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  1. Meeting about water fountains

    Associated Project(s): 
    Water Fountain Retrofit
    Reduce Single-Use Plastics

    Matt Emmert, Jeff Schrader, Morgan Johnston, Amy Liu, and David Mischiu met to discuss the water fountain glass fillers project.  Mark Warner from the F&S plumbing shop was unable to make it due to a scheduling change. 

    • Do not put a spout on a fountain that is scheduled to be replaced.  
    • If two fountains in one location, put a spout only on the shorter fountains.
    • If the water fountain cannot easily be converted, then skip that fountain.

    1) Undergrad library.  Put them on the west upper level by elevator, lower level by elevator, espresso royale area, and the upper level east side (inside the library, on carpeted area).  F&S should also replace the one noted fountain, outside of the project funding.

    2) Grainger library.  The ones on the first floor are consistently having problems... Just do one per floor, except third floor. F&S should also fix the buttons on the first floor fountains, outside of the project funding.

    3) ACES library. First to fourth floor on south side.

    4) Main Library.  Put one on both in basement, east and west.  First floor center east.  Third floor north side. Put one on the fourth floor south side, after replacing the fountain. 

    Could talk with Sherri Miller at classroom reservations to get high use buildings. Lincoln Hall.  What happens if the spout gets popped off?  Does water shoot out?  

    Wohlers, leave off. Leave Natural Resources Building off.

    David, Amy, and Morgan will meet with facility contacts for the other buildings.  Loomis, Siebel, Armory.  

    Only order the spouts for one building at a time. 

     

     

     

  3. data about our avoided electrical costs

    Associated Project(s): 
    Use Clean Power

    To really understand the cost avoidance from clean energy, campus needs to compare the renewable electricity costs to the specific costs for buying electricity from the grid.  To do that we need to know that AMIL.peic is the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign MISO Node.

  4. Letter to SSC

    Associated Project(s): 
    FY12 SSC Bike Parking Upgrades [ARCHIVED]

    Dear Student Sustainability Committee,   As the new Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Coordinator in Facilities & Services, I am writing to introduce myself to the Committee and provide you with an update on the Bicycle Parking Upgrade project, which I have taken over as part of my new role. We have been transitioning the role of TDM Coordinator from Morgan Johnston to me since June, and she has been working to bring me up to speed on the large number of transportation infrastructure projects happening across campus, including bicycle parking upgrades. While we have made progress toward the completion of this project, we are requesting an additional extension to finish the work.   In addition to the delay from the staff transition period, we have taken some time to evaluate our various options to ensure that the upgraded racks provide the long-term solution that was intended by SSC’s funding award. One of the primary challenges with this project is that many of the bike parking locations selected for this project are in need of concrete or pavement upgrades; however, funding is not in the TDM budget to pay for these upgrades. One location, the Art & Design Building, has been completed so far with financial support from the Art & Design Department to re-lay new concrete at that site.  For the majority of the other locations, however, there is no funding available from the departments to repair or replace the cracked and degraded concrete.  This has made us hesitant to install new bicycle racks onto pavement that will need to be replaced in a matter of years.   As a more permanent solution, we are looking at a few alternative configurations of bike racks.  All those we are considering are moveable and can easily be relocated – whether to upgrade the pavement beneath them, to accommodate a construction project, or to permanently relocate a building’s bicycle parking to a more optimal location over time.  We are looking at rack units which can be purchased and also a rack where 5 U-loops would be installed on rails, rather than directly cemented into the ground. While the initial cost of constructing the loops on rails is higher, it is a much more sustainable approach to bike parking given the challenges at these locations, and it is more affordable than replacing the pavement at each location. A rack unit can also be placed on permeable pavement, or even in a gravel/grass location temporarily as needed.  The lifespan of a bike rack unit is significantly higher, and offers much greater flexibility for placement and upkeep of the racks and surrounding landscape. Due to a potential increased initial cost of the racks on rails configuration (if this is what is determined to be the approved configuration), I may be requesting approval to change the scope of the project.  A change of scope is necessary because fewer total bike parking loops may be possible when on racks. Once we have identified a configuration that meets the best need of the users, we will be ready to proceed with the project and do not expect any further delays, but getting to this point has taken longer than originally expected. We anticipate being finished with the installation of these racks before the beginning of the fall semester 2014. Please let me know whether this change in the scope of the project is acceptable to the SSC.  I will keep you informed on the status and look forward to working with you on the best solution for our campus. Facilities & Services is incredibly grateful to the SSC for your ongoing support for sustainable transportation initiatives on campus, and we look forward to continuing to work with you to make the campus more bike-able, walkable, and transit-friendly. If you would like more detail, please contact me.   Thank you,   Stacey DeLorenzo Design Review Coordinator Transportation Demand Management Coordinator University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Facilities Services Office: 217-300-1750 Cell: 217-722-4992        

