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  1. Sustainable Student Farm Vermicomposting Project (I-Compost) Evaluation

    Associated Project(s): 
    Vermicompost
    NRES 285: Sustainability Metrics and Evaluation Techniques

    The Vermicomposting project (also known as I-Compost) in Sustainable Student Farm (SSF) began as part of the Transplant and Vermi-Composting Multiuse Greenhouse project. It is a pilot project to close the loop between the student farm and the university dining hall. The Transplant and Vermi-Composting Multiuse Greenhouse project received $65,222 grant from Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) on April 24, 2013. It also received $8,565 grant from the Office of Public Engagement on November 28, 2012 and $1,000 grant from Ernst & Young on March 21, 2012. The constructions of greenhouse and vermicomposting unit are completed on Fall 2013.

    Attached Files: 

  2. Sustainability of the Prairie Garden at The University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine

    Associated Project(s): 
    Vet Med Prairies
    NRES 285: Sustainability Metrics and Evaluation Techniques

    In 1820, Illinois contained 22 million acres of prairie, but due to modern intensive agricultural practices, only a few thousand remain today. Of high quality, remnant prairie, there are only 2,300 acres which mostly persist along railroads, in cemeteries, and in ground that is not fit for farming (DNR, 2014). Prairies are part of the history and culture of Illinois. The rich soils that grow so much food for people all over the country were formed under prairie landscapes. These grassland habitats have a lot of potential to continue providing ecosystem services for the citizens of Illinois, but first we have to recognize those ecosystem services and realize the value of the sustainability of prairie landscapes. Faculty at the University of Illinois Veterinary School and at the Illinois Natural History Survey have aimed to do just that through a prairie restoration project on the Veterinary Medicine campus.

    Attached Files: 

  4. Revised scope to fit budget

    Associated Project(s): 
    TBH Lighting Project

    From: Sweeney, Eva Maria
    Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2014 3:41 PM
    To: Chasco, David; Hall, Gaines B; Johnston, Morgan B; Tousignant, Teresa Marie Giardina
    Cc: Rubin, Joshua
    Subject: RE: Temple Buell - lighting controls upgrade

    Dir. Chasco,

    Thanks for your reply.  I’ll notify the project coordinator to proceed without the dimming controls.

    Regards,

    -Eva

     

    From: Chasco, David
    Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2014 2:05 PM
    To: Hall, Gaines B; Sweeney, Eva Maria; Johnston, Morgan B; Tousignant, Teresa Marie Giardina
    Cc: Rubin, Joshua
    Subject: RE: Temple Buell - lighting controls upgrade

     

    See below.

     

    From: Hall, Gaines B
    Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2014 12:27 PM
    To: Sweeney, Eva Maria; Johnston, Morgan B; Tousignant, Teresa Marie Giardina; Chasco, David
    Cc: Rubin, Joshua
    Subject: RE: Temple Buell - lighting controls upgrade

     

    I will defer to Director Chasco for this answer.

     

    Gaines

     

    From: Sweeney, Eva Maria
    Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2014 11:24 AM
    To: Johnston, Morgan B; Tousignant, Teresa Marie Giardina; Hall, Gaines B; Chasco, David
    Cc: Rubin, Joshua
    Subject: FW: Temple Buell - lighting controls upgrade

     

    All,

     

    Please see below.  Per our discussions at the 95% review, I added in continuous dimming

    to the 2nd and 3rd floor studios daylighting controls.  I had hoped we could afford this within the

    project budget, but the bid has come in too high.

     

    Would it be acceptable to the department to remove the dimming function, and have the

    daylighting operate in on/off mode only?  This will save a huge amount and put us back on budget. Yes, that is ok if it helps the budget.

     

    Please let me know your thoughts ASAP so I can have the contractor revise their bid.

    David

    Thanks,

    -Eva

     

    From: Rubin, Joshua
    Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2014 4:44 PM
    To: Sweeney, Eva Maria
    Subject: Temple Buell

     

    Eva

     

    As discussed, the fixed cost JOC scope of work for the TBH Lighting upgrades is ~$119,580.  This does not include any F&S system integrity support (this would be time and material support for things like smoke outage support, electrical outage support, ballast disposal) which would be minor on this project.

     

    The emergency exit light replacement cost is approx. $9,500.00

     

    Removal of the dimming requirement for the studio/lab areas would save somewhere in the range of $33,300 - $50,000

     

    Please let me know if you and the customer (Gaines Hall?) would like a more exact proposal for any of the options above and how you would like to proceed with this project.

