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  1. 2021 Freezer Challenge Recap & Summary

    Associated Project(s): 
    Freezer Challenge

    In the 2021 Freezer Challenge, 222 labs participated from over 100 different research institutions across 17 countries. The combined efforts of the scientists and labs saved 4.6 million kWh of electricity over the past year, which is the equivalent of reducing carbon emissions by 3,260 metric tons. 

    Based on the U of I's submitted scoresheets (33 in total), the combined actions of the university saved a total of 1051 kWh/day across multiple labs throughout campus. 

  2. Geothermal Illinois Series: Community Models

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illinois Geothermal Coalition

    On August 12, 2021, the Illinois Geothermal Coalition hosted it's third webinar in the Geothermal Illinois Series.

    The program, Geothermal Illinois: Community Models, discussed (1) decarbonization of the energy sector with a focus on the challenge of decarbonizing commercial and residential heating, (2) geothermal energy at the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District’s Administration Facility and converting a public sector commercial building to geothermal energy, and (3) the process of designing and implementing the community-based education and group purchasing program Geothermal Urbana Champaign. 

    These topics were covered by the following presenters:

    • Scott R. Tess, Sustainability & Resilience Officer for the City of Urbana, IL
    • Peter Murphy, Solar Program Director, Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA)
    • Jane Sullivan, Grants & Governmental Affairs Director, Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD)

    See the recording of the webinar and slide decks:

    Additionally, the complete materials from all 3 Geothermal Illinois sessions are available for viewing:

    • July 29 - Geothermal Illinois: Research and Technology - Recording | Slides
    • August 10 - Geothermal Illinois: Campus Projects - Recording | Slides
    • August 12 - Geothermal Illinois: Community Models - Recording | Slides

  4. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, This update is a day late as I was out of the office on Monday.
    Last week I was out on Thursday and Friday as well. Student staff covered Bike Center hours in my absence. On Monday last week we received a bike from Housing which we were able to quickly fix up and put out for sale.  
    This week we have a couple drop off repairs to catch up on, a few more bikes to fix up for sale, and some donations to process.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 26
    Sales: $1,167

    Memberships: 6 for $180
    Bikes (refurb): 3 for $500
    U-locks: 5 for $105

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  6. Final bicycle registration sign and work order details

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Registration
    ENG 177 GFX Global Sustainability Scholars
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    Please see attached the final bicycle registration sign design in JPEG and PDF formats. We have received approvals from Housing to put up these signs in the major high traffic bicycle parking locations, mainly in the SDRP, LAR, FAR/PAR, and Busey Evans bicycle parking areas. We are also looking at Illini Union and ARC for these signs in this cycle, but dependent on funding.

    Sarthak Prasad has submitted a work order to fabricate and install the bike registration signs at these locations (as mentioned in previous project updates). The Work Order number is 10885468.

    Attached Files: 

  7. Dump and Run held this August!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Dump and Run

    Dump and Run is BACK! After a 1-year hiatus, the University YMCA is thrilled to once again hold community collections and the Big Sale this August. All collections and the sale will be held at the U of I Stock Pavilion, in cooperation with the College of ACES and Dept. of Animal Sciences.

    Dump and Run keeps over 30 tons of used, quality goods out of Champaign-Urbana’s dumpsters and landfills each year. This project reduces litter and consumer waste, saves space in landfills, lowers dumping costs for certified housing and apartments and provides inexpensive items for folks to purchase in the fall.

    While we were unable to hold our normal spring collections this past May, we look forward to collecting as many great items as we can from our community and hope that you will join us in helping find usable goods a new home. Thanks to the community and the University of Illinois for making Dump & Run a success each year, and we will see you this August!

    (From the YMCA Dump and Run website) More information here

    August 2021 Collection Days:

    All collections will be held at the UI Stock Pavilion, located at 1402 W. Pennsylvania Ave, Urbana IL, beginning on Monday, August 2.

    Monday Aug. 2: noon - 4:00pm

    Tuesday Aug. 3 - Friday Aug. 6: 9:00am - 4:00pm. Late collection on Wednesday Aug. 4 until 7:00pm

    Saturday, Aug. 7: 10:00am - 2:00pm

    Monday Aug. 9 - Friday August 13: 9:00am - 4:00pm. Late collection on Wednesday Aug. 11 until 7:00pm

    Saturday, Aug. 14: 10:00am - 2:00pm

    FINAL collection day, Monday Aug. 16: 9:00am - 4:00pm

     

    Check out the YMCA Dump and Run website for more information. 