    Attached Files: 

  5. Meeting with Madhu's team, Morgan, and Mike

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Dashboard Project

    Mike Marquissee and Morgan Johnston met with Madhu Viswanathan's team. The students were Doug, Julie, Ophelia, Tim, Colin. Colin is the point person and James scholar.

    They said their goal is to raise awareness with students about the power going to buildings and how we could be more efficient and more sustainable.  They have gathered feedback from some students about the current website (illinienergy.illinois.edu).

    Mike explained that Illinois has had a successful conservation program.  We have hit all the low hanging fruit, including retro commissioning, tightened facility standards, building controls replacements, and better monitoring.  We have already reaped the benefit of those major projects. Next phase is to identify and find ways to influence behvaior change...  How can we make people aware and how can we make people commit to... Get them behind our goals and use the tools?

    Deliverable from Madhu's team would be a website, a display app, and a business plan for implementing the dashboard. First, just getting a website to try it out.  More accessible and understanding.  Tips on how it works.

    The students will learn by doing.  Also a display going in Wohlers or BIF.  Mike brought examples of three versions of similar websites.  Arizona State University uses Lucid and they have an extra section that shows what can be done to reduce energy in a bedroom or an office.  Penn State uses Excelsius and runs their dashboard in flash... It has dials, et cetera.

    Our website uses Html5, soap commands, scrape websites.  F&S can provide the source code for our dashboard to access the source data.  Mike's team hasn't tried it yet, but they know the data is accessible.  Tim and Mike can work together to get the data.

    Morgan noted that the audience needs to include faculty and staff, not just students. Madhu agreed.  They are just starting with the students.

    Doug asked what sort of information should be included on a poster. Morgan said that the Energy Liaison presentations would be good starting points.  They are on the iCAP Portal, which the students had not yet seen.

    The website design has multiple options, which the team will evaluate and suggest best layouts.  Also, the physical display itself will be considered. BIF has a proprietary display. Also the campus has digital signage options. Typically it is a continuous display, rather than interactive.  Mike said F&Sdoes not have the data set up to push it out, but we can give access for it to be pulled out.

    Todd Sweet from the College of Business communications office joined us.  They are looking into developing mobile apps for the college.  One could be an App about energy consumption in BIF and such.  Students are looking at how the website can be designed.  Also what would the display potentially have?  

     

     

  6. meeting set up with Mark, Amy, David, and Morgan

    Associated Project(s): 
    Water Fountain Retrofit
    Reduce Single-Use Plastics

    Mark Warner visited the building sites for the proposed glass filler water fountain retrofits and will share the information with Amy Liu, David Mishiu, and Morgan Johnston at a meeting on October 1.  Jeff Schrader and Matt Emmert will join us from the Library facilities team, as well.

    Also, Mark Barcus spoke with Morgan Johnston to clarify the management of this project within the F&S structure.  He will confirm for Morgan that Mark Warner will manage the project from the Maintenance group, rather than a construction superintendent from the Construction group.

  7. Illinois joins EPA's SmartWay Transport Partnership

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reduce Emissions from Transportation

    The University of Illinois recently became the first academic institution to join the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay Transport Partnership.  "As the first-ever academic institution to register in SmartWay, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign leads the way for universities and other institutions to work as shippers in SmartWay and engage with their carriers and suppliers to improve freight efficiency, reduce greenhouse gases and other emissions from goods movement while also helping enhance our nation's energy security,” said Christopher Grundler, director of EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality.

  9. Graduate Research Assistant Hired to Aid in Bicycle Sharing

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bike Sharing

    Facilities & Services has hired Grace Kyung, a Masters of Urban Planning student to work on bicycle sharing for campus during the ‘13-’14 school year. This will be a 25% assistantship, focusing primarily on departmental bike sharing first, and then on bike rentals and a campus-wide bike share program for the general public.  Funding for this GRA position is being provided by Administrative Information Technology Services (AITS).

