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Project Updates for collection: Student Sustainability Committee Funded Projects
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Community Solar Status Update
Associated Project(s):Community Solar
"What is the status of the city of Urbana’s community solar array at the old city landfill known as Solar Star Urbana Landfill LLC affiliated with Nexamp? Will the subscription to the community solar project begin this year?"
The project, which will generate approximately 5.2 MW of clean energy for the Ameren grid, is scheduled to be completed around the middle of next month, said Keith Hevenor, communications manager for Nexamp, a firm that has developed community solar energy projects in Illinois, Maine, New York, Maryland, Georgia and Massachusetts.
"At that point, the final landscaping, which includes a native pollinator seed mix for vegetation, will be applied," said Hevenor. "As soon as final testing and utility interconnection are completed, subscribers will begin seeing the credits on their Ameren bills, likely before the end of the year.
"The Solar Star Urbana Landfill project is part of the Illinois Solar for All program, so participation in the program is reserved for qualified low and moderate income (LMI) residents. In the program, there are no enrollment fees, no credit checks and no cancellation fees. We still have space available for the project and individuals can visit https://ilsfa.nexamp.com/ameren to learn more and see if they qualify."
Digital Sign for Recognition of SSC $375k Contribution
Associated Project(s):Part of the $25K fund 1‐304398, “602 SSC‐CIF Geothermal” for the CIF account is recognizing SSC’s $375K contribution to Geothermal in digital signage for a year at CIF.
The final draft of the digital signage is attached below.
Attached Files:Student Engagement Presentation
Associated Project(s):Interested in how to get involved in student sustainability efforts on campus? Check out the attached presentation! It provides an overview of student groups/RSOs and other recurring sustainability events. Enjoy!
Attached Files:Weekly Update: Bike to Work Day; Light the Night; Grand Re-opening
Associated Project(s):All, Heck of a week we just had. Tuesday was Bike To Work Day and Light The Night; both events went well. CBC as a LTN location was not as popular as the other two spots but we are still only in our second year of offering this location; the other two spots have been there for over 10 years and have a lot more passers-by. I do appreciate the convenience of not having to go anywhere for the event, though!
BTWD was a decent turn out. We had around 30 people stop by to pick up their shirts. iSEE shot some footage for a promo video. I also talked with a few profs/pro staff folks who said this was their first bike commute, which was great. Hopefully they’ll stick with it! It also reminded me I need to brush up on my beginning commuter tips…
Our Grand Opening event was a success. We got to show off our space to quite a few people who’d never been by before and a handful of regulars that were duly impressed with the upgrade from our old space.This week I’ve got a new student worker starting, so that will be a welcomed addition to the team. I’ll also pick up some bikes from TBP for rebuild as we’re flush out of decent Shop Builds. Demand has waned a bit or word is spreading that we’re out of bikes so fewer folks are coming by—either way, we’ll get a few more fixed up this week.
The numbers:
Visitors: TBD
Sales: $513.50
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $180
Memberships: 5 for $150
Tire/tubes: 6 for $19.50Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center CoordinatorRequest for New Project Tabs
Associated Project(s):Assistant Director of Student Sustainability, Samuel Yoo reached out to Sarthak Prasad for guidance with iCAP Portal projects. Specifically, Yoo was unable to find existing projects for the following:
- Diversion of Non-Recyclable Plastic using Pyrolysis Process to Produce Fuels for Campus
- Preventing Window-strike Bird Fatalities with Energy Efficient Window Decals
- Valorized Archived Soils and Long-Term Carbon Budgets
Sarthak replied explaining that new project tabs will be created for the first two projects and the last project fits under the "Monitor Soil Health" project.
Green Office Gold Certification
Associated Project(s):Congratulations to Kara Hagen and the rest of the Conservation Unit at the Preservation Services Department of Oak Street Library Facility for becoming a Green Office! They are gold certified as of September 4, 2021. They used a watt meter to monitor energy use of their devices and appliances and eliminated use of disposable cups. They notably created a new waste reduction strategy by saving the scraps from their long-fibered papers and bringing those to Fresh Press on campus, where they are used to create hand-made paper. Keep up the great work!
First Weekly Check-In for Resilience Work
Associated Project(s):9/17/2021, 2:15 PM
Attendees: Morgan White, Meredith Moore, Stacy Gloss
Summary:
Stacy, Meredith and Morgan met for the first time together since Stacy was appointed and started work on 9/16/2021. The purpose of the meeting is to provide the information and resources needed for Stacy to start working on resilience activities in the scope work. We reviewed Stacy’s job description regarding activities for the next 6 months and related deliverables. See attached job description.
Agreements:
- Stacy will take the meeting notes from each of these Resilience Work Check-In meetings and put them on the portal for project tracking.
- Stacy will provide updates at the Resilience iCAP team meetings.
- We set up a recurring meeting time for Thursdays from 2 pm – 3 pm.
To-Do’s:
Stacy will re-read the objective in iCAP 2020 PDF about all resilience objectives. Review the resilience theme, scan the project list, and look at project history for specific objectives.
8.1 Check in when needed w/ Lisa Merrifield
8.2 Start with campus contacts. Email Betsy Liggett, Brent Lewis, & Morgan White and set up a call with Betsy. Betsy is liaison to community green infrastructure. The objectives are to find out who it is to talk to in Champaign-Urbana-Savoy for off-campus infrastructure locations. Eventually, ask resilience team what information should be included on the iCAP portal map. Note: There’s an Oct 20 conference about the Champaign County storm water partnership. With this objective, we will ultimately work towards planning a coordinated rainwater mgmt. plan, and what it might look like.