     

    Thanks,

     

    Josh Rubin

    JOC Project Specialist

    Facilities & Services

    University of Illinois

    1501 S Oak St.

    Champaign, IL 61820

    Office:   (217) 300-2469

    Cell:        (217) 377-5493

  5. Bike Funding Needs

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    In 2011, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was recognized as a bronze-level Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) by the League of American Bicyclists. This was in large part a result of efforts by Facilities & Services in cooperation with community partners, including the Bicycle Friendly Cities of Urbana and Champaign and Champaign County Bikes, which is dedicated to making Champaign County the most bicycle friendly county in the Midwest.  The Student Sustainability Committee, Illinois Student Senate, and Dean of Students have added funding.

    The BFU Bronze status expires in 2015, and campus needs to address several bicycle-related items in order to maintain Bronze status or achieve the Silver designation.  Key points, status, timing, and approximate long-term funding needs are below.

    Task

    Status

    Timing

     Long-term Funding Needs

    Approve Campus Bike Plan

    final edits underway, then routing for approval from F&S and Campus

    30-Jun-14

    use existing staff time

    Improve bikeway network

    integrating some of these with street and capital projects, seeking grants

    five to ten years

    approximately $4 Million

    Upgrade bike parking

    over 150 parking locations are not up to acceptable standards

    three to five years

    approximately $400K

    Adopt Campus Bike Code and  bike registration system

    final edits underway, then routing for approval; costs include tracking citations, and handling registration

    approve by June 30, 2014

    $5-$20k/year recurring

    Campus Bicycle Coordinator over programs such as bike sharing and ambassadors

    no funding available, currently managed part-time by a team of F&S

    needed

    $45k/year recurring

    Bicycle Education maps, materials and classes

    currently offered by the Campus Bike Center and Champaign County Bikes

    ongoing

    $5-$10k/year recurring

    Campus Bike Center advocacy, education, and encouragement

    recurring events, in collaboration with Champaign County Bikes and student advocacy groups

    needed

    $50k/year recurring

    With increasing ridership over the last decade and an average of 5,000 bikes on campus during a typical hour, it is clear that bicycle-related needs should not be ignored.  Bikeway improvements, parking upgrades, and a new bike code are in progress now; however, to keep the Bicycle Friendly status, campus should allocate $50,000 in FY15 for the Campus Bike Center (a collaboration between campus and The Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign).

    The Bike Center distributes UI registration stickers; maintains Bike Fix-it Stations; provides a central base for the bicycling community on campus; encourages mode-shift through various events and classes throughout the year; distributes educational resources regarding bicycling; educates students, faculty, staff, and campus visitors about basic bicycle maintenance; and collaborates with campus and community partners in bicycle-related programs.  By keeping the Bike Center open, campus can spread awareness about the many improvements, increase safety, sustainability, and health on campus, and continue to offer education and encouragement events this coming year.

    Attached Files: 

  8. SSC suggestion about growing the RLF

    Associated Project(s): 
    Revolving Loan Fund (RLF)

    Dear Mike,

    The Student Sustainability Committee recently decided to fund a project entitled "Energy Shade Curtains - Phase III" for the Plant Care Facility in the amount of $71,000.  The project aims to install and program new shade curtains to decrease unnecessary overuse of energy to heat, cool, and power greenhouse rooms.  An earlier phase of this project included detailed metering, which demonstrated a 50% reduction in heat inputs and a 32% reduction in electricity consumption.

    The SSC, and iSEE, would like to ask whether the energy savings resulting from this project can be "paid back" into the Revolving Loan Fund in order to help facilitate future energy-saving projects.  Obviously we would have to quantify exactly what the savings are, before moving forward.

    Sincerely,

    Marika Nell (Outgoing Chair, SSC)
    Amy Liu (Incoming Chair, SSC)
    Ben McCall (Associate Director for Campus Sustainability, iSEE)
     

  9. Work order for MSEB occ sensor work

    Associated Project(s): 
    Occupancy and Daylight Sensors

    Work Request 141288 converted to Work Order 10288695

    Work Order: 10288695

    Building: 0034 - MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENG BLDG

    Room:

    Department Reference:

    Customer Description:

    Please provide engineering design services to install lighting occupancy sensors and HVAC occupancy sensors in the Materials Science and Engineering Building (MSEB).  Charge CFOP 1-762417-862004-xxxxxx-198000.

    Phases:

    Phase: 001 DESIGN SERVICES

  10. Penn State wins Big Ten CCN competition

    Associated Project(s): 
    Eco-Olympics

    Hello Big Ten CCN competitors! 

    CCN officially ended on April 25th and the results were published yesterday. Congratulations to Penn State University on taking the lead of Big Ten Unplugged with an overall 3.3% electricity reduction during the competition. Penn State University was also a winner in the poster category.  

    Taking 2nd place was Ohio State University with a 3.1% reduction. 3rd place goes to University of Wisconsin - Madison with a 2.2% reduction. Congrats to our top 3 Big Ten Unplugged winners! 

