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Project Updates for collection: Student Sustainability Committee Funded Projects

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  1. Community Solar Status Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Build Resilience with Our Local Community

    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."

  2. Digital Sign for Recognition of SSC $375k Contribution

    Associated Project(s): 
    Geothermal at the Campus Instructional Facility (CIF)
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    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: 

  4. Weekly Update: Bike to Work Day; Light the Night; Grand Re-opening

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Light the Night
    C-U Bike to Work Day

    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 $19.50

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  5. Request for New Project Tabs

    Associated Project(s): 
    Diversion of Non-Recyclable Plastic using Pyrolysis Process to Produce Fuels for Campus
    Preventing window-strike bird fatalities with energy efficient window decals
    Monitor Soil Health

    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.

     

  6. Green Office Gold Certification

    Associated Project(s): 
    Certified Green Office Program (CGOP)
    Certified Greener Campus Programs

    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!

  7. First Weekly Check-In for Resilience Work

    Associated Project(s): 
    Build Resilience with Our Local Community
    Resilience iCAP Team

    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: 

  10. SSC Semesterly Report: Identifying the Campus Benefits of a Large-Scale Prairie Experiment

    Associated Project(s): 
    Benefits of a Large-Scale Prairie Experiment
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    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. 

    Attached Files: 

  11. SSC Semesterly Report: Foreign Languages Building Garden Renovation

    Associated Project(s): 
    Green Roof on Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics Building (formerly called Foreign Language Building)
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    SSC received a semesterly report for Spring 2021 for FLB Garden Renovation on 9/11/2021. Please see attached.  

    Attached Files: 

  15. SSC Semesterly Report: Joint Pollinator Garden and Composting Systems to Offset Environmental Impact and Reinforce Responsible Stewardship in Research

    Associated Project(s): 
    Increase Pollinator-Friendly Areas
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    SSC received semesterly report for Spring 2021 for Joint Pollinator and Composting Systems project on 9/14/2021. Please see attached. 

    Attached Files: 

  19. Solar Decathlon Project Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illinois Solar Decathlon

     

    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

    http://www.uni.illinois.edu 

     

    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

  20. Updated list of student projects that need YOU!!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Independent Student Projects
    Rainwater Management
    NRES 285: iCAP Sustainability Ambassadors
    Champaign County Sustainability Network (CCNet) [ARCHIVED]
    Campus Tree Inventory
    Sustainability Literacy Assessment
    Compost at National Soybean Research Center (NSRC) [ARCHIVED]
    Resilience Commitment
    Resilience iCAP Team

    This is a list of projects that need students to work on.  It will be updated periodically by sustainability staff members, the last update was 9/16/21:

    • The campus MS4 stormwater permit currently has 49 Best Management Practices (BMPs) that have to be completed annually https://fs.illinois.edu/services/safety-and-compliance/about-the-program . One of the 49 BMPs is a Public Education and Outreach requirement to broadcast or publish one stormwater Public Service Announcement (PSA) on social media, radio, television and/or internet. We currently have a couple on our website and would like to keep it up to date with new materials whenever possible.  https://fs.illinois.edu/services/safety-and-compliance/about-the-program/events-and-outreach. Another opportunity is for a Public Participation and Involvement BMP to discuss and provide opportunity for public input on the Storm Water Program (permit BMPs), climate change and environmental justice topics. This could be met by webinars, PSAs, posters, etc. Contact is Betsy Liggett. ~ Morgan
    • Follow through with Facility Liaisons for implementation of recommendations from NRES 285: iCAP Sustainability Ambassadors class: Huff Hall. ~ Meredith
    • Follow through with Facility Liaisons for implementation of recommendations from NRES 285: iCAP Sustainability Ambassadors class: Armory. ~ Meredith
    • Follow through with Facility Liaisons for implementation of recommendations from NRES 285: iCAP Sustainability Ambassadors class: Bevier Hall. ~ Meredith
    • CCNet Website: Work with the Champaign County Sustainability Network (CCNet) leadership team to redesign and publish the CCNet website (old version is online at http://www.champaigncountynet.org/). There is a monthly brown bag sustainability networking event on the Third Thursday of each month, but the website hasn't been updated since 2016. Contact Morgan White at mbwhite at illinois.edu. ~ Morgan
    • We are seeking a student volunteer who can do tree identification for a series of trees in the Arboretum, and work with the University Landscape Architect, Brent Lewis, and the Superintendent of Grounds, Ryan Welch, to compare the tree identification to the draft tree inventory. Contact Morgan White at mbwhite at illinois.edu. ~ Morgan
    • Help iSEE develop a Sustainability Literacy Assessment. Contact Meredith Moore, mkm007 at illinois.edu. ~Meredith
    • Help iSEE work with Student Sustainability Committee grant to expand small scale campus composting. Contact Meredith Moore at mkm0078 at illinois.edu. ~ Meredith

    • This project is a collaboration with the Illinois State Section of the American Planning Association; we have been asked to create a community land use and revitalization plan for a small town in Kankakee County.  It is a rural community, predominantly people of color, originally settled by folks leaving the South during the Great Migration.  There are many layers to the story, but it is ultimately a story of environmental equity as The Nature Conservancy and Field Museum have been collaborating with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to acquire land to create the Black Oak Savana nature preserve.  The majority of residents are opposed to this preserve, primarily because land has been purchased via tax sale and foreclosure, therefore taking land out of Black ownership.  This also further burdens remaining property owners because the nature preserve land becomes tax exempt, shifting the property taxes that are no longer paid on nature preserve property to a smaller and smaller portion of land owners.  

      Students interested in this project could assist with GIS analysis and help identify opportunities to balance environmental sustainability goals and land preservation with social and economic sustainability goals and to identify economic opportunities that accomplish all three.  Contact Lacey Rains Lowe at lacey.rains <at> champaignil.gov.

    • Expand on existing statistical analysis with ArcGIS and spreadsheets of potential race/income disparities in provision of street trees, sidewalks, urban heat, parks, bus stops, etc.  Data sets provided. Contact is Scott Tess at srtess <at> urbanaillinois.us.

    • LIVESTOCK FACILITY DECOMMISSIONING at the Imported Swine Research Laboratory - The push to expand the UI Research Park will require decommissioning of the waste lagoons associated with the Imported Swine Research Laboratory (ISRL). This presents an nice opportunity for a class to develop and design a decommissioning plan with associated costs and timeline. Colleen Ruhter is the point of contact, cruhter <at> illinois.edu.

    If you have a project idea, please contact us at sustainability@illinois.edu, or submit it through the iCAP Portal Suggestions page.

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