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Projects Updates for key objective: No name

  2. BTAF Waste Affinity Group asks schools to input their answers into a spreadsheet

    Associated Project(s): 
    Big Ten & Friends Sustainability
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Good morning BTAF,

     Hope everyone’s year is off to a good start!

    At the last BTAF Waste Affinity group meeting in October, the group members shared many exciting initiatives and programs related to recycling and waste diversion. Over the past few months, a working group has developed a comprehensive benchmarking survey to facilitate knowledge sharing and to organize program information. So, now we need your participation in the Waste Survey [redacted].

     At the suggestion of Nicole Berg, a google spreadsheet format was chosen for ease of use, as well as the ability to update the survey each year. In the link, you’ll find two tabs on the survey:

    1. Waste Survey: Broad swath of questions related to Zero Waste and Recycling, including strategic planning, outreach, waste management operational processes, waste metric tracking, procurement, athletics, organics, medicine/research labs, and surplus. This an “everything and the kitchen sink” approach to enable comparative analysis.  
    2. Diversion Rate Methodology: One question that continues to bubble up from time to time is, “What do you include in your diversion rate?” This survey tab requests that you mark a “x” next to each category that is included as diversion in your annual diversion rate report.   

     Three schools have already filled out the survey, so our hope is that it’s intuitive to follow along and to input your school’s information. If you have any clarifying questions, feel free to shoot me an email. We ask that each school completes the survey by Friday, February 13th.

     Once the data is collected, an intern will compile the data, and we will share the results in another BTAF Waste Affinity Group meeting at a date TBD—probably in March.

     Shout out to the team, including Tony Gillund (Purdue), Patrick Brown (Purdue), Daphne Hulse (Illinois), Dominika Szal (Illinois-intern), Nicole Berg (Michigan), and Alison Richardson (Michigan).

    Mary

     

    Mary Leciejewski
    Zero Waste Manager

    Pronouns: She/Her/Hers 

    Facilities Operations and Development, Sustainability & Strategic Services
    1130 Service Building Annex | 2578 Kenny Road, Columbus, OH 43210
    (O) 614.292.3637
    fod.osu.edu/sustainability

  4. Energy iCAP Meeting 1/30/2023

    Associated Project(s): 
    Clean Energy Plan
    Energy iCAP Team
    Building-Level Energy Efficiency
    Improve Space Utilization

    The Energy iCAP Team met on January 30th, 2023 to discuss recommendations on building energy efficiency and revitalizing the energy scholars council at UIUC.

    Link to meeting recording https://mediaspace.illinois.edu/media/t/1_2dwlpz7l

    Attached Files: 

  8. New iSEE Green Event Certification

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

    Congratulations to the newest recipient of our Green Event Certification Program! iSEE Illini Lights Out was certified as a Green Event series in January 2023. The events take place Jan. 27, Feb. 10, Feb. 24, March 24, and April 21 this semester. Students volunteer for an hour and a half on Friday nights by turning off lights in university buildings to save energy and money over the weekend. Keep up the great work! 

  10. iCAP Portal Admin Meeting - January 27, 2023

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability iCAP Portal

    Done:

    • Set up GA4
    • Homepage: make image in Image Gallery go to image gallery (in addition to button)
    • Objectives page: Jump to Chapter migrated to live site
    • (DEV) Currently testing a new way of selecting a Project's location in the menu system. Dropdown list is becoming unmanageable.

    Discussion:

    • 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?
    • Should we link to "Take Action" project from homepage?
    • Archiving projects

    TODO:

    • (DEV) Currently testing a new way of selecting a Project's location in the menu system. Dropdown list is becoming unmanageable.
    • Add LinkedIn & Reddit share buttons on Project Updates
    • Can we add social sharing buttons on Projects too?
    • Search: can it be less rigid? e.g. ignore punctuation, understand that "bikes" and "bicycles" are equivalent, etc.
    • 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
    • Track down and resolve informational message on full listing page for Project Updates by Key Objective (see, e.g. Projects Updates for key objective: 1.0 iCAP 2020 Illinois Climate Action Plan)

  11. Jen Fraterrigo's comments to the DESMAN EV proposal

    Associated Project(s): 
    Electric Vehicle (EV) Task Force

    Following are Jen's comments:

    1. Currently, there is limited public level 2 charging on campus and in the vicinity of campus. Yet we have many visitors to campus who are coming from out of town and may therefore need to charge their vehicle while here. If chargers are (only) added to parking permit facilities, visitors will not have access to them.
    2. Related to the point above, it is unclear if faculty, students, and staff who do not hold a permit for those facilities (but may hold a permit for other parking areas or may not hold a permit at all) will be able to use the chargers.
    3. I wonder if the analysis could take into account commuter driving distance when estimating demand. Many of us with EVs charge at home and rarely need to charge while on campus because the trip is within the range one can travel on a full charge. Consequently, the demand could be lower than expected.
    4. Finally, I think it is important to evaluate the spatial distribution of potential charging locations. We should aim to distribute these in an way the serves all of campus. It is possible that parking facilities are evenly distributed and thus chargers will be as well, but this is not clear from the parking study.

  13. 1-25-23 External Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    "Don't Waste" with Coca-Cola
    Fighting Illini, Fighting Waste
    Green Sports Alliance (GSA)

    On January 25, UIUC sustainability representatives met with Coca-Cola and discussed the following:

    Attendance: Jake Slager, Jen Fraterrigo, Thurman Etchison, Steve Breitwieser, Bryan Johnson, Sarah Carten, Shawn Patterson, Dominika Szal, Daphne Hulse

    Agenda:

    1. Zero Waste men’s basketball game Thursday, March 2 at 6pm (vs. Michigan).

      1. This is a Coca-Cola partnership game, so Jake will be there.

      2. Continue integrations with the DIA as we move forward, rather than pushing to be at the center of attention.

      3. F&S Zero Waste Team to plan and execute.

        1. Work out the logistics with State Farm Center recycling.

      4. iSEE will connect to volunteer base to pull 75-100 volunteers.

      5. Coca-Cola:

        1. Digital signage.

          1. Advertise across campus ahead of the event.

          2. Signage we can create that will be printed for use? Student volunteers said the Fighting Illini, Fighting Waste signage they were holding didn't make it clear to attendees what was going on.

        2. T-shirts: volunteer and giveaway.

    2. Recycling Value Assessment audit details:

      1. Afternoon of February 16.

      2. Jake, Daphne, and Shawn will discuss in more detail.

    3. Campaign updates:

      1. Don’t Waste Wednesdays.

    4. Coca-Cola video from the 11/14 game.

     

  17. Alec & Sarthak Meet to Discuss 2023 Bicycle Friendly University Application (BFU)

    Associated Project(s): 
    2014 Campus Bike Plan [ARCHIVED]
    Reduce Driving on Campus
    Bicycle Friendly University Status

    Sarthak Prasad and Alec McKay met to discuss Alec helping Sarthak with the 2023 BFU Application. Sarthak provided some guidelines on getting up to date with the current status of the Bike Plan goals and objectives.

    A document containing notes Alec took is attached below.

    Attached Files: 

  18. 1-23-23 Internal Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    "Don't Waste" with Coca-Cola
    Fighting Illini, Fighting Waste
    Green Sports Alliance (GSA)

    On January 9, UIUC sustainability representatives met and discussed the following:

     

    Attendance: Marty Kaufmann, Thurman Etchison, Dominika Szal, Jen Fraterrigo, Pete Varney, Shawn Patterson, Tony Mancuso, Steve Breitwieser, Travis Tate, Bryan Johnson, Julie Wurth, Daphne Hulse

     

    Agenda:

    1. Meeting Cadence

      1. Reduced to every other week, based on a conversation Daphne Hulse and Jen Fraterrigo had. They would like to hold strategic meetings for initiatives that extend beyond recycling (focus on waste reduction).

    2. External Meeting with Coca-Cola (Jake Slager)

      1. First of the semester: Wednesday, January 25 (1-1:30pm).

      2. Once per month.

      3. Agenda: discuss upcoming basketball game, Don’t Waste Wednesdays campaign, Coca-Cola video from the 11/14 men’s basketball game.

    3. DIA Sustainability Initiatives

      1. Zero Waste Big Ten Men’s Basketball Game

        1. F&S Zero Waste leading the effort, with support from iSEE, DIA, Coca-Cola.

        2. Tentatively Thursday, March 2 6pm (versus University of Michigan).

        3. More operational than forward-facing.

        4. 75-100 volunteers working in shifts. Emphasis on after-game stand pick up.

          1. Tom Divan - contact to confirm the logistics of the after-game stand pick up.

          2. Next steps:

            1. Logistics

              1. Address tunnel situation under the State Farm Center (include Shawn Patterson in this discussion).

            2. Volunteers

              1. Use iSEE’s volunteer network.

              2. Provide Marty with the names of student volunteers.

              3. Volunteers can still check-in at main west entrance, though we cannot use the Orange Krush area again.

            3. Messaging - bringing reusable bottles?

              1. Seek a sponsorship for this initiative.

              2. Giveaway versus selling?

              3. Consider DIA messaging a topic for a smaller, strategic meeting.

        5. Measuring the efficacy of the recycling effort

          1. Marty reached out to concessionaire - will follow up. Data from the concessionaire helps us understand how many items actually end up recycled.

          2. F&S measures these weights separate from the rest of campus waste.

      2. State Farm Center permanent recycling bins

        1. F&S Zero Waste working with the facility to perform an audit, create a cost breakdown, and justification for recycling infrastructure.

        2. Submit an iCAP recommendation by the end of the semester.

      3. Fall 2023 Tailgate Recycling

        1. F&S Zero Waste + iCAP Zero Waste working with Tim Knox on developing a plan for comprehensive tailgate recycling.

        2. Document is in progress…

        3. Loop in Coca-Cola when plan is more formalized.

      4. Student Involvement

        1. Students from the iCAP Zero Waste team are interfacing with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (a committee made up of student-athletes assembled to provide insight on the student-athlete experience) to determine how best students can approach sustainability initiatives within Athletics.

        2. Combine our top-down staff/faculty approaches with a bottom-up student approach.

    4. Don’t Waste Wednesdays Campaign

      1. First post: iSEE on Wednesday, January 25.

      2. iSEE working on social media backgrounds.

     

  19. Draft Solar Farm 3.0 report - with questions

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Power on Campus
    Off-campus Solar Farm 3.0 PPA

    Below is an email exchange between Morgan White and Tony Spurlock:

    Hi Ehab, Rob, and Tony,

     

    I’ve put the Solar Farm 3.0 slide show from Dec. 9 into the attached report. I referenced the slides with thumbnail images, and we could take some out and increase the size of some, depending on what we prefer to do.

     

    Tony, I would appreciate your assistance with filling in the UIC total contract costs.  I’ve included comments for each of the spaces where that info is needed.  Could you please also look at the other questions I commented.

     

    Rob, there are two questions that I hope you can help answer. 

    1. If we lease the land for the onsite solar option, can it still be "behind the meter"?
    2. We currently conclude with this statement: “We feel that the hybrid option meets several goals as it has great savings potential, adds renewable energy to the regional MISO network, which supports our local provider Ameren, and directly increases the capacity of the network we use to purchase the balance between what we consume and what we produce at UIUC.”  Is a MISO project somewhere other than in Illinois going to support Ameren and increase the capacity of the network we use?

     

    Thanks,

    Morgan

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

    I added all of the UIC totals and attached the updated calculations.

     

    I do not think the hybrid option benefits Ameren (we are not taking additional delivery and it appears the new array would be outside the Ameren territory).

     

    Should we include a statement related to how this fits into our strategy?  Here is a thought to get the ball rolling.  “This hydrid option allows the University to continue its leadership in Sustainability by leveraging best practices and expanding its portfolio of renewable strategies that provide a more comprehensive approach to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.”  

     

    Regards,

     

    Tony

     

    Attached Files: 

  20. Campus Bike Plan update: information for the undergraduate student

    Associated Project(s): 
    2014 Campus Bike Plan [ARCHIVED]
    2024 Campus Bike Plan
    Independent Student Projects

    Hi Bumsoo, I had a call with Marc yesterday, and he mentioned that the MUP program can work on this project in the fall and spring semesters as a group project. I am still trying to figure out all that needs to be done for this project, and I think getting the help from your student might be beneficial.

    How many hours can your student set aside for this project? In this semester, your student could help identify the stakeholders to reach out for the Campus Bike Plan update. He can help with determining a timeline and the planning process for next academic year. (If time permits) I will also ask the student to present some preliminary suggestions for the 2024 Bike Plan update at the end of this semester.

    The first thing for your student would be to read the current 2014 Campus Bicycle Master Plan (https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/files/project/37/2014%20Campus%20Bicycle%20Plan.pdf). I have published two progress reports in the past few years. I am currently working on our progress report from the past year, which should be published in the next few weeks. Here is the 2022 report: Campus Bike Plan progress report FY22. Here is the 2019 report: 2019 Report for 2014 Campus Bicycle Plan

    I would like to have weekly meetings with student. In the next 2-3 weeks, I would schedule a meeting with Morgan and Stacey to present what we think we should accomplish at the end of this semester. At the end of the semester, he will present the findings to F&S, SPO, Transportation iCAP Team, and possibly to the Campus Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC).

    Please let me know if this sounds good to you. I would be very happy to meet your student and get started on this project. Thank you,
    Sarthak

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