     

    Position Description:

    The Bicycle Sharing Graduate Research Assistant will work with the Campus Bicycle Coordinator under Facilities & Services to research and facilitate new bicycle sharing opportunities for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The RA will research bicycle sharing best practices at peer institutions and communities around the United States, and will make recommendations based on this research to follow the existing recommendations of the 2012 Bicycle Sharing Feasibility Study. The RA will be the primary point of contact for departments interested in launching their own departmental bicycle sharing programs for university employees, including a small number of departments who have agreed to pilot such programs in the coming year. The RA will also develop and maintain a Bicycle Sharing Manual and Toolkit to help assist additional interested departments in the future. The RA will conduct research to determine the best solution for bike sharing or rentals for students and visitors on campus, by partnering with a variety of campus units and community agencies. 

  10. Composting at Espresso

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reduce Foodwaste

    From: Johnston, Morgan B
    Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2013 9:22 AM
    To: Fee, Casey A
    Cc: Mueller-Soppart, Marlon Anthony; Jones, Maria
    Subject: RE: Expresso Green Team

    Hi Casey and Marlon,

    How is this going?  Are you having some success?  I added Maria Jones to this email list, since she is the SSC Food and Waste Working Group chair.  The SSC could not allocate funds to Espresso, but there may be other opportunities for collaboration.  Of course, Marlon could bring that up as well.

    Thanks!

    Morgan

    From: Casey Fee [mailto:fee2@illinois.edu]
    Sent: Monday, September 09, 2013 8:15 PM
    To: Johnston, Morgan B
    Subject: Re: Expresso Green Team

    Hi Morgan,

    Thanks for contacting us, we're currently figuring out logistics and we will be communicating with the haulers you suggested. We just had a meeting with an Expresso Royale employee and we are going to get measurements about how much compost they produce a day, which we want before contacting the haulers. After that, we will definitely be contacting you again. 

    Thanks again,

    Marlon and Casey

    On Mon, Sep 2, 2013 at 7:08 PM, Johnston, Morgan B <mbjohnst@illinois.edu> wrote:

    Hi Casey and Marlon,

    This is the Espresso at Goodwin and Oregon, right? They have no direct connection to the UI, so it would make sense to give the compost to a local group rather than a campus group. (Also, the SSC recently funded vermicomposting at the Sustainable Student Farm, so they shouldn't need additional compost.)

    I think that a community garden could benefit from the compost. They may even be able to host the "compost pile." Here are a few I know of in the community:

    http://urbanaillinois.us/posts/2012/08/lierman-neighborhood-community-garden

    http://www.urbanaparks.org/facilities/34.html

    http://www.cu-garden.com/

    http://cufitfamilies.blogspot.com/2010/04/n-first-street-prosperity-garden-cared.html?m=1

    http://randolphcommunitygarden.com/

    http://prosperitygardens.org/

    I grabbed these from a quick web search, and I found more than I expected. Perhaps you could reach out to all of them. If you have trouble hearing back from anyone, let me know and I can make a couple calls. 

    Thanks, and best wishes!

    Morgan


    Sent from my mobile device


    On Sep 2, 2013, at 3:44 PM, "Casey Fee" <fee2@illinois.edu> wrote:

    Hi Morgan,

    During the Friday meet and greet we, Marlon and I, discussed the prospects of getting Expresso to compost. We were wondering if you could put us in contact with people who might be interested in picking up and using the compost. 

    Thanks,

    Casey and Marlon

    --

    Casey Fee

    University of Illinois | Class of 2015

    Chemical Engineering

    Illini 4000 Portrait's Director

     

  11. RSO interested in reducing their food waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reduce Foodwaste

    From: Johnston, Morgan B
    Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2013 9:18 AM
    To: Bressler, Jonathan Louis; Pickert, Diane A
    Cc: Jones, Maria
    Subject: RE: Food Reduction Recommendations

    Hi Diane and Jonathan,

    Were you able to meet and find a solution for the food waste from Tikkun Chambana?  The Student Sustainability Committee has a new working group chair for Food and Waste.  Her name is Maria Jones, and she is copied here.

    Thanks,

    Morgan

    From: Aubrey, Dawn
    Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 1:35 PM
    To: Johnston, Morgan B; Bressler, Jonathan Louis
    Cc: Webb, Olivia Ashley; Pickert, Diane A
    Subject: RE: Food Reduction Recommendations

    Good Afternoon, Jonathan:

    Please contact Diane Pickert at 244-5800 to schedule a time to discuss food  waste reductions. I will not be available until later next week.

