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.

Reduce Energy Use on Campus By Going ‘Green’

The start of the semester is the perfect time to "green" our campus environment! Visit the Certified Greener Campus Programs page to learn about simple steps students, faculty, and staff can take to improve the sustainability of their workspaces, activities, and living environments through the Certified Green Office, Certified Green Events, and Certified Green Chapter programs.

Facilities & Services and iSEE have also developed a Greener Labs Inventory Toolkit to help analyze the energy used by lab equipment and identify opportunities for more sustainable lab practices. Together, all of these programs support the Illinois Climate Action Plan's goal of reducing energy consumption and promoting campus sustainability!

All, Another busy week. Only managed to replenish our stock of For Sale Bikes by a few this week but sold them all within an hour of being open each day. Demand for bikes is still sky-high. Accordingly, most—if not all—of the Build-a-Bikes have been claimed. We did receive a couple of viable donations we’ll fix up this week.

This week, I’ll also be promoting our Grand Re-Opening that’s happening Thursday, 9/16 from 4 – 7p. We’ve got flyers we’re handing out and talking it up to everyone who comes into the Bike Center. Here’s a blurb we can share out to relevant contacts:

On Thursday, September 16th, from 4-7, Campus Bike Center is celebrating their Grand Re-Opening at their new location on 51 E. Gregory Dr., Champaign, IL 61820. Come enjoy fun activities, games, and a chance to win a free bike! UIPD will be doing an escorted ride around the block at 5:00 for riders who would like to join. There will be tabling from campus and community organizations, and on the basketball court side you will get a chance to make a basket and be entered into a raffle for a chance to win a refurbished bicycle. We plan to give away an adult bike and a child one. See you there!

We’ve got a couple new hires in the pipeline that should be onboard in the next week or so—fingers crossed.

The numbers:

Visitors: 105
Sales: $1,732
Bikes (refurb): 3 for $675
Build-a-Bike: 3 for $120
Memberships: 17 for $510
Tires/tubes: 17 for $82

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

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 8/30/21:

• 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.
• Develop informational messaging about SmartWay, get more UIUC departments aware of the program, and coordinate a related student event.  Contact Morgan White at mbwhite at illinois.edu.
• Support the Champaign County Design and Conservation Foundation (CCDCF) Board with their county-wide efforts for conservation and design.
• Conduct a campus poll (fall semester 2021) regarding the Top 10 most iconic/significant/impressive trees on campus (including the arboretum). Develop an online survey tool (i.e., an online poll) whereby students and campus employees can nominate their favorite campus trees. Upon conclusion of the survey, work with Jay Hayek to tabulate and rank the results and create a publicly viewable ArcGIS Online StoryMap showcasing campuses Top Ten Trees. Prepare a presentation of results for the annual Arbor Day Celebration. Contact Jay Hayek at jhayek at illinois.edu.
• Follow through with Facility Liaisons for implementation of recommendations from NRES 285: iCAP Sustainability Ambassadors class: Illini Union.
• Follow through with Facility Liaisons for implementation of recommendations from NRES 285: iCAP Sustainability Ambassadors class: Huff Hall.
• Follow through with Facility Liaisons for implementation of recommendations from NRES 285: iCAP Sustainability Ambassadors class: ECE Building.
• Follow through with Facility Liaisons for implementation of recommendations from NRES 285: iCAP Sustainability Ambassadors class: Armory.
• Follow through with Facility Liaisons for implementation of recommendations from NRES 285: iCAP Sustainability Ambassadors class: Bevier Hall.
• 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.
• 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.
• Work on outlining sustainable initiatives that DIA can take in support of the Green Sports Alliance. Contact Meredith Moore, mkm0078 at llinois.edu.
• Help iSEE develop a Sustainability Literacy Assessment. Contact Meredith Moore, mkm007 at illinois.edu. 
• Help identify and develop opportunities for intersecting sustainability and the arts (sustainability murals, utility box artwork, etc.). Contact Meredith Moore, mkm0078 at illinois.edu. 
• Develop permanent posters for the Solar Farm 2.0, to guide tour participants at the site. Contact Morgan White at mbwhite at illinois.edu.
• Help iSEE work with Student Sustainability Committee grant to expand small scale campus composting. Contact Meredith Moore at mkm0078 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.

After discussions with Michael McKelvey at MSTE and Aaron Mason and Ian Bonadeo at Hawkeye Energy Solutions, since Morgan White put them in contact back in April, the ECE building’s energy dashboards are now available without requiring a login and via domain name rather than IP address! Here are the dashboards:

ECE Building – Energy Dashboard

ECE Building – Net Zero Energy Dashboard

You can view the listing of dashboards currently available at the U of I Building Energy Dashboard Home Page.

On our campus, we recycle five major commodities: paper, cardboard, aluminum cans, plastic bottles #1 and #2, and scrap metal.  F&S Waste Management coordinates recycling at the campus level, and for the whole system to work, we need everyone to use the recycling bins.  Please pledge now to Use the Bin and support the Illinois Climate Action Plan! 

Morgan White • F&S and iSEE

Recycling on Campus? Use the Bin!

The eighth iSEE Congress will return to the topic of feeding the world: providing a safe, secure supply of food and fuel to an ever-increasing human population using agricultural practices that are ecologically sustainable and adaptable to climate change. Influential speakers and panelists will offer cutting-edge thinking about advancing the sustainability of our agriculture and food systems. Visit the webpage for the latest details! Register now>>>

Fall iSEE Congress: Circular Food Systems
Oct. 26-27 | Illini Rooms A-C | Illini Union, 1401 W. Green St., Urbana

The attached project list is being considered by the nearly 200 CEE first year students for the Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Project Based Learning class this year. The project idea list had been formed over several years and was last updated on August 23, 2021.

This year, the CEE project based learning course transitioned to a requirement for all incoming CEE students and a permanent part of the curriculum.  It has 188 students, meets 4-6 on Mondays and Wednesdays in 0035 CIF, and is still team-taught by CEE faculty with F&S assistance. There are also some online students and a mirrored course that Dr. Art Schmidt is teaching for a partner school in China via Zoom.

All, Last week was absolutely bonkers busy. We sold out of most of our bikes, handed out bike registration stickers, and taken in some drop-off repairs. We were closed on Friday for a staff training so we did all that in two days. We’re really getting to see how our new space handles the crush of people this time of year. Only downside is we’re only able to be open M/W/F since we’re critically low on staffing. Once we hire and onboard more folks, we’ll be able to bump up our hours some more.

Over the weekend we had the Illini Frenzy event which was a great outreach opportunity. We handed out lots of Bike Center stickers, slap bracelets and flyers.

This week will likely be as busy or busier than last. Buckle up!

The numbers:

Sales: $1,848
Bikes: 9 for $1,410
Memberships: 6 for $180
Tire/tubes: 17 for $66

U-locks: 10 for $215

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator