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Projects Updates for key objective: No name

  1. New Greener Campus Certifications - Fall 2023

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

    14 campus events have been recognized by iSEE's Certified Green Events program this fall, and two fraternities were recertified Gold under the Certified Green Chapter program — Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity and the Triangle Alpha Chapter. The events included: August — New Student Convocation, Gov. J.B. Pritzker Visit, Illinois Promise Lunch, Exchange & International Student Welcome Event, Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Visit, Dennis H. May Diversity Conference on Mental Health and Higher Education, ABA TechShow; September — CCFD Kick-off, Illinois News Broadcasters Association Reception, Men's Football Games (Suite and Pregame Events), 2023 Great Lakes Sea Grant Network Meeting; October — Illini Lights Out; November — weSTEM Conference, P&T Bookplate Reception.  

  3. Zero Waste iCAP Team Meeting Minutes 12/4/2023

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    "Don't Waste" with Coca-Cola
    Green Sports Alliance (GSA)

    The Zero Waste iCAP Team met on 12/4/2024 to discuss updates with our membership in the Green Sports Alliance, the Coca-Cola Buy-Back program, and current hydration station standards. Daphne Hulse provided data from our former Green Tailgate events to show successes and challenges with waste diversion at football games. The Zero Waste Team will be collaborating with the Engagement iCAP Team to discuss how we can better our volunteer outreach. 

    Attached Files: 

  4. EPA funding opportunity?

    Associated Project(s): 
    Addressing Community Health Disparities from Hazardous Waste
    Install Appropriate Waste Collection Infrastructure

    Hi Susan,

     

    I hope this message finds you well after the holiday weekend. I wanted to reach out regarding the recent EPA notice of funding opportunity for the Inflation Reduction Act Community Change Grant Program, which you may have already heard about. I attached the full notice of funding opportunity document to this email. The due date for applications is November 21, 2024. Community-based non-profits can partner with institutions of higher education on a collaborative project.

     

    Track 1 applications, community-driven investments for change, covers a broad area of community conditions that could be assessed. One of the specific objectives covered is “reduce local pollution to improve public health.” I understand that building a HHW facility for the county would address pollutants that may otherwise end up improperly disposed of.

     

    I just wanted to reach out and call your attention to this opportunity in case you hadn’t already heard about it. Do you think this could be useful for funding the HHW facility? If so, I’d certainly be interested in being involved!

     

    Thank you,

    Daphne

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

    Hi Daphne, 

     

    This is definitely the best email I've received recently!!!  OMG. CCES is potentially so very interested. 

    I'll be reviewing this and will touch base with you ASAP.  

     

    Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention. 

     

    Susan Monte

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

    Hi Jen, Morgan, & Pete,

     

    Exciting news – big EPA notice of funding opportunity just released from the IRA for $2B, applications due a year from now. Community-based non-profits can partner with institutions of higher education on an environment justice project. The Champaign County Environmental Stewards have been wanting to tackle our lack of household hazardous waste facility here in Champaign County for some time. This would be a huge win for campus waste, too. Depending on what we scour in the notice of funding opportunity document (i.e. assuming we are eligible), this would be something I’d like to explore pursuing with CCES.

     

    Thank you,

    Daphne

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

     

    Hi Daphne,

     

    I skimmed the RFP (here) and noticed a strong emphasis on environmental justice. The program objective is “redressing environmental and climate injustices for communities facing legacy pollution, climate change, and persistent disinvestment.”

     

    I think iSEE /the Resilience team can help with a proposal. It would be a good idea for us to discuss how best to do this.

     

    One immediate thought I had was whether we could combine a hazardous waste facility with a facility for waste-to-energy conversion and build in job/economic opportunities in the community much like the Green Era Campus in Chicago. It doesn’t need to be an anaerobic digestor (although we certainly have enough organic waste generated regionally to support one).

                                                                 

    Let me know what you think.

