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Project Updates for collection: Student Sustainability Committee Funded Projects

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  2. iSEE New Green Chapter and Event Certifications

    Associated Project(s): 
    Certified Greener Campus Programs
    Certified Green Event Program
    Certified Green Chapter Program

    I hope everyone had a great Earth Day this past weekend! Congratulations to the newest recipients of our Greener Campus Programs certifications.

     

    -Green Chapter: Phi Chi Theta, Gold, Certified April 2023

    -Green Event:

    iSEE Green Globes, Certified April 2023

    iSEE Kindness Rocks, Certified April 2023

     

    Keep up the great work, happy greening!

  3. Weekly update: Green Quad Day, Donations

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, On the whole, an uneventful week. We tabled at Green Quad Day last Friday, but other than that it was business as usual. A local bike shop is scaling back their operations, and we got a lot of donations as a result, including NOS handlebars, fenders, and tires. Always welcome! There is, too, the potential for more demand with one less option locally for folks to fix their bike. We’ll see how that plays out over time.

    Tonight is the Bike Project Member Meeting, which I’ll attend.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 42
    Sales: $362
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $170
    Memberships: 1 for $30
    Tires/Tubes:  9 for $72

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  4. Sarthak Prasad and Daphne Hulse present Sustainable Transportation and Zero Waste topics to 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students at Franklin STEAM Academy

    Associated Project(s): 
    Encourage Active Transportation
    Increase Public Transportation Use
    Encourage Bicycle Use
    Achieve Zero Waste
    Decrease Wasteful Practices through Behavior Change
    Zero Waste Outreach & Presentations

    Presentations given during the lunch sessions for each grade in the library. Franklin STEAM hosts sustainability speakers each April in honor of Earth Month.

     

     

    Thanks so much for coming!!!

    We really appreciate your time and energy today speaking to Franklin's future "world rescuers."

     

    I know you cannot attend our Open House this May 11th but do consider if you would like to table at our fall Open House on September 14th.

     

    We really appreciated your clear and important messages.

     

    Zanne Newman

    Magnet Site Coordinator

    Franklin STEAM Academy

     

    Attached Files: 

  6. iCAP-IGT2030 Overview 2022-2023 DRAFT-FINAL

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy-Efficient HVAC Infection Control

    Sarthak + Morgan,

     

    Please see the attached PDF. It includes all iCAP and related activities for 2022-2023.

     

    We have included direct and indirect impacts such as those originating from: active IAQ legislation, public awareness and concerns, capacity and capital building, workforce equity initiatives, violence prevention and cross-disciplinary collaboration between public health officials and building designers.

     

    See you shortly, Sterling

    Attached Files: 

  10. WPP Building 1258 geothermal metering system installation request

    Associated Project(s): 
    Geothermal at WPP

    Good morning,

    Here is what I found.

    Al

     

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

    Hi Robbie,

     

    Here are the engineering documents and pictures of the heat pumps. There are 5 heat pumps.

     

    Andy

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

    Team,

     

    Here's another geothermal system needing to be metered. It appears to need both ST, RT temperature RTD, and flow meter installation and tied into alpha controller and programming. 

     

    Thanks.

     

    Robbie Bauer

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

    Andrew,

     

    The team surveyed it this week and a meter is planned to be installed shortly.  I’ll keep you updated.

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

    Hi Yu-Feng,

     

    Robbie Bauer from F&S is finishing the meter install on the last geothermal system on campus. So going forward we will have access to data from all the systems. At the very least, inlet and outlet temperature, flow rate, and energy going into the borefield will be collected. Robbie is interested in calculating the annual energy avoidance for each system.

     

    Best,

    Andy

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

    Thanks for the update.