  9. Archived Info - Previous Project Description

    Associated Project(s): 
    Orchard Downs Community Gardens

    Community gardens built on the farmlands at Orchard Downs are available to use for growing their own food. They are managed by volunteers who assign and take payment for plots for the Family Housing Council. Housing pays for the water via funds that are collected, and they manage the plowing, clean-up, and maintenance of the garden area. Gardeners range from University administrators and students to community members. This program has been active since at least the 1990s.

  10. Res001 Champaign County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan - Successful

    Associated Project(s): 
    Champaign County Hazard Mitigation Plan
    Resilience iCAP Team Recommendations Summary
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Resilience iCAP Team

    Ehab Kamarah, interim Executive Director of F&S, responded to Morgan White and Sherry Wooten with the following message:

    "The plan is signed and is being sent back to the County. My apology for the late response."

    See transmittal of Res001 Champaign County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan here.


    See iWG assessment of Res001 Champaign County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan here.
    See recommendation and submittal of Res001 Champaign County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan here. 

    For future updates on this effort, visit Champaign County Hazard Mitigation Plan.

     

  11. iCAP Portal Updates

    Associated Project(s): 
    Orchard Downs Community Gardens
    SDRP Lighting
    Food Purchases from Local Sources

    From: Maloto, Avery (FandS) <fandsamaloto2 at mx.uillinois.edu>
    Sent: Monday, July 19, 2021 1:15 PM
    To: Johnson, Bryan Lloyd <blj at illinois.edu>
    Cc: White, Morgan <mbwhite at illinois.edu>
    Subject: [Follow-Up] iCAP Portal Update(s)

     

    Hi Bryan! 

     

    I would like to offer a gentle reminder for the iCAP Portal content updates. We would appreciate receiving this information as soon as possible as it allows us to keep the public updated with university & community initiatives.  

     

    Right now, I am missing updates for the following project(s): 

    • Food Purchases from Local Sources
    • Orchard Downs Community Gardens
    • SDRP Lighting 

     

    Please let me know if there is any information or assistance that I can provide to complete these! 

     

    Best, 

    Avery 

  12. Crowd Funding page active on "With Illinois"

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bike at Illinois Website and Campaign

    Sarthak Prasad worked with Rachel Hull in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement to create a campaign story on With Illinois to request donations towards the Campus Bicycle Plan Implementation and Mission Fund. This is a community funding campaign and Sarthak will be promoting it to the Bike at Illinois social media and community partners. The current goal is to raise $500 before September 14, 2021.

    Read how you can "Help Bike at Illinois improve your bicycle experience on campus!" Please share this campaign story and make a donation ($1 minimum) to help us achieve this goal.

  14. Weekly Update: Busy week!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Busy week! Sold bikes, stripped bikes, helped people fix bikes. We had especially good volunteer turnout on Friday. One frequent visitor even donated his neighbor’s old bike that was headed for the dumpster before he intercepted. Another person said they’ll be here to volunteer on Monday.

    Donations, thankfully, have hit a little bit of a lull, so we’ll be able to spend this week catching up on that. On Friday alone—see aforementioned volunteer levels—we started 4 new shop builds that will be finished this week.

    We also sold a bike to someone from Housing who works specifically in promoting healthy and environmental lifestyles in the dorms. He seemed really jazzed about our programming and operations. Hopefully that’ll be a future partnership.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 28
    Sales: $1,307.10
    Memberships: 2 for $60
    Bikes (refurb): 6 for $1,040
    Tires/tubes: 5 for $26
    U locks: 3 for $63

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  16. iWG Meeting 7-22-21

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Energy iCAP Team
    Clean Energy Plan
    Green Research Committee
    Freezer Challenge
    Topical iCAP Teams
    Energy iCAP Team Recommendations Summary

    The iCAP Working Group met on 7-22-21. Attached are the meeting minutes. The agenda was as follows: 