    Thank you,

    Dawn

    Dawn Aubrey, Ph.D., MBA, FMP, CEC, CCA
    Associate Director of Housing for Dining Services                                               
    University of Illinois
    407 Clark Hall
    1203 South Fourth Street
    Champaign, Illinois 61820
    Office Direct: 217-244-2997

    From: Johnston, Morgan B
    Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 12:08 PM
    To: Bressler, Jonathan Louis
    Cc: Webb, Olivia Ashley; Aubrey, Dawn
    Subject: Re: Food Reduction Recommendations

    Hello Jonathan,

    Thanks for reaching out. This looks like an important initiative. 

    There is a team working on vermicomposting at the Sustainable Student Farm this fall, with funding from the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC). I've copied the SSC contact from last year for that project, Olivia Webb, here. 

    I believe she can help you in your efforts. I'd love to be kept informed about what you are doing, so please include me in any meetings you have. We can also reach out to Housing to talk with you about possible strategies. I have copied Dawn Aubrey so she can tell us who to meet with from her team. 

    Thanks,

    Morgan

    Sent from my mobile device


    On Aug 27, 2013, at 11:47 AM, "Jonathan Bressler" <bressle1@illinois.edu> wrote:

    Dear Morgan Johnston, 

    Hello, my name is Jonathan Bressler, and I am the president of Tikkun Chambana, a Jewish environmental RSO.  

    We are trying to reduce food waste, as we have many larger scale food events, and was wondering if you could give us some recommedations on what we could do or if we could somehow piggyback onto what Facilities and Management are doing.  I have looked into a few things of the university and found out about the EnviroPure Food Waste Disposal Systems, but these seem very expensive and well beyond our funding capacity,

    Thank you,

    --
    Jonathan Bressler

    Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences 2014

    College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences

    University of Illinois

  14. LINC Class

    Associated Project(s): 
    'UI Bikes' LINC Class

    This semester there are 7 students registered for the LINC UI Bikes Section  and 2 project managers. Their main project involves thinking of innovative and creative ideas for increasing the number of registered bikes on campus. Their goal consists of registering 3,000 bikes by the end of the semester!    

  17. note about getting students involved

    Associated Project(s): 
    Eco-Olympics

    -Involving the individual colleges for spreading the word to gain student leaders and volunteers, ex: College of Environmental Sciences, Atmospheric Sciences, ACES etc… ?

    After gaining their support, I would send a mass e-mail to the admins office and they could forward to students

  18. RLF project suggestions now being accepted

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

    The FY14 Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) selection process has recently begun.  The RLF can fund medium payback utility conservation projects, involving energy, water, or chilled water on campus  (Examples of RLF projects are the campus lighting retrofit and the installation of occupancy sensors).  Launched in 2011 as a part of the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP), the RLF fully funds projects and is paid back over time from the associated cost avoidance.  Details about the RLF can be found on the iCAP Portal and in the attached fact sheet.  Project suggestions will be accepted through October 7.  See http://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project/revolving-loan-fund. 

    Please direct any questions to Morgan Johnston 217-333-2668 mbjohnst@illinois.edu.

    Attached Files: 

  19. Allen Hall cardboard box recycling drive

    Associated Project(s): 
    Increase Recycling Rates

    My name is Max Colon, and I am a Resident Advisor in Allen Hall that works with a sustainability group to try and keep Allen green. Every year, we hold a recycling box drive where our organization hands out cardboard recycling boxes that have been given to us by Housing. I have a attached a photo of one of these boxes for identification purposes. I am wondering if it is possible for you to help me figure out who in Housing should be contacted in order to continue this tradition. Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated! - Max

    We had the boxes over 10 years and we have depleted all supplies last year. Sorry- Vonne Ortiz

  20. Amy Liu is interested in talking with fraternities and sororities

    Associated Project(s): 
    Water Fountain Retrofit
    Reduce Single-Use Plastics

    Amy Liu spoke with Morgan Johnston at the SSC working group kickoff meeting about reaching out to sororities and fraternities about reducing waste by using reusable water bottles.  Morgan provided Amy with contact info for Michelle Hart in the Student Services Building.  Amy also suggested the catchy phrase "Tap that" to associate their efforts with tap water. Morgan noted that she is still setting up the water fountain tour with the plumbing shop, hopefully for next week.

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