    I'd like to propose that we continue a Big Ten Challenge in the future not only for CCN but any nationwide competition focused on resource reduction. I will propose a meeting for us some time in late summer to outline what future competitions within Big Ten might look like. 

    Best, 

    Stacey White
    Sustainability Coordinator

    University Services

    University of Minnesota

    Office: 612-624-3285

    Cell: 612-978-0843

    Fax: 612-625-4133

     

  11. Mode Shift update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reduce Driving on Campus
    Multi-Modal Transportation Study [ARCHIVED]

    CUUATS completed a University District Traffic Circulation Study, using information from a campus-wide statistically relevant survey.

    The following table shows the mode share information based on the survey conducted in April-May, 2011.

    Level

    Travel Mode (%)

    Walk

    Bike

    Transit

    Drive Alone

    Carpool

    Get a Ride

    Other

    Faculty

    9

    18

    10

    51.9

    9

    1.9

    0

    Staff

    5.4

    6.4

    9.1

    65.2

    9.7

    3.5

    0.6

    Freshman

    50.2

    12

    34.8

    0.7

    0.2

    0.7

    1.4

    Sophomore

    53.1

    9.1

    34.1

    1.6

    0.3

    0

    1

    Junior

    48.5

    12.6

    28.8

    8.6

    0.6

    0.9

    0

    Senior

    49.1

    10.5

    27.1

    11.2

    1.4

    0.4

    0.4

    Masters

    23.4

    13

    41.3

    18.4

    2.1

    1.8

    0

    PhD

    20.1

    15.2

    39

    20.8

    3.4

    1.6

    0

     

    Attached Files: 

  12. Q&A with Tim Mies and Mike Marquissee

    Associated Project(s): 
    Biomass Boiler at the Energy Farm

    From: Marquissee, Mike
    Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2014 11:22 AM
    To: Mies, Timothy A; Anderson, Gary L; Dale Johnston (dkjohnst@igb.illinois.edu)
    Subject: RE: Copy of UofI propane 040414-MLM EDITS.xls

    Tim,

    See answers below.

    Mike

    From: Mies, Timothy A
    Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2014 9:01 AM
    To: Marquissee, Mike; Anderson, Gary L; Dale Johnston (dkjohnst@igb.illinois.edu)
    Subject: RE: Copy of UofI propane 040414-MLM EDITS.xls

    Hi Mike,

    Several questions have come up that I would like you input on in regards to the green revolving loan fund in cases that might occur that do not follow the typical project pattern.

    Scenario 1) The energy farm reverts to another department at the completion of the grant of the Energy Biosciences Institute before the loan is repaid.  How would the loan be handled in cases where the new department weren’t within the VCR cost area? 

    • Since the loan is being repaid from the campus pool in favor of the VCR, it is likely that it would still pay out in favor of which other campus department it goes to.  Unless it turns into a self-supporting entity, which is unlikely.  In that unlikely event, the self-supporting entity would repay the loan.

    Scenario 2) A crop loss occurs one year that would limit/prevent the savings that are estimated from our initial estimates? 

    • The Campus utility pool would still pay out.  Just that the savings would not be recognized.  It would also pay for the additional propane.  The loss would not come out of the project.

    Scenario 3) Miscanthus ceases to be produced on the energy farm, resulting in no more mxg produced locally?  Would F&S then consider purchasing MXG from a local farmer who could supply the material? Assuming the boiler installed could handle multiple feedstocks, wood chips may be an alternative. 

    • We support this project because there is a research project attached to it.  If that project is discontinued, we would then have to discuss who repays the loan.  Most likely it would be out of the research fund, then, which would also pay for the restoration of the site and so on.  I don’t think we would be interested in providing alternative fuel sources or manage an abandoned research project.

    Thanks for your input.

    Tim

  13. Request to SWATeam

    Associated Project(s): 
    Establish a Net Zero Waste Plan and Policy
    Zero Waste iCAP Team

    Hello waste SWATeam and Ben,

    As you know, the iCAP called for a Zero Waste Policy to be developed, and we have a draft for a CAM policy (attached). 

    I’m not sure a CAM policy is the best solution, so I asked around for information about where campus policies usually reside and I was given the following info.  As the SWATeams are approved to move forward to the next phase, it would be great to have iSEE and the iCAP SWATeam take the lead on getting a formal Zero Waste Policy adopted. 

    Ben, Bart, and I have discussed this over the last few months, and I believe it is most appropriate advancing to campus decision makers through the iCAP process rather than through F&S.  Please let me know what you think.

    Thanks,  Morgan

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

    Dear Purchasing, Waste, and Recycling SWATeam,   I just wanted to add my $0.02 that I concur with Morgan that it makes sense to pursue the review and approval of a Zero Waste Policy through the SWATeam process, and your team is clearly the right one for this task.  Cheers,  Ben

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

    I like the idea. If there is an agreement, we can discuss the policy itself in our next meeting. 

