food areas, such as coffee shops and small cafes. Your team could submit a recommendation about local food for dining in one or more of the non-housing areas.
9. Soil sequestration – Other than prairies and trees, are there sequestration efforts campus should consider?
10. To reduce nitrate in Ag. Runoff, I suggest your team look at applicable recommendations in Nitrate Reduction Plan, and suggest the most promising ones for campus to implement.
11. At one point, we considered woody bioreactors in South Farms – see https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project-update/potential-bioreactor-project. These are still an option, I just didn’t have time to move it forward in 2014.
12. The Now Mow Zones were renamed Low Mow Zones, and there will be a press release and F&S website update to reflect the locations and benefits.
13. Brent Lewis can share an update about the use of more electric equipment for Grounds operations.
14. An updated Tree Inventory has been funded. Brent is working on getting two quotes, so that the purchase order can proceed and the efforts can be started.
Parkland students may want to consider biking, as it affords them an opportunity to exercise and is an ecofriendly way of getting around. There are dangers associated with cycling though, and there are laws that must be followed to ensure your safety while cycling.
Link to the article: http://www.prospectusnews.com/2017/09/06/cyclists-have-same-rights-as-cars/
The Water and Stormwater SWATeam recommendation to install a real-time water meter on the greywater pipes in the Business Instructional Facility has been approved by F&S leadership. This project will proceed with funding from the Student Sustainability Committee and F&S Utilities & Energy Services.
University departments and units should purchase products with recycled material content whenever cost, specifications, standards, and availability are comparable to products without recycled content. The University will identify those items that are frequently purchase for which recycled-content items can be substituted. Additional preference will be given to the specification of items with the highest percentage content of recycled material.
Examples of products and materials covered include, but are not limited to: office supplies, paper products, building materials, lubricants of all types, reprocessed chemicals, remanufactured parts, landscape products (yard waste), and materials used in pavement construction projects. The use of recycled materials is also encouraged when orders are placed for printed goods (i.e. brochures, catalogs, books, letterheads, business cars, etc). In addition, the procurement guidelines seek to eliminate the purchase of non-recyclable materials when suitable substitutes exist.
The 2016 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Water Quality Report was released in June. The report provides information about the source of campus drinking water, contaminant testing, general health precautions, and how sample results compare to regulatory requirements. The university has met all U.S. EPA and Illinois EPA drinking water quality standards.
Wassaja Hall became the campus’ 11th facility to receive LEED® certification from the U.S. Green Building Council in February. The University of Illinois is a national leader in green building design with more than 2.4M GSF on campus.
Content has been drafted for a PowerPoint presentation to encourage the use of separate bins for recyclables and trash. It will emphasize that separation at the point of disposal is more effective than the older system of placing all items in a single bin and will therefore help the campus meet landfill diversion targets. The presentation will be made over the summer to Campus business officers, the Staff HR Advisory Council, and student groups that can talk to other groups.
A resident of Ashton Woods reached out to discuss the potential for increased recycling at graduate student housing sites. The Zero-Waste Coordinator met with her in early May and is in the process of gathering information from Housing, F&S, and the cities.
Eliana Brown with the Water Resources Center and Morgan Johnston with F&S Sustainability provided a two hour tour on July 13, 2017 to six Illinois high school students through the NRES Research Apprenticeship program. Sites visited include the BIF green roof, the Ikenberry Commons permeable pavement, the First Street underground stormwater detention basin, the "square pond" (six-story deep hole near Locust and Springfield), the Boneyard Creek, and the stormwater murals in the College of Engineering.
Interim Provost Wilkin, on behalf of Chancellor Jones, approved moving forward with the recommendations discussed at the March 2017 Sustainability Council meeting. See attached file.
See iWG follow-up on the March 2017 Sustainability Council meeting here.
See Transmittal of EGen005 Rooftop Solar Standards here.
See iWG Assessment for SWATeam recommendation EGen005 Rooftop Solar Standard here.
See SWATeam recommendation EGen005 Rooftop Solar Standards here.
See Transmittal of EGen003 PPA term to the Sustainability Council here.
See iWG Assessment of EGen003 PPA Term here.
See SWATeam recommendation EGen003 PPA Term here.
See Transmittal of ECONS003 Conservation Budget to the Provost Office here.
See iWG Assessment of ECONS003 Conservation Budget here.
See SWATeam Recommendation of ECONS003 Conservation Budget here.
Attached is the Chancellor's reply to the ECONS003 Conservation Budget recommendation.
See Transmittal of ECONS003 Conservation Budget to the Provost Office
Following the completion of the iWG Assessment, the EGen003 PPA Term recommendation was discussed at the Sustainability Council meeting in March 2017. In June 2017, Provost Wilkins said, "On behalf of the Chancellor, I'm writing to convey approval of the recommendations. Please do begin encouraging action on the items mentioned. Thank you and the rest of the Council for the diligent and forward-looking thinking on these items."
Regarding the EGen003 PPA Term, the next steps are "When the next RFP for a clean energy PPA is planned, seek campus / system approval to request pricing for both a 10 year agreement and a 20 year agreement, through Prairieland Energy, Inc."
See Sustainability Council approvals here.
See transmittal of EGen003 PPA Term here.
See iWG Assessment of EGen003 PPA Term here.
See SWATeam recommendation EGen003 PPA Term here.
For future updates on this topic, please see Power Purchase Agreements for Clean Energy.
See attached story, published at https://www.tun.com/blog/university-of-illinois-student-funded-solar-farm/.
Superintendent of Grounds, Ryan Welch, describes the difference in heat tolerance between spring and summer flowers on campus:
"We plant the early flowers (pansies) because they provide early spring color and are one of the only annuals that prefer cooler temps and will withstand frost. The early or cool season annuals do not like heat, so they are removed and replaced with the summer annuals. The summer annuals will not tolerate even a light frost and should not be planted before May 1."
On May 25, 2017, Helen Coleman sent an email to Morgan Johnston containing her approval for the start-up costs for the Second Nature Carbon Credit agreement.
A screenshot of the email is attached below.
Attached are the presentations prepared by the students in ENVS 301. The course syllabus is also attached.