     

    Yu-Feng

  11. Weekly capstone meetings: Meeting from 3/29 and 4/5

    Associated Project(s): 
    2024 Campus Bike Plan
    Independent Student Projects

    Meeting from 4/5/2023

    Summary: Ethan and Sarthak met via zoom where they discussed the work on the plan that Ethan has done so far. They also discussed the thorough plan for the next year to describe to the stakeholders, in regard to their involvement with the 2024 plan. Ethan is expected to respond to stakeholders by next week, add onto the plan (mainly the executive summary, goals & objectives, introduction, and planning process sections). Ethan will send Sarthak separate emails about his Urban Planning presentation on their work for school, and request for GIS information.

    Meeting from 3/29/2023

    Summary: Ethan and Sarthak met briefly via zoom (Ethan was out of town dealing with a family emergency so there was not much to discuss). Ethan is expected to make a Google Sheet with stakeholders' information and responses, a sheet of timeline for the planning process, and a document for the 2024 plan.

    Attached Files: 

  13. Illini Gadget Garage Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illini Gadget Garage

    From Joy Scrogum on April 11, 2023: ISTC transferred this project to the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning in January 2019. To my knowledge, CITL held maybe 1-2 repair events in 2019, but ended the project because they didn’t have adequate support to hire a student coordinator, and one of the staff members who took it on was promoted and had less time to attend to the project.

  14. iSEE Green Chapter and Event Certifications

    Associated Project(s): 
    Certified Green Event Program
    Certified Green Chapter Program
    Certified Greener Campus Programs

    Happy Earth Month! Congratulations to our newest recipients of the Greener Campus Program.

     

    Green Chapter: Delta Gamma, Silver, Recertified April 2023

    Green Event:

    -Chancellor's Office for Special Events Gov Pritzker Press Conference, Certified April 2023

    -ECEC23, Certified April 2023

     

    Keep up the great work, and check out our exciting events for Earth Week this year!

  15. Weekly Update: Bike sales, Bike Fix-it day, Stripping junk bikes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Business as usual over here. We’ve almost fully occupied the front lobby space with for sale bikes—which will likely diminish a bit this week with the warm weather. Fingers crossed.

    This upcoming Saturday we have a partnering event with the Urbana Parks District to help with a bike fix-it day from 10  - 12p in Urbana at the Phillips Recreation Center. Will be nice to get off campus and help folks where they are—or maybe closer to where they are. The event was successful last year and will hopefully be so again this year. Although, offsite repairs always mean you can’t bring every tool for every possible repair, which is a strong impulse.

    We’ve hit a bit of a stride with some volunteers and staff stripping junk bikes. This, of course, has the added bonus of creating a surplus of used 26” tires. We’ll have no trouble working through those in due time. Accordingly, I’ll be grabbing a few more from the warehouse this week.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 44
    Sales: $529
    Bikes (refurb): 2 for $240
    Memberships: 1 for $30
    Tires/tubes: 8 for $31

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  16. 4-7-23 Housing + F&S meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Dump and Run

    Agenda:

    1. Alterations to the proposed locations for 20’ containers

    1. Removing 1 container at IKE.

    2. Determining if planters can be moved at PAR/FAR.

    1. Considering the parking lot (F-17) for

    2. Quotes for 5 20-foot containers (includes delivery and pick up)

    1. MI-BOX: $1,795

    2. StowAway: $1,499

    3. Paid with a P-Card? Still determining

    3. Advertisements

    1. 200 paper-sized advertisements for residence hall bulletins

    2. Advertisements for Housing’s digital boards - who should this be sent to?

    4. Banner

    1. Rough draft statement - any suggestions?

    2. Keep it evergreen - no dates, no company names, so it can be reused for future years. QR code can change information easily.

    3. Include University Housing and F&S logos at the bottom

    4. QR codes links to basic description of Dump & Run’s purpose (zero iCAP objective connection), comprehensive list of accepted items, info on bike donation to Campus Bike Center.

    1. Hosted on F&S website.

    5. Gaylords

    1. How many pallet/gaylords fit in a 20’ container?

    2. Does F&S have gaylords to contribute?

    3. Goodwill can contribute gaylords (take full, bring empty to replace).

    6. LAR, Busey-Evans

    1. How many boxes will be needed in these lobbies?

    2. F&S takes full boxes to PPSB Truck Bay, Goodwill, Salt & Light pick up from there.

    7. Volunteers

    1. 2 volunteers per storage unit

    2. Advertised to:

    1. Junior League of Champaign-Urbana

    2. Champaign County Forest Preserve

    3. Champaign County Master Naturalists

    4. Rotary Club of Champaign

    8. Food Donations

    1. Wesley Food Pantry wanting to discuss logistics.

     

     

    2023-04-07 recording of the meeting here in google drive.

     

  17. LW004 Monarchs Need Milkweed - Successful

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Land and Water Recommendations Summary
    Land and Water iCAP Team
    Increase Pollinator-Friendly Areas

    Morgan White, the Associate Director of F&S of Sustainability and Interim Director of Capital Programs at UIUC, responded to the LW004 Monarchs Need Milkweed with the following message:

    Dear Land and Water iCAP Team and iWG,

    Thank you for your continued support and advocacy for the Illinois Climate Action Plan.  Last semester, we received the recommendation below for adding more milkweed around campus to support the monarch butterfly population, and we are happy to take action. 

    F&S has the personnel and expertise to coordinate this effort successfully. The Grounds team will plant milkweed at the low mow zone and prairie areas, prioritizing the locations shown on your map.  Additionally, once our Grounds Workers do the seeding, they will be more likely to know where it is growing in the future and be able to avoid accidental mowings. 

    To assist campus sustainability, F&S is amenable to doing the work without additional compensation.  We will also request $2,500 from the Illinois Green Fund for the purchase of enough seeds for roughly 64,000 SF of space, which can then be divided up into the multiple locations.  Some of the smaller locations suggested may not be planted, depending on future campus building plans.  For the low mow zones, plantings will be prioritized along road corridors where passers-by will be able to see the plants growing and ascertain the success rate. 

    Please let Brent Lewis (copied) know if you have any questions.  We look forward to assisting our pollinator population with this project.

    Thanks,

    Morgan

    For future updates related to the Monarchs Need Milkweed, see the Increase Pollinator-Friendly Areas project here. 

    See the iWG assessment LW004 Monarchs Need Milkweed and transmittal update here.

    See the original LW004 Monarchs Need Milkweed recommendation here. 

  18. Geen Research Commitee 1st meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Green Research Committee
    Green Lab Program

    April 5, 2023 Green Research Committee (Kick Off) Meeting 1

    Present: Lisa Moore, Daphne Hulse, Stephanie Hess, Jeremy Neighbors, Jennifer Fraterrigo, Chad Stevens, Shari Effert-Fanta, Sabrina Summers, Morgan White, Mitchell Bryant, Timothy Mies, Maisie Kingren, Paul Foote, Patty Jones, Susan Martinis, Madhu Khanna

    Absent: Ehab Kamarah

    Charge:

    • Look at what others do.
      • Makes it less onerous.
      • Check in with our peer institutions
    • Check in with our iCAP.
    • Structure what we come up with in short- and long-term goals. We have a tight timeline and a broad objective overall.

    Discussion:

    • Two graduate students joined, which is very valuable to us.
    • Deadline to show ideas and progress and present to Ehab, Madhu, and Susan, by May. Jeremy & Stephanie will give this update and summarize what is discussed now and a general timeline going forward.
    • Morgan’s been thinking about this for 7 or 8 years, and is excited to see it come to fruition. The core is that researchers are making huge changes and breakthroughs to address climate change but we’re still buying plastic and throwing it away, leaving fume hoods open, etc. How to integrate it into research without jeopardizing the research itself, is the question to explore.
    • Messaging must be very cautious to balance safety with sustainability.
    • Opportunity to review the iCAP 2020 or 2015 objectives to identify how it applies today.
    • Green Research as opposed to Green Labs: allows us to be more broad in our approach.
    • Paul Foote spent a year just doing a Green Labs Program so he has tremendous experience and background knowledge on the subject. Don’t reinvent the wheel. I2SL, My Green Lab are good resources to look at.
    • Mitchell: Not a lot of knowledge about how to dispose of waste safely (information deficit), so he sees a lot of improper disposal as a student. A lot of opportunity for energy reduction in labs. Concerted effort across campus is necessary, but can we add the carrot (incentive) as well?
    • Tim: ACES, South Farms, see inconsistency with how waste is disposed of. Some go through Waste Transfer, others go through Area Disposal. Researchers want to do the right thing, but most people are strapped on time “how do I do it versus how do I have time in the day?” Growth chamber: big refrigerator with a lot of light bulbs. Remove the heat from lamps. Some people don’t turn them off - maintenance or researchers just forgetting. Think of a way to incentivize this? Support the researchers as much as possible.
    • Mitchell thinks is very much falls on the individual to ensure they are following the right instructors (don’t pour stains down the sink, etc.).
    • On Stephanie’s mind is a culture change for safety. How can they improve the culture of safety on campus? There is simultaneously a sustainability culture we need to grow, too.

    How to accomplish this:

    • The charge letter had three different goals:
      • Break into three groups and each would tackle one of those before the next meeting.
        • On-site wet and dry research labs, off-site UIUC research labs, agriculture land and field sites
        • Develop a program whereby groups and departments can qualify for a Green Lab or Green Research certification. Contribute to the iCAP goals.
        • Outline a framework to recommend building-specific plans for safe energy conservation
    • Sub-teams in Teams is how we will communicate among our teams.
    • Cadence of meetings?
      • Big meeting once per month, small groups on the week between (each team has a delegate for scheduling meetings for their group)
      • October deliverables - so we have until the end of September to work
    • Resources to carry this out
      • Anything that will require funding we will need to state, justify, estimate cost, expected impact from the investment.
    • Consider reward packages for research groups.
      • Rewarding research groups will be key, according to Donald Stevens
    • Paul will put together a sheet of how funding in the past has worked, for projects he’s been involved with. Give the group an idea of how we can tap into funds.
    • Stephanie: think about connections you have, things you can tap into.
      • Ex: TV screens in lab settings for safety communication. Interest from researchers for this, especially if they can get it for free. A way to communicate without needing paper. Where can we ask for favors?
    • Jen’s concern: how can we get voices from other researchers on campus and oversee labs: find opportunities and barriers?
      • Paul: successful programs have Green Ambassadors who can be a voice for the labs and can brainstorm together what will work for different labs.
      • Group agrees that more faculty PIs should be included in the conversation.
    • Donald & Morgan discussion on zero growth space policy - Capital - comes from Deferred Maintenance than any sort of energy-related issue.
    • Mitchell Bryant: attending a seminar tomorrow on this topic and will post his notes in Teams

  19. Weekly Update: Earth Month, Nice weather

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Happy Earth Month! Weather is picking up in the next week or two, so we’ll see how that impacts visit numbers. Still working our way through the warehouse bikes and our for sale bikes are hovering around 20. Other than that, business as usual.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 36

    Sales: $612.75
    Bikes (refurb): 2 for $360
    Membership: 3 for $90

    Tires/tubes: 6 for $35.75

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  20. Symposium Registration: Health & Environmental Strategies for Climate Adaptation

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy-Efficient HVAC Infection Control

    Thank you for your responses so far to attend this very important event to confront Health and Environmental Strategies for Climate Adaptation.

     

    For those who have not yet responded, there is still time. 

     

    Please register using the link below today.

     

    Cart Tutt

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

    FYI, I'll be speaking at this event this week (online). It is a free event, and we will highlight the indoor air quality project with Safe Traces and Integrating Green Technologies.  Thanks, Morgan 

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

    Morgan,

     

    Did we get a report on the Astronomy Building from the Safe Traces test they ran?

     

    Dave

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