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Morgan Johnston announced this morning on ESPNcu.com that the public are welcome to attend a tour of the Solar Farm Thursday after the Ribbon Cutting ceremony. To attend the tour, be at the iHotel and Conference Center east parking area at 11am. There is no parking available at the Solar Farm, and it will be very muddy, so the shuttle is the best option for attending the tour.
Completion of the 5.87 megawatt Solar Farm is a historic moment for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and renewable energy generation on campus. An invitation-only ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at the Solar Farm site on November 19 at 10:30 a.m. to recognize the accomplishment.
University and campus administration, Facilities & Services staff, Student Sustainability Committee representatives, and project partners from Rockwell Financial and Phoenix Solar Inc. LLC are scheduled to be in attendance.
The Solar Farm is expected to produce 7.86 million kilowatt-hours per year or approximately two percent of the average electrical demand for the Urbana campus.
The electricity which will be generated by the Solar Farm is a significant step in meeting long-term Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) targets and achieving carbon neutrality as soon as possible, and no later than 2050.
Hello all,
This past week was productive. I set up the bike shipment, and got a lot of the bikes ready for shipment. There are maybe about 180 prepared already. I got a lot of cleaning done at the shop and have a decent work space with both our stock bikes as well as 70 to be shipped. I was able to clear out a lot of accumulated junk, and hang a huge amount of stuff from the ceiling. I got a bunch of tools and supplies this week that we needed. Some of the stuff was normal like drill bits and hangers. Other things were more exciting. I got some socket pieces and spent most of Thursday welding. I made adapters for both shops so we can put ANY attachment on the impact screwdriver. Normal screws bits, sockets, allen keys. I did this now because with the shipment we have several bikes with stuck bolts that need unstuck and we don't have a lot of time to wait for oil to work. I also welded real handles on some BB tools. A student's hand slipped last week and they almost got hurt. These handles will help. I also repaired a few of our tools that had broken. I painted all of the wrenches and carts because the electrical tape isn't working. People seem to like it. I finished putting stickers on the cargo bike and sent it out into the world with Rick. He is going to do a test run of 2 weeks with the cargo bike. He is also doing a bike share for his department so it works well that he has some infrastructure set up. He is going to give me feed back so the first real demo works better. I ordered some accessories for Rick's bike share. He's waiting on his dept to get the money, but if it doesn't pan out they are items we normally stock. We had a lot of volunteers. Students have been getting in trouble at the book store and we are now the hot place to do community service. It has worked well with the amount of bikes we have stripped or prepared for shipment. The students are also starting to come after their service hours are done and hang out. We are starting to build community with folks who aren't bike nuts.
This week. I will be preparing bikes for shipment and working on taking care of all the details to make the shipment happen. I will also be working on class schedules once we remove the 70 bikes from the back we will have space to run classes while we are open.
From the Campus Outpost,
James Roedl
Hello all,
This past week was productive. We were able to prepare 50 bikes at the warehouse, as well as 60 bikes at the two shops. I created a use agreement for the cargo bike that is being review by the Universities lawyers. We sold 1 bike for $120, 1 build-a-bike for $150, 1 build-a-bike for $80, 2 memberships for $50, and grossed $549.50. I worked on setting up the yearly bike shipment. I put on a class for the athletic department about basic maintenance and bike safety. We got a bunch of bikes from the City of Champaign. I also worked on search committee tasks.
This week I will be working on preparing more bikes for shipment as well as coordinating the shipment. I will be trying to make room in the back of shop as we have 30 bikes ready for shipment here. I will be giving the cargo bike to Rick for demonstration to his department.
From the Campus Outpost,
James Roedl
Hello all,
This last week was good. We went to the Illinois Bike Summit, tables, learned and presented. We had quite a few people come in and were able to keep a high level of quality and quantity. We sold 1 bike for $120, 1 Build-a-bike for $40, 5 memberships for $125, and grossed $743. I got 25 or so bikes from the police, and worked with parking on releasing the bikes in the warehouse. I processed about 20 scrapper bikes and Todd removed the waste metal. I set up a time to collect bikes from the City of Champaign this week.
This week I will be going to the warehouse to prepare bikes for shipment, I will collect bikes from the City of Champaign, and work on finding places for bikes in the campus shop. I will also devote time to search committee duties. I will try to build more bikes to create space rather than organize the bikes.
From the Campus Outpost,
James Roedl
Hello all,
This last week was good. We went to the Illinois Bike Summit, tables, learned and presented. We had quite a few people come in and were able to keep a high level of quality and quantity. We sold 1 bike for $120, 1 Build-a-bike for $40, 5 memberships for $125, and grossed $743. I got 25 or so bikes from the police, and worked with parking on releasing the bikes in the warehouse. I processed about 20 scrapper bikes and Todd removed the waste metal. I set up a time to collect bikes from the City of Champaign this week.
This week I will be going to the warehouse to prepare bikes for shipment, I will collect bikes from the City of Champaign, and work on finding places for bikes in the campus shop. I will also devote time to search committee duties. I will try to build more bikes to create space rather than organize the bikes.
From the Campus Outpost,
James Roedl
According to the 2010 Illinois Climate Action Plan, the University will exceed the state local food procurement standards by making more than 30 percent of food purchases from local sources (within 100 miles) by 2015. The University will commit to a Zero Waste campus policy by 2012, a large-scale food composting project by 2012, and target an increase in the University’s waste diversion rate to 75 percent by 2020.