     

    Jen

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

     

    Hi Jen,


    Good catch on the environmental justice piece. I like your line of thinking on how we can incorporate additional features into a HHW facility. I think it would be great to chat about this with the CCES and determine a shared direction. I’m waiting to hear back from Susan and would be happy to schedule this.

     

    Thank you,

    Daphne

  7. CCB's year-end gathering this Saturday afternoon.

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reduce Driving on Campus
    Increase Bicycle Use

    You might be a long-time friend of CCB, or someone we just met at the Farmer's Market this summer.  Either way, come hang out for a while with us at the 25 O'Clock Brewing Company.  We will bring the snacks, you bring your stories from 2023 and ideas for 2024.

     

    And you are welcome to bring a cyclist friend with you.

     

    See you Saturday!

     

    Jeff

    Attached Files: 

  8. Biodiversity Plan DRAFT FOR REVIEW

    Associated Project(s): 
    Urban Biodiversity Master Plan

    Hi Miram, Morgan, and Scott,

     

    We have a draft for the biodiversity plan! I would like to get your initial reactions before we send it out for broader review. Would you have time to take a look in December? If you feel like someone else for the Resilience Committee is more appropriate, we are open to that. I just want an initial signal check to make sure there aren’t any obvious gaps or omissions.

     

    It will go though a copy edit so don’t worry too much about typos.

     

    Many thanks.

     

    Lisa

    Attached Files: 

  9. iCAP Portal Admin Meeting - November 30, 2023

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability iCAP Portal

    Done:

    Discussion:

    • SSC project integration discussion
      • New projects need to be approved and located appropriately in portal hierarchy
      • Codie considers an SSC project worth adding once it has a CFOAP
      • Projects can be updated w/SSC info by SSC students/employees once they exist in portal
      • How to show projects with multiple funding allocations over time? (e.g. $100K in spring 2020, $100K in fall 2020)
        • Is it the same project over time? Sometimes it is, but sometimes the leaders change and the direction changes significantly
        • Discussed dusting off the Project Funding feature we'd deprecated several years ago. It looks promising for showing SSC's funding of projects!
      • Michael and Codie will meet next week to discuss specifics about what SSC needs the iCAP Portal to be able to do in order to use the iCAP Portal for the SSC website's project listing.
    • Question about a TODO: "Collections page: Add image upload option". At a previous meeting we had this TODO, but what was the context? Was it to have a thumbnail for each Collection? Or a banner image? Or an image gallery?
    • Should we link to "Take Action" project from homepage?
      • Replace map link in Highlights?
      • Need to finish Take Action page content
    • Continue discussion of Fancy Page Layout (see the 4 mockups in the October 21, 2022 meeting notes)
    • Continue discussion of improving site's aesthetics
    • Archiving projects
      • Add "Archived" checkbox?
      • Add "Archived" to Visibility options?
      • Add "Archived" to Project Status options? (probably not - this mixes the status of the project itself with whether we still want it to show up on the site)
      • Remove from nested listings, still publicly available?

    TODO:

    • Main map:
      • See CSU's campus map (Sustainability section) for inspiration
      • Campus boundary, like ArcGIS Bicycle Map
      • Improve mobile filter?
      • Use heatmap when zoomed out, switch to markers when zoomed in?
    • (long term goal) look into importing information from another source, e.g. SSC students without iCAP Portal access can put together info in a structured format for automatic import into iCAP Portal
    • Look into Collection embedding again, à la Drawdown Solutions Library Sammy had found ("Filter by sector or area of action" section)
      • SSC project embedding: add category filtering options
    • Metric search/display:
      • Theme (via connected Project, i.e. Theme -> Project -> Metric)
      • Most recent updates as of: (list of years) -> can we query Tracking data?
      • (Internal only) Last updated before (list of years) -> can we query Tracking data?
    • (Low Priority) Make column headers click-sortable on Projects by Project Status page
    • Fancy project layout mockups - keep tweaking #3 to improve contrast
    • Discuss metrics
      • Metrics with lots of data
      • Consider how to handle old metrics that no longer track new data. Archive somehow?
      • Fun with math (e.g. combining multiple metrics)
      • Calculated Metrics on Dev site

    Ideations:

    • Map brainstorming:
      • What if we had a separate Campus Sustainability Tour expandable section, alongside Collections and Themes? Perhaps with a specific order to the locations and information about each location in the infowindow popup? We might have to hand-craft it rather than using Collections, but it might be worth it if we want an interface more like the CSU sustainability map. This could also work for any other bespoke sections we might want to include in the future.
      • Are there other things we'd like to highlight on the map beyond Themes and Collections? If we can think of them, Michael can try to figure out how to make it happen.
      • Michael is working on trying to make the map queries work asynchronously so each filter doesn't require a new pageload. This would make interactions with the map much snappier.
      • Would we like to provide the ability to view individual projects for each section in the sidebar, à la CSU's map?
      • Are there other categories we would like to include, either in addition to or instead of Collections and Themes? Is that information already in the iCAP Portal? If so, perhaps there's a way we can use it... If not, perhaps a new tagging system specifically for the map might help us achieve it?
      • Sarthak: would like to create a Biking Tour
      • Reed: highlight things students can see/experience
    • SSC projects
      • May want to use this Archive of Funded Projects on old SSC site (2019) as a reference for showing SSC project info
      • Discussed using iCAP Portal projects for SSC projects page vs. maintaining own project pages directly on SSC website.
      • One possible challenge - SSC sometimes funds part of a project or provides funding for a period of time (e.g. 1 year) for a longer-term project, so only the project updates for that period of time are relevant, not all updates in perpetuity. How do we handle that?
      • Decided to start with map embed from Student Sustainability Committee Funded Projects collection, then look at adding card-based project embed as well.

  10. Action: slides for iSEE advisory committee &Subcouncil

    Associated Project(s): 
    Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)

    Hi All,

     

    The iSEE advisory committee and Sustainability Subcouncil will meet on November 27. I would like to get a first draft of the slides done by Friday, November 17 so Madhu has time to review it before the Thanksgiving holiday.

     

    The Advisory slides on Box: https://uofi.box.com/s/m380tqilie5s4503svndmoot1hbxnftx

     

    I have put update assignments in the notes section of the slides, but will also list them here:

    Heidi-slides 6,7 (if there is something exciting), 9,11 (Proposal metrics, new proposals submitted, Sust Trans update) Should we add Kyushu in here?

    Luis-slides 13, 14 (Critical Conv and Sloan Workshop)

    Eric-slides 15-20 (ELP and Gen Ed. Add a slide about the ESG certificate)

    Jen/Miriam-slides 22-30 (Waste reduction efforts/DIA engagement and Carbon Credit accounting)

     

    Subcouncil slides: https://uofi.box.com/s/241ttyx8bfceor6hzvoqp0c577lykpzx

    Jen and Miriam—pull the slides about waste reduction and carbon credits over to this talk also. Make a slide on the Green research (there is a placeholder)

    Eric-pull the Gen Ed slides over to this talk and replace the previous version.

     

    Thanks,

    Elizabeth

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

    Hi Elizabeth,

     

    I have compiled all the draft subcouncil slides into this version: https://uofi.app.box.com/file/1361429522139

     

    Please let me know if you have any questions or changes.

     

    Best,

    Miriam

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

     

    Hi all,

     

    Please use the version:

     

    Sustainability SubCouncil Nov 2023_11.17.2023_new.pptx

     

    https://uofi.box.com/s/cbg4t8nr73ib38sr23i7n8k32uo82lwf

     

    Thanks,

    Jen

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

     

    Hi All

    Thanks for putting these slides together in a timely manner. I have a few comments and suggestions below

     

    Miriam/Tony

    A few formatting edits are needed to improve the look and readability of the slides

    1. Remove the top header which says education or campus sustainability on each slide since it is redundant to have it on each slide
    2. Instead make the content oriented header which is on the next line the top header and in larger font.
    3. Please change font to be at least 20 or more everywhere
    4. Add a section break for each change in topic – is this current section header following our latest template? If not would be good to have that.
    5. Miriam - Send me the numbers underlying the graphs for carbon credits that you have created
    6. Miriam – any idea on how our decision to sell or not would affect our AASHE gold star rating?

     

    All- take a look at the two slides I have added at the end and see if you agree.

    We have three choices for our recommendation on carbon credits –

    stop sales completely

    or follow the Ball state example and say that we will stop sales after we reach carbon neutrality, sell our credits in the meantime and not claim any environmental benefit from these reductions in the meantime,

    or only sell to entities that are willing to retire these credits and not claim it to achieve their own carbon reduction goals.

     

    Thoughts? We can keep it open for now and solicit ideas from the council.

     

    If I could have these back by Wednesday then I can go over again and have a final version ready for Elizabeth to send to the Council by Saturday. 

     

    Have a great Thanksgiving!

    Madhu

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

     

    Hi Madhu,

     

    Regarding the last slide: Second Nature confirmed at the end of October that we have 10,264 remaining unsold carbon credits. These credits are vintage year 2018, and we haven’t verified any credits beyond 2018. I’m not sure if we can estimate total potential credits if we achieve carbon neutrality as I’ve been told the calculation used is quite complicated, but I’ve reached out to Second Nature to ask if there is any guidance to come up with a rough estimate. Another consideration is how we plan to reach carbon neutrality, and the feasibility of achieving carbon neutrality through emissions reductions alone. It looks like most schools plan to achieve carbon neutrality by buying some offsets.

     

    Please see my responses to your other questions below in blue:

     

     

    1. Miriam - Send me the numbers underlying the graphs for carbon credits that you have created

    The graphs were generated on SIMAP. The attached spreadsheet includes the underlying data. I’ve also included a screen grab below that lays out the numbers clearly.

    1. Miriam – any idea on how our decision to sell or not would affect our AASHE gold star rating?

    Institutions can earn up to 8 possible points for Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the AASHE scoring system. UIUC received 3.15 out of 8 possible points in this category. Carbon credits sold or transferred are accounted for in our total score, so selling carbon credits could reduce the points we earn here. I looked at the report for Ball State, and found they achieved a Gold rating in 2023. Their score for Greenhouse Gas Emissions is also higher than ours at 4.5/8.0. This suggests there are ways to maintain a high score in this area while selling carbon credits.
    Our most recent AASHE score is 73.25, and the range for Gold is 65-85, so I do not expect that selling carbon credits would have a strong enough impact on our score to alter our overall Gold rating.

    Thanks and please let me know if you have any other questions!

     

    Best,

    Miriam

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

    Hi Morgan,

     

    The data from the carbon emissions charts in the subcouncil slides is attached here.

     

    -Miriam

    Attached Files: 

  11. Sustainability Sub-Council Meeting 11/27/2023

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability Council
    iCAP 2020: Illinois Climate Action Plan
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)

    The Sustainability Sub-Council met on November 27, 2023 in preparation of the Sustainability Council meeting. The primary agenda items included: 

    • Sustainability General Education Requirement
    • Green Research Program
    • Plastic Waste Reduction
    • Carbon Credits

    The slide deck and meeting minutes are attached.

    Attached Files: 

  12. All UIUC sustainability course offerings

    Associated Project(s): 
    Inventory Sustainability Courses

    Hey Elizabeth,

    Here are the terms used to search for courses that populate the attached lists:

    sustain, enviro, ecolog, conserv, restor, climate, resilien, green, water, land, energy, solar, wind, geothermal, natur, pollut, waste, transport, wild, food, biodiversity, povert, agri, inclusiv, equit, equal, sanita, renew, hydro, recyc, greenhouse gas, global warming, ocean, fish, forest, justice, governance, peace, rights, stewardship, soil, river, reus, preserv, ozone, marine, lake, invasive, indigenous, intersectional, eutrophication, ecosystem, desertification, brownfield, aquifer, aquaculture, Anthropocene, permaculture, habitat, acidification, endangered, emissions

     

    Cheers,

    Eric Green

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

    Good morning,

     

    I wanted to follow up our discussion of “sustainability classes” with the list that Eric maintains. The fall and spring lists are attached and the search terms he uses are listed below. Please reach out to Eric if you notice any classes that are missing from this list.

     

    A subset of these classes make up the list of classes for the Sustainability, Energy, and Environment Fellows Program minor. Those can be found here: http://catalog.illinois.edu/undergraduate/provost/minors/sustainability-energy-environment/#degreerequirementstext

     

    Finally, the Certificate in Environmental Sustainability program that Jeff Trapp mentioned is described here: https://earth.illinois.edu/online-programs/certificate-environmental-sustainability It is a graduate-level certificate.

     

    -Elizabeth

    Attached Files: 

  14. Communication on DIA Taking Over GSA Membership from F&S

    Associated Project(s): 
    Engagement iCAP Team
    Green Sports Alliance (GSA)

    The following email was sent by Marty Kaufman on Oct 26, 2023:

    Hey Jennifer,

     

    I reached out to Tim Knox, and DIA did try to become a member of the Green Sports Alliance in June, but the organization said that the University was already a member so there was no need to submit payment. I see no reason to pay more money if the organization already says we are members. I understand that Athletics isn’t mentioned independently as a member, but since we are part of the University as a whole and the Alliance doesn’t feel we need to have a separate membership, it doesn’t seem fiscally responsible to pay a second membership fee.

     

    Maybe we look at sharing the cost for next fiscal year or at bumping it up to the $2,500 level next year if that provides more benefits? Please see the correspondence from Tim attached.

     

    I welcome your thoughts.

     

    Thank you,


    Marty
     

    Jen Fraterrigo responded on Oct 26, 2023:

    Hi Marty,

     

    Thanks for looking into this matter. I reached out to Betsy Ligett and she confirmed that F&S paid the membership fee for the Nov. 1st, 2022 - Nov. 30th, 2023 time period. I agree with you about not needing a second membership. However, it would be great for DIA take over the membership starting December 1st, 2023 and pay the membership fees going forward at the level you prefer.

     

    For now, I suggest identifying a new point person at DIA. I would then be happy to facilitate a meeting with Betsy and the DIA POC to get him/her up to speed.

     

    Best,

    Jen

     

     

    Marty Kaufman responded on Nov 21, 2023:

     

    Hi Jen,

     

    Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.

     

    Yes, DIA will pay for the renewal. Tim has been in touch with the Green Alliance and we will coordinate the payment for next year.

     

    Happy to help.

     

    Thanks,

     

    Marty

  15. Champaign Rainwater Report

    Associated Project(s): 
    Rainwater Management

     

    Hi Linda,

     

    I just talked to Morgan White, copied. Can you send her the final version of the Rainwater Report you did for Champaign? They are closing the loop on that.

     

    Thank you!

     

    Lisa

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

    Hi Lisa,

     

    Of course! If anything else is needed to close the loop, happy to help. 

     

    Best,

     

    Linda

    Attached Files: 

  16. Carbon Credit Sale - Incoming Payment

    Associated Project(s): 
    Utilize Carbon Credits
    Use Carbon Credits to meet Commitments
    Carbon Credit Purchasing Program (C2P2) with Second Nature

    Hello,

     

    iSEE has been notified by Second Nature that there is an incoming payment for recent carbon credit sales, totaling $15,625. I have attached the sales confirmation. The wire will be sent today or tomorrow to the account previously used for these payments.

     

    Please let me know if you need any other information.

     

    Best,

    Miriam

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

    Miriam-

     

    Thank you for the email and the sales confirmation attached. I will prepare the ACH form for this so University Accounting is aware the ACH will be coming in and where to deposit it.

     

    Thanks!

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

    Hi everyone,

     

    Did we receive this payment, as expected? I’d like to update the attached excel file, when the funds are received.

     

    Thanks,

    Morgan

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

     

    Hi Morgan,

     

    Yes we did, please see my updated version attached. Let me know if you have any questions.

     

    Thanks so much,

    Courtney

    Attached Files: 

  18. Task Report for Tushar Kokitkar from 10/3 to 11/15

    Associated Project(s): 
    Appropriately Staff Sustainable Transportation Efforts

    Here is a list of tasks I have worked on and continue to work on:

    Tasks completed

    • SSC Application for ‘Shipping containers for bike storage’ (in progress)
      • Drafted and submitted the step 1 application
      • Attended SSC working group meeting
      • Currently working on step 2 application
      • Prepared the site plan and internal layout for the project
    • ‘Learn how to ride a bike’ event:
      • Supervised and helped organizing the event
      • Documented and prepared a report and presentation about the event held on 10/07/2023
    • Events attended:
      • All-Employee Expo and helped set up F&S booth
      • Green Quad day and helped set up Bike at Illinois booth
      • Green Infrastructure and Erosion Control Conference
    • iCAP portal:
      • Read the iCAP 2020 plan
      • Added a project update about the ‘Learn How to Ride a Bike’ event
      • Updated eco-counter metrics on the portal
      • Updated ‘Campus Sustainability Tour’ project
      • Added a new project ‘Sustainability tour on bike’ (in progress)
      • Attended iCAP portal bi-weekly meeting
    • Sustainability Tour on Bike: in progress
      • Created the map showing the route for the tour
    • Documented and prepared a report about the condition of three bike paths within campus.
    • Eco-counters:
      • Collected the data for October 2023 and updated the metrics on iCAP portal
      • Collected the data for November 2023
    • Readings:
      • iCAP 2020
      • Bicycle Facilities Standard
      • 2014 Campus Bike Plan
      • Progress reports of 2019, 2022, and 2023 for the Campus Bike Plan.
      • 2023 Bicycle Friendly University application
      • TDM plan and FY22 TDM plan achievement report
    • Bike racks for Arcade building and Talbot Laboratory:
      • Documented the bike parking area
      • Prepared bike rack layouts on AutoCAD for both the buildings.

    Current tasks

    • 2024 campus bike plan draft
    • Working on the SSC step 2 application

  19. Apprentice program for electrical work

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Power on Campus

    Hi Josh,

     

    Do you know if we could request apprentices work on the 15kw solar install?  That could potentially bump us from a tax credit of ~$5500 to $33,000 if this goes through.

     

    Best,
    Tim

     

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

    How much of the labor has to be apprentice? 

    Joshua Robin

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

    15%  thanks!

    Morgan White

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

    Thanks Morgan!

     

    With a small crew, if they had one apprentice, that might catch what we need. 

     

    I overestimated below at 6x the base $5500, where apprentice would make it 5x, so only 27,500. 

     

    Best,
    Tim

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

    Thanks all. The contractor can put one apprentice on there.  Tech services and in house work would not have an apprentice most likely.  Is there a dollar value required for the apprentice labor or just 15 percent of total hours worked?  Are certified payrolls needed?

     

    Thank you

     

    Josh

  20. iCAP Resilience Team Meeting 11-10-23

    Associated Project(s): 
    Resilience iCAP Team
    Urban Biodiversity Master Plan
    Utilize Carbon Credits
    Vision Zero
    Air Quality Monitoring Station

    The iCAP Resilience Team Meeting met on November 10th, 2023 to discuss current project statuses, review the 2016 resilience commitment, and further discuss the mission and goals of the team.

    Meeting minutes, a supplemental slideshow, and recording is attached.

    Meeting recording: https://uofi.box.com/s/7xow5bqoe8zz0xk3qxyctdxi1duvg0mf

    Powerpoint: https://uofi.box.com/s/7ysynolap0ykpcaoxboxojaieispjn8a

    Attached Files: 

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