    Regards,

    -Dilip Chhajed ------------ I'm in. - Warren Lavey

     

    Attached Files: 

  14. Registration events at Residence Halls

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Registration

    Schedule

    Monday, April 28, 11AM-2PM

    Student Dining and Residential Programs (SDRP) Building

    Tuesday, April 29, 11AM-2PM

    Illinois Street Residence Halls (ISR)

    Wednesday, April 30, 11AM-2PM

    Allen Hall/Lincoln Avenue Residence Hall (LAR)

    Thursday, May 1, 11AM-2PM

    Pennsylvania/Florida Avenue Residence Hall(s) (PAR/FAR)

     

  15. Final Report

    Associated Project(s): 
    Eco-Olympics

    Morgan,

    The closing report is attached for your review.

    The celebration for Barton (and the organization team) is May 7th in Clark hall rooms A&B from 6-7 pm,

    The trophies are ordered and scheduled to be given to building team captains at the celebration.

    ~Paul Foote

    Attached Files: 

  16. construction schedule

    Associated Project(s): 
    TBH Lighting Project

    Prof. Hall, Teresa and Morgan,

    Just a quick update – we held the initial site meeting with contractors yesterday. Prof. Chasco was in attendance as we toured the building and discussed construction plans.

    At this time work is projected to begin about May 19th.  Any questions on construction or schedule are best directed to Josh Rubin who will be overseeing the work.

    Of course you can always contact me with technical questions or anything else on your mind.

    Regards,

    -Eva

  17. "Connectivity and Accessibility of UIUC Campus Bike Paths"

    Associated Project(s): 
    2014 Campus Bike Plan [ARCHIVED]
    Independent Student Projects

    "The results here indicate that the changes to the UIUC network do in fact improve connectivity over the existing network. Moreover, the planned network lowers the average shortest-distance path between libraries, dormitories, and the Union by nearly the same amount as a control scenario without paths at all. While we may assume that a bicycle master plan will address and improve connectivity as a matter of course – and the language in the plans claims that they do – it seems counterintuitive that this simple test not be included in the research process to confirm that this is so. Ultimately what these accessibility and connectivity analyses show is that while planners and bicycle advocates may seek to improve bicycle infrastructure, we need a way to quantify and subsequently verify that any changes will improve the functionality of the network and the ease with which a rider can travel from one location to another." -- Pildes, Russell. (2014) "Connectivity and Accessibility of UIUC Campus Bike Paths", B.A. Honors Thesis, Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

    Attached Files: 

  18. email to participants

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Counts

    Happy Bike Census Day, 

    Thank you so much for participating in the April 2014 Bike Census!

    We are really excited to get a hold of the data you collected it and to tally the count. 

    Today (Wednesday) after 8PM and tomorrow (Thursday) before 6PM would be ideal. If you could please send me times when you know you will be at home or in an office, I will definitely try to stop by and pick it up then. I could also meet you at a specific time and place. Feel free to give me a call if that is easier. 

    If it's easy, you could also scan and email it to me. 

    Thanks again for participating! If you didn't get a t-shirt, please let me know and I will bring you one.

    Andy

    Andy Kopp

    Campus Bicycle Planning Intern

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Facilities and Services

  19. ARC approval

    Associated Project(s): 
    Recycling for the Quad

    From: Lev, James R
    Sent: Monday, April 21, 2014 3:52 PM
    To: Bartels, Bart A
    Cc: Johnston, Morgan B; Architecture Review Committee
    Subject: RE: Reycling in the Quad

    Bart,

    ARC approves of the new recycling program using the two containers at 30 Quad locations. We understand that this is an experimental program to encourage recycling.   Please keep us informed as to the success of the program. 

    Jim

  20. ARC approval

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sheltered Bike Parking at CLSL

    From: Lev, James R
    Sent: Monday, April 21, 2014 4:37 PM
    To: Geoffrey Chambers
    Cc: Eller, Jonathan Randall; Johnston, Morgan B; Architecture Review Committee
    Subject: RE: Approval for SSC Proposal: Shelter Bicycle Parking for CLSL and RAL

    Geoff:

    Thank you for your summary and request for review comments on your proposed project. 

    ARC finds no significant issues with the proposed locations of a cover bike shelter adjacent to the Chem Life Sciences Building.  

    ARC would want to consider shelter designs on a location by location basis.  The shelters may not be acceptable everywhere on campus.   Each site would need to be considered on its own merits and appropriateness of design.  We would like to see a proposal for these two suggested locations: size, location, number of racks, costs and the design.   We’d like to see what you have in mind. 

    Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

    Jim

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