Hello all,
This past week was good. I built the cargo bike, went to the the all employee expo, and got a lot done. We built several bikes for sale and got a lot of cleaning done. I worked on search committee items as well. We sold 1 build-a-bike for $130, 5 student memberships for $125, and grossed $1279.58. There were a lot of people who came by and checked out the cargo bike. I was able to get Rick Langlois to demo the bike for 2 weeks at his department so we can see what issues may arise. I have FAA lined up to be the next. They will have it longer. I also spent some time helping Rick find bikes and accessories for the departmental bike share he is starting. I completed the emergency plan and have had all students review and sign the document. I spent some time working on our performance reports.
This week I will be participating in the Bike Summit, working on making some tools, and cleaning the shop. I will also be preparing for a class I have scheduled on Nov. 5th with the athletic department. I will continue work on the performance reports as well.
From the Campus Outpost,
James Roedl
Hello all,
last week was good. We fixed a lot of bikes, and got somethings repaired at the shop. We sold a build-a-bike for $40, 4 student memberships, 1 community membership, 1 family membership, and grossed $893.
This week I will build the new cargo bike, work on search committee items, and work on getting the cargo bike loaned out to a department.
From the Campus Outpost,
James Roedl
Hello all,
I came back Tuesday just in time for Volunteer hours! The Center is in good shape and the students are anxious to fix bikes. There was a suspected gas leak that turned out to be a false alarm. It was good practice. It also alerted us to the fact that we don't have an emergency plan. It was decided to get an emergency plan setup and registered with the emergency service departments. We sold 3 bikes for $380, 2 build-a-bikes for $190, 7 student memberships for $175, 1 community membership for $40, and grossed $1328.00. I also meet with the Active Transportation Search Committee and work on that item.
This week I plan on getting an emergency plan for the Center. I will be doing more work with the search committee. I plan on building more bikes, and continuing to organize the shop.
From the Campus Outpost,
James Roedl
Hello all,
This past week was great. We were closed for part of the week so I could go to a bicycle conference. We were busy other wise. The Center sold 2 bikes for $260, 2 build-a-bikes for $90, 1 membership for $25, and grossed $877.22. I worked on preforming my duties as a member for the Active Transportation Coordinator search committee. I also was able to build a couple of bikes.
This week I plan on continuing work with the search committee, cleaning the shop, and building bikes to make room in the back of the shop for my long term goal of a educational area.
From the Campus Outpost,
James Roedl
Hello all,
This past week was busy but good. I was able to start our partnership with the school of education and orientate the EDU 201 students. I registered quite a few bikes, and we had strong attendance at the Center. We also lent a pair of bikes to the Krannert center for a performance, which is said to have been wonderful. We sold 1 bike for $120, 12 student memberships for $300, and 3 community memberships for $120. The Center grossed $1278. I went to the BPAC meeting. Nothing of note there, we just went over the MCORE plans.
This coming week I will be training students from the EDU 201 class on how to help us at the Bike Project and Bike Center. I will be preparing for my absence in October for Bike!Bike!. I will also be training new employees, and making sure shop operations are up to standard. With the busyness of fall, and trying to fill in for the not yet hired active trans coordinator a lot of things were not attended to as well as I would have liked.
From the Campus Outpost,
James Roedl
see file
BIKE RACK REPLACEMENTS: The replacement of 344 broken/unusable campus bike racks at the College of Education, Loomis Laboratory, Main Library, Mechanical Engineering Building, and Smith Memorial Hall was completed. Bike racks at David Kinley Hall and the Psychology Building will also be replaced in coordination with construction taking place at those locations.
Hello all,
This past week was very busy. We did lots of good stuff. We successfully pulled off the LTN 2015. We served quite a few people, and found a new person to work at the shop. We sold one bike for $160, 2 build-a-bikes for $100, 6 memberships for $150, and grossed $10,078.57. I made more shop fliers, and continued to setup the EDU 201 course. Stacey and I have been following up on the cargo bike situation, and I met with Jeff Yockey about the Bike Summit. No bike built. We have been too busy.
This week I will finalize hiring a new employee who will substitute when staff are now here/transition into staff. We will be losing two staffers in December, and more in the spring. I am working on getting the shop back into shape after the student rush, and organizing it a little better. I will also be doing orientation for the EDU 201 course Wednesday night.
From the Campus Outpost,
James Roedl
The past few weeks have been very busy. I have not been able to write a weekly digest. We have seen a massive increase in people coming in. The shop has been operating at above capacity, but with some patience on the part of those coming in as well as some kind volunteers we have gotten by. We have tabled at the International Student Check in, Quad Day, and the Paraprofessional Resource Fair. We pulled about 80 bikes from the warehouse, donated quite a few bikes to Habitat for Humanity, and a couple to the YMCA. I helped coordinate bike volunteers for Dump and Run and helped a little coordinating volunteers for Habitat for Humanity. I helped the organizers of the Illinois Bike Summit find speakers for the Community Bike Shop portion of the Summit. I helped create some new advocacy materials.
This week I plan on reorganizing the Center to fix the chaos of the last few weeks, building bikes, printing more advocacy materials, and working on ordering bike parts.
I will see about creating a class schedule for the semester.
From the Campus Outpost,
James Roedl
A mention about the Solar Farm project (see submission below) will be read on Chicago radio (popular morning show) in September as a part of the university’s branding/marketing efforts.
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA - CHAMPAIGN
Did you know the U of I is building a 20 acre Solar Farm on campus this year that will be one of the largest university solar arrays in the nation? It will produce enough electricity yearly to power 700 typical U.S. homes. Just another cool fact brought to you by the U of I.
Channel 3, WICD, did a news story about the Solar Farm construction progress. http://www.illinoishomepage.net/news/local-news/solar-farm-construction-...
“People would like a nice simple story with a guy in a black hat as the bad guy, but it’s complicated,” says May Berenbaum, head of the entomology department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. --from http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/September-2015/bees-or-not-bees/