    1. Introductions
    2. Energy006
      1. Update on Freezer Challenge (Paul Foote) ~4 min
      2. Update on Greener Labs Inventory Toolkit (Morgan White) ~4 min
      3. Energy Team introduce the recommendation (Bill Rose, Andy Stumpf) ~8 min
      4. Group discussion ~10 min
    3. Energy007
      1. Overview of Energy Management Plan (Rob Roman) ~6 min
      2. Energy Team introduce the recommendation (Bill Rose, Andy Stumpf) ~8 min
      3. Group discussion ~45 min
        1. Should the scope only utilize existing technology?
        2. Do we want project-specific preliminary costs or prorated estimates based on historical costs?
        3. Does this document need stakeholder engagement?
        4. This is for meeting the 2050 iCAP goal.
        5. Should this document include net-zero space aspects or should it utilize an anticipated growth percentage?
        6. How does deferred maintenance interact with this plan?
        7. What scenarios would we like to see? For example, what if every new building on campus had to be net-zero energy?
    4. Overview of vision for iCAP Teams this academic year (Meredith Moore) ~5 min
      1. Enhanced interaction about the iCAP
      2. Standard recommendations from topical teams – encourage small-scale recommendations that will get to more campus units/groups
      3. Active participation at Campus Sustainability Celebration – afternoon of 10/20/21
      4. Increase connections with other groups – Student Affairs, SSLC, etc.
    Attached Files: 

  17. Geothermal Illinois - 7/29 Webinar

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illinois Geothermal Coalition
    Geothermal on Campus
    Geothermal Urbana-Champaign

    Thank you to those who participated in the Geothermal Illinois webinar on 7/29! Many thanks to our presenters, Dr. Tugce Baser, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; John Freitag, Executive Director, Geothermal Alliance of Illinois; and Dr. Yu-Feng Forrest Lin, Director of Illinois Water Resources Center; Principal Research Hydrogeologist, Prairie Research Institute.

    As promised, slides are available for download here, and a recording can be found here.

    Other helpful links shared during the program:

    Please join us on August 10 and August 12 for geothermal webinars that will give us a closer look at campus projects and community models.

    For more information, please contact: 

    Nancy Esarey Ouedraogo
    Extension State Specialist, Community and Economic Development
    UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS EXTENSION
    https://extension.illinois.edu/
    905 S Goodwin Ave
    557 Bevier Hall MC 184
    Urbana, IL 61801
    esarey@illinois.edu
    217-244-7020

  18. Crop Sciences/ACES - Agronomy Days!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Responsible Stewardship of Campus Land and Water
    Sustainable Agricultural Practices
    Land and Water iCAP Team

    Crop Sciences/ACES is committed to sustainability and works hard to ensure our land is responsibly managed! They are hosting a series of Agronomy Days; events are free and open to the public though registration is encouraged to reserve your space. Agronomy Day field events will begin on July 22 and run through August 19; tours are held each Thursday from 9 AM - 12 PM. 

    Click here for more information and to register: http://agronomyday.cropsciences.illinois.edu/

  19. Update on LAR East Gardens

    Associated Project(s): 
    LAR Native Plants

     

    “Chuck: You mentioned recently the patio had some weeds that needed to be cleaned up.  I took these photos today.  The areas in the photo are student garden areas.  I did see someone in one of the garden areas southeast of LAR last week.  I am not clear if she was there to work in the garden or perhaps for other research work.

    John: Would you be able to assist (organize some student help perhaps) with weeding in the patio gardens?  Could you also  include the student garden plantings at the main east entry to the building as well as the smaller gardens each side of the drive at Lincoln Ave.?  These are the first areas people will encounter at move in.”

    -Wayne Bugaj (07/27/2021)

     

     

    “Hello All,

    Yesterday I did some cleanup along with Sara Mason, a former LAR LLC member who graduated last year.  We pulled weeds by the small beds near the wheelchair ramp and did some trimming in the front beds including the one near Lincoln Ave. Two other former LLC students from 2016 and 17 helped a couple times this summer with some very basic weeding.  The people who started this maintain an interest, but most have let town.  The virus and “student priorities” have kept the regular LLC students from doing anything in the plantings for about 2 seasons.  Hopefully that will change this year.   Basically the plantings are mostly doing well.  They need some weeding and thinning.  A couple spots on the S side of the front steps and SW side of the building have areas where one or two species have taken over.  Some replanting would probably be good there, but is not critical.

    The main goal of providing pollinator resources is definitely being met.

    Chris Murphy told me in the spring that he hoped to get a faculty member to oversee a few students who could get credit for maintaining the plantings. 

     Anyway things look better now.  We took out 2.5  35 gallon cans of weeds.

     I hope this helps”

    -John Marlin (07/29/2021)

  20. 2021 – ECEB is 100% Solar Powered!

    Associated Project(s): 
    ECE Net-Zero Energy Building

    ECEB solar panels have been generating power since April 2020. Building energy use is offset by the ECEB solar panel production and, since February when a contract between F&S and ECE has been in place, the excess energy use not offset by the ECEB solar panels is being replaced through solar renewable energy credits (SRECS) from Solar Farm2. These credits are being paid for by the ECE Power and Energy group.

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