8.3. Review documentation that Kimmy provided as a report on the portal.
8.4. Request a call with Ximing to explain the concept behind 8.4 and report back. Further steps may be taken to include whole iSEE management team in a conversation.
8.5. Review 8.5 Discuss at meeting 2 weeks from now.
8.6. Morgan will connect Stacy with Sarthak Prasad. Review Vision zero website soon and request a meeting with Sarthak.
8.7. Review 8.7 Discuss at meeting 2 weeks from now. Review Current State of the Market, and review files in the box folder that students created about local off sets.
Attached Files:SSC Final Report: Re_home Wall Rehab and Siding
Associated Project(s):SSC received final report on Spring 2021 for Re_home Rehab project on 9/9/2021. Please see attached.
SSC Semesterly Report: Illini EV Concept EV3
Associated Project(s):SSC received a semesterly report for Spring 2021 for the Illini EV Concept project on 9/7/2021. Please see attached.
Attached Files:SSC Semesterly Report: Identifying the Campus Benefits of a Large-Scale Prairie Experiment
Associated Project(s):SSC received a semesterly report for Spring 2021 for the Benefits of a Large-Scale Prairie Experiment project on 9/9/2021. Please see attached.
SSC Semesterly Report: Foreign Languages Building Garden Renovation
Associated Project(s):SSC received a semesterly report for Spring 2021 for FLB Garden Renovation on 9/11/2021. Please see attached.
SSC Semesterly Report: Let it Flow
Associated Project(s):SSC received a semesterly report for Spring 2021 for the Let it Flow project on 9/12/2021. Please see attached.
Attached Files:SSC Semesterly Report: Clean Meat at Illinois
Associated Project(s):SSC received semesterly report for Spring 2021 for the Clean Meat project on 9/13/2021. Please see attached.
Attached Files:SSC Semesterly Report: Illini Union I-Room LED Conversion
Associated Project(s):SSC received a semesterly report for Spring 2021 for Illini Union LED project on 9/13/2021. Please see attached.
SSC Semesterly Report: Joint Pollinator Garden and Composting Systems to Offset Environmental Impact and Reinforce Responsible Stewardship in Research
Associated Project(s):SSC received semesterly report for Spring 2021 for Joint Pollinator and Composting Systems project on 9/14/2021. Please see attached.
SSC Semesterly Report: Illini Union Recycling Center Shadow Boxes
Associated Project(s):SSC received a semesterly report for Spring 2021 for Illini Union Recycling Shadow Boxes project on 9/15/2021. Please see attached.
SSC Semesterly Report: Illini Formula Electric
Associated Project(s):SSC received semesterly report for Spring 2021 for the Illini Formula Electric project on 9/17/2021. Please see attached.
SSC Semesterly Report: Root to Roof - DREAAM
Associated Project(s):SSC received semesterly report for Spring 2021 for the Root to Roof project on 9/16/2021. Please see attached.
Attached Files:Solar Decathlon Project Update
Associated Project(s):From: Majerus, Elizabeth
Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2021 12:25 PM
To: White, Morgan
Cc: Gharpure, Prajakta Milind; Kovitz, Kyle Paige; Low, Khee; Davis, Peter ; Collins, Halie Jean; Kroencke, Janet Lynn
Subject: Re: Following up with Solar Decathalon Design Team
Hi Prajakta, Peter, Khee, and Kyle,
I really loved the work you did on envisioning an energy efficient retorfit and addtion for Uni High's beautiful historic building. Uni will be moving forward in the next five years with a fundraising plan for an expansion and update of our building, and we'd love to be able to consult with some or all of you as we lay that groundwork.
Halie, we'd also love to have any current ISD students/staff involved, if there's interest. I'm also CCing our Director of Advancement, Janet Kroenke, who will be in the lead of the fundraising efforts that will make our future building update possible.
Please let me know if you'd like to be part of a conversation about drawing on the Uni High Solar Decathalon Design project for our future planning.
Take care,
Elizabeth
___________________
Elizabeth Majerus, Ph.D.
[She/her]
University Laboratory High School
Provost/VCAA Admin
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
From: White, Morgan
Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2021 10:00 AM
To: Majerus, Elizabeth
Cc: Gharpure, Prajakta Milind; Kovitz, Kyle Paige; Low, Khee; Davis, Peter; Collins, Halie Jean
Subject: RE: Following up with Solar Decathalon Design Team
Hi Elizabeth!
This is great to hear. And congratulations on being named the Director.
I’m copying all the students you named, and the current ISD lead, Halie Collins. Please let me know if there is anything else I can help with!
Thanks,
Morgan
======================================
MORGAN B. WHITE
Associate Director of F&S for Sustainability
Facilities & Services | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
1501 S Oak Street (MC-800) | Champaign, IL 61820
fs.illinois.edu/services/sustainability
From: Majerus, Elizabeth
Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2021 12:06 PM
To: White, Morgan
Subject: Following up with Solar Decathalon Design Team
Hi Morgan,
I'm interested in following up on the wonderful Solar Decathalon project that the student design team presented on in May 2020. This was something that I had hoped to do during the 2020-21 school year, but the pandemic really shifted my expectations and task list.
I wondered if you might have contact information for any of the students who worked on the Uni project. Prajakta Gharpure, Khee Kim Low, Peter Davis, Kyle Kovitz were the students who presented that day.
We are hoping to stay in our present Uni building, and ideas like those that these students shared are an inspiration for what might be possible in terms of the greater space and updated infrastructure we'll need to sustain our school.
Thanks for any help you can offer on this.
Take care,
Elizabeth