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  1. New iSEE Greener Campus Programs Certifications

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

    Congratulations to the newest recipients of our Greener Campus Programs!

    Green Chapter: 

    Phi Delta Theta, Silver, Certified November 2022

     

    Green Office: 

    iSEE, Gold, Recertified October 2022

    F&S Capital Programs, Gold, Recertified November 2022

    International Student & Scholar Services, Gold, Recertified November 2022

     

    Green Event:

    Chancellor's Office for Special Events and Commencement Illinois v. Eastern Illinois Men's Basketball, Certified November 2022

    Office of the Chancellor for Special Events and Commencement Illinois vs. Kansas City Men's Basketball, Certified November 2022

    Chancellor's Office for Special Events Il. v. Purdue Men's Football, Certified November 2022

    Keep up the great work!

  2. Feasibility study for an anerobic digester on campus with Marcello Pbiri - Meeting 1

    Associated Project(s): 
    Plan for Organic Waste
    Reduce Foodwaste
    Achieve Zero Waste
    University of Illinois at Chicago

    Attendance: Tyler Swanson, Daphne Hulse, Meredith Moore, Sarthak Prasad, Shawn Maurer, Joy Scrogum, Justin Holding, Paul Foote, Shreya Mahajan, Brent Lewis, Jason Ensign, Tim Mies, Colleen Ruhter, Jonathon Mosley, Marcello, Thurman Etchison, Morgan White, Damon McFall, Robert Roman

    • UIC would like to do a screening analysis scenario for a small or micro-scale digester on campus
    • UIUC farms investigated this in the past with ACES
    • Marcello’s introduction: 200lbs of waste per day in a small-scale digester (in the shape of the container), frequent bottom-line thinking, it’s more about sustainability and the creation of green jobs, involving students, because the economics may be tight for money savings. But there are a few companies that are manufacturing small scale digesters. UIC had a speaker during their TEACH AD webinar who was a student from San Diego California. Installed one of these on their campus, student was the operator of the digester. Interested to see if this is something to be replicated at UIUC?
    • Morgan’s introduction: high-level feasibility analysis (not the most robust because of funding limitations). Hear from the college of ACES about a study of 10 years ago.
    • Marcello thinks the outcomes weren’t very favorable for this time? This is another possible scenario too. University of Wisconsin Oshkosh is doing something similar. They are partnering with a farm which installed a small-scale digester in the farm for food waste and manure. The university owns the digester and the farmer owns the farmer, so it is a partnership. Maybe we could replicate this. These projects seem to become more and more feasible.
    • Marcello’s question for the group: what are the main motivations for UIUC to look into anaerobic digesters?
    • Reducing waste, looking at clean energy, protecting the planet
    • Do not have an environmentally beneficial or neutral solution for organic waste at the large scale for our campus. Dining is able to do the digester at the sanitary district, but we have animal waste and food waste at more than just the dining halls
    • Looking at how to get to carbon neutral energy. Anaerobic digestion was identified in 2010. Dean of Animal Science was ready to push for it, but then he was promoted and then retired
    • ACES has agreed with current dean to include the analysis of a large scale digester when they build a new dairy facility, but this is very far down the road
    • Swine modernization facility; needs to deal with waste that is there. animals will be added to this space in the future. looking into options for that particular facility.
    • Operational + research perspective, a micro-digester looks nice. Oshkosh does tours, internships, etc so it is like a pilot project to demonstrate the feasibility of the technology
    • Sanitary district is paid to receive the waste, and they get the benefit of seeing the methane capture
      • It would be good to see the benefits stay in house
    • Hypothetically you could create a new position for this, or you could do it through student intern. What happens to the residual material from the digester? can be used as fertilizer, grow food, use the food and food waste goes back to the digester “circular economy”

    Marcello’s second question: Takeaway for the old feasibility study?

    • It should be at the future dairy facility (conversations were had, maybe not in the study)
    • $10M capital cost, so it probably costs more now
    • Shared the energy output we would expect if we took all food waste from dining
    • Could use as compressed natural gas (CNG) for fleet vehicles
    • Combined heat and power (Abbott) which primarily uses natural gas, but could use biogas from an anaerobic digester, there is an opportunity here

    CHP, CNG or renewable natural gas are what Marcello is familiar with

    Next steps: Marcello will work on an updated feasibility study.

     

    Link to the recording

  5. Resilience Team November Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Resilience iCAP Team

    The Resilience iCAP Team had its November meeting on Wednesday, November 9th, from 11 - 12 PM. The team had presentations from three community representatives about the resilience issues at their cities (Savoy, Champaign, and Urbana). After the brief presentations, the team discussed possible solutions and how the university can help to solve the resilience issues presented. Meeting minutes and presentation slides are attached.  

    Attached Files: 

  6. Zero Waste iCAP Meeting 11/7/2022

    Associated Project(s): 
    Division of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA) Climate Action Plan
    Green Sports Alliance (GSA)
    Food Waste Reduction
    Increase Recycling Rates
    Project4less
    Zero Waste iCAP Team

    On November 7th, the Zero Waste iCAP team met to discuss DIA sustainability initiatives with Tim Knox and made edits on the Project 4 Less expansion recommendation to be submitted in the coming month(s). 

    Meeting minutes are attached.

    Attached Files: 

  8. Land & Water iCAP Meeting 11/7/2022

    Associated Project(s): 
    Land and Water iCAP Team
    Campus Landscape Master Plan (CLMP)
    Vet Med Parking Lot Re-Design
    Rainwater Management
    Increase Pollinator-Friendly Areas

    On November 7th, the Land and Water iCAP team met to review the results of the Milkweed survey, make final edits to the Monarch Butterfly recommendation, and discuss new recommendations inspired by the Campus Landscape Master Plan.

    Meeting minutes are attached.

    Attached Files: 

  12. Nov 10th Meeting Space + Logistics

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy-Efficient HVAC Infection Control

    Below is an email between Sarthak Prasad, Sterling Laylock, Morgan White, and Carl Tutt:

    Hi Sterling,

     

    Do you know where (which hotel) your guests would be staying for the November 10 all-day workshop? Also, how many people would you expect to attend and how many would require/like the shuttle option? Please let me know as soon as you can. Thank you,
    Sarthak

     

    Sarthak Prasad

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

    Hi Sarthak,

     

    We are confirming the list of attendees and expect to have a count for you by mid-week. During that process we will verify if any attendees plan on arriving/departing by Amtrak.

     

    I'll be sure to update you asap!

     

    Thanks, Sterling

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

    Hi Sarthak + Morgan

     

    As it turns out, there aren't any attendees opting in to arrive by Amtrak. So there does not appear to be a need for the shuttle. Unfortunate but true.

     

    So far, there is a very high-level of interest in this event among attendees. This recent segment that appeared earlier this week on NBC4 Los Angeles made a significant positive impact on everyone.

     

    How IGT2030 Creates Positive Impacts:

    Latest List of Attendees

    To date, we have 35+ confirmed attendees. There is a mix of subject matter experts and non-subject matter experts. They consist of HVAC professionals, engineers, architects, teachers, public officials (elected and non-elected), corporate energy-efficiency executives, industrial hygienists, state and county staff (IL EPA, Dept of Treasury, Cook County), climate investors, K-12 school officials, etc.

     

    Of course, Erik Malmstrom, CEO of SafeTraces will be attending and William P. Bahnfleth, Chair of ASHRAE Covid Epidemic Task Force will stream in via ZOOM to kickoff our Design-Thinking Session after lunch.

     

    On Campus Attendees

    Members for Paul Francisco's team at ICRT will be attending and sharing impactful human-centered health data. When you get an opportunity, please let me know who the potential on-campus attendees may be?

     

    It would be great if we could set up a call for this coming Monday as we continue to tie down any loose ends.

     

    I'd like to send the official invite on Tuesday, Nov 1st at the latest.

     

    Thanks, Sterling

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

    Hi Morgan,

     

    I chatted with Sarthak now that he's gotten back home to India.

     

    We're hoping to get the exact location and address of our meeting space for next Thursday November 10th so we can send out the formal invitation.

     

    We have 35 plus attendees confirmed and need to get them proper logistics instructions.

     

    Please let us know as soon as you can. We look forward to seeing you on Tues/Wed Nov 8th/9th to see the space.

     

    If there's an actual floor plan we can see beforehand it would be greatly appreciated.

     

    Thank you, Sterling 

  13. Weekly Update: Reduced hours, Working Bikes this week

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Collection and Donation of Abandoned Bicycles

    All, While my jury duty service was still in effect, we had reduced hours as needed last week but were able to open fully Wed – Fri. It was the first week of noticeably fewer folks through the doors. As such, we got a few bikes on the sales floor and a dozen or so moved over from storage.

    Tomorrow we will host Working Bikes for our donation event. This is the first one since Nov 2019. We’ll have around 200 bikes to donate and hopefully will have a few folks available to help out and make it go quicker. They’ll be providing pizza for us, too. This event will halve the number of bikes left in storage. The Bike Project and I will sort through the remaining bikes in the coming weeks.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 43
    Sales: $475.50
    Build-a-Bikes: 2 for $100
    Memberships: 4 for $120

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  16. I2SL Winner Announcement

    Associated Project(s): 
    Freezer Challenge

    Below is the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories Winners for Sustainable Achievements. UIUC was awarded excellence for the following. 

    Excellence Winners in the Renovation/Retrofit Category

    • Excellence in Energy Efficiency: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Materials Research Laboratory Renovation
    • Excellence in Energy and Water Efficiency: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign-Holonyak Micro & Nanotechnology Lab Renovation

    I2SL

    I2SL Recognizes Winners for Sustainable Achievements

    This year, the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) was excited to launch the new Sustainable Laboratory Awards Program to acknowledge leading people, projects, and programs in the sustainable lab community. As part of the new program, I2SL recognized eight buildings or projects for their achievements in new construction, renovation/retrofit, or adaptive reuse.

    Two projects, both submitted in the New Construction category, won Sustainable Laboratory Awards for demonstrating overall sustainability and efficiency:

    • The Universities at Shady Grove Biomedical Sciences & Engineering Education Facility, submitted by Cooper Carry, incorporated many impressive features, including sustainable building materials, waste diversion, air quality management, natural ventilation, and daylighting, resulting in a very low energy use intensity.
    • The new Merck Research Laboratory in South San Francisco, submitted by Jacobs, showcases an integrated design that focuses on indoor air quality and waste reduction, and they maintain building performance with a sustainability dashboard.

    We receive many great applications this year, so to recognize additional teams for their efforts, I2SL awarded a series of awards for buildings and projects that excelled in one particular area.

    Excellence Winners in the New Construction Category

    • Excellence in Decarbonization: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Integrative Genomics Building
    • Excellence in Climate Resiliency: Webster University, Interdisciplinary Science Building
    • Excellence in Waste Reduction, Recycling, and Diversion: Wanhua Global Research Center

    Excellence Winners in the Renovation/Retrofit Category

    • Excellence in Energy Efficiency: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Materials Research Laboratory Renovation

    • Excellence in Energy and Water Efficiency: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign-Holonyak Micro & Nanotechnology Lab Renovation

    Excellence Winner in the Adaptive Reuse Category

    • Excellence in Adaptive Reuse: o2h co-work labs

    Winners were recognized on October 18 at the 2022 I2SL Annual Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. You can find all the winners on our website and check out the Programs and Initiatives winners in an upcoming issue of the Sustainability Scoop. I2SL thanks all the winners for their commitment to sustainable, efficient, and safe laboratories around the world and congratulates them for their achievements!

    I2SL

  17. New iSEE Green Event Certifications

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

    Congratulations to the Chancellor's Office for Special Events and Commencement for their recent Green Event Certifications! 

    Chancellor's Office for Special Events and Commencement State of the University, Certified October 2022

    Chancellor's Office for Special Events and Commencement Chancellor's Medallion Presentation and Reception, Certified October 2022

    Chancellor's Office for Special Events and Commencement Strategic Planning Summit, Certified October 2022

    Chancellor's Office for Special Events and Commencement Illinois v. Quincy (Exh.) Men’s Basketball, Certified October 2022

    Keep up the great work!

  18. Week 4 - Check in meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Friendly University Status
    Reduce Bicycle Theft on Campus
    Independent Student Projects

    This week Aparna got in touch with the staff of transit services from Arizona State University to understand their approach to achieving the Gold BFU certification. 

    Sarthak and Aparna also had a quick overview of the materials shared and brainstormed ideas/recommendations to raise awareness in the campus community as well as keep bike thefts in mind. 

    The next steps would be to familiarize with the topic better, collect all the research materials and make notes/highlight the existing implementation, and make comments on these.

  19. Reasons for Recycling Rate Decrease

    Associated Project(s): 
    Increase Recycling Rates

    The reasons for the putative decrease in recycling rate include the increase in plastic production, flat change in recycling capacity, and China no longer accepting our recyclables. A Time magazine article further suggests that the estimated 9% recycling rate from 2018 was inflated because most of the plastic we sent to China was landfilled or incinerated. Another interesting point: an estimated 30-36% of collected PET is wasted in the recycling process.

     

    The original report can be accessed here: https://bit.ly/US-plastics-recycling-rate . Table 2 provides estimates and sources.

  20. CIF Geothermal Exchange Borefield Information Resources

    Associated Project(s): 
    Geothermal at the Campus Instructional Facility (CIF)

    Below is an email from Andrew Stumpf regarding the CIF's Geothermal Exhange Borefield.

    From: Stumpf, Andrew J <astumpf at illinois.edu>
    Sent: Monday, October 24, 2022 9:39 AM
    Subject: Re: CEE190 Instructor meeting

     

    Hi Eric,

     

    Yes. The report is available on IDEALS https://hdl.handle.net/2142/111796, so publicly available. Correct, John has been doing further study on the CIF building. He has been working with me on the research… his PhD exam is next Monday, so pretty busy. I’ve only had a brief tour of the mechanicals when it was first built, so I can’t really comment about the system inside. Dr. Tugce Baser in CEE tbaser at illinois.edu I believe received a more detailed tour, so you might want to reach out to her. Here is some information about the mechanicals published for an ASHRAE award the building received.

     

    Best,

    Andy

     

    Attached Files: 

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