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Projects Updates for key objective: No name

  1. Zero Waste iCAP Team Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste Recommendations Summary
    Achieve Zero Waste
    Establish a Net Zero Waste Plan and Policy
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    Large-Scale Food Waste Composting

    The Zero Waste iCAP Team met on Thursday, March 31 to de-brief the Plastics Reduction Strategy discussion, review committee member research on the Adopt-a-Highway/Adopt-a-Drain and Composting Committee Recommendations, and begin discussion on amending the Campus Administrative Manual's Paper Policy. Meeting minutes are attached.

    Attached Files: 

  2. Transportation iCAP Team Meeting 3/31/2022

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Fleet Replacement Plans
    Campus Landscape Master Plan (CLMP)

    The Transportation iCAP team met today 3/31/22 to discuss reaching out to the Prairie Research Institute to help establish a formal fleet replacement plan, the ongoing walkability audit and mode choice survey, and the ongoing Campus Landscape Master Plan Public Forums.

    Attached Files: 

  3. Sustainability Sub-Council Meeting Minutes 3-30-22

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability Council
    Sustainable Land Management Committee
    Achieve Zero Waste
    Campus Landscape Master Plan (CLMP)
    Broaden Sustainability Education
    "Don't Waste" with Coca-Cola
    Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS)

    The Sustainability Sub-Council met on 3-30-22 in preparation of the Sustainability Council meeting. The agenda was as follows: 

    • Introductions
    • Sustainable Land Management (for South Farms)
    • Waste Reduction Strategies
    • Updates – Campus Landscape Master Plan, Sustainability Gen Ed requirement
    • STARS report

    The meeting minutes and PowerPoint presentation are attached. 

    Attached Files: 

  5. Interview with Caleb Brooks (NPRE Professor, UIUC Micro-Nuclear Involvement)

    Associated Project(s): 
    Clean Energy Plan

    A document containing the notes from this interview is attached below.

     

    Summary of the Clean Energy Transition Plan Interview:

    Caleb Brooks - NPRE Professor, UIUC Micro-Nuclear Involvement

    On 3/31/22 the team spoke with Dr. Caleb Brook, who is a professor in the nuclear engineering department here at the University. The team spoke to him about the feasibility of using micro-nuclear reactors as a power source for the campus. Dr. Brooks is about to start research to determine these exact questions. In his opinion, campuses will be using micro nuclear reactors to power themselves, but it is going to take eight to ten years to get to that point. The research done with micro nuclear reactors has been more theoretical and not applicable at this time. The team still feels that the university should start saving money now to purchase a nuclear reactor once they are commercially available.

    Attached Files: 

  7. Energy iCAP Team March Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy iCAP Team
    Building-Level Energy Efficiency
    Energy Conservation Efforts

    The Energy iCAP team met on 3/30/2022 to discuss efforts to increase energy efficiency on campus. The primary topic of conversation was a recommendation that some educational program be created for students to learn about the building design process and advocate for energy efficiency in buildings.

    Attached Files: 

  8. iWG Meeting Minutes 2-25-22

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Energy iCAP Team
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Energy iCAP Team Recommendations Summary
    Transportation iCAP Team Recommendations Summary
    Zero Waste Recommendations Summary
    Achieve Zero Waste

    The iWG met on 2-25-22 and discussed the Energy008 and Energy009 recommendations, Trans014, and plastic reduction initiatives. Andy Stumpf and Bill Rose, the Energy iCAP Team chairs, joined the meeting to discuss the two Energy recommendations. The meeting minutes are attached. 

    Attached Files: 

  9. Stable-to-Soil Enhancer

    Associated Project(s): 
    Compost at Illini Union
    Reduce Foodwaste

    Landscape Recycling Center sells the product described below:

    Stable-To-Soil Enhancer
     (Formerly Mushroom Compost)
    Up to 35-Gallon Bags/Containers: $7.25 | Bulk: $36/cubic yd



    Light brown and very fine textured material that can retain manure odor for several weeks



    Made from: Hardwood bark, straw material and horse manure from local stables that is composted into a high-quality finished product.



    Applications: Natural fertilizer for non-food crop landscapes. Excellent source of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). In addition, manure returns organic matter and other nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and sulfur to the soil, building soil fertility and quality.
     

  10. Interview with Cynthia Klein-Banai (Director of Sustainability at UIC)

    Associated Project(s): 
    Clean Energy Plan

    A document containing the notes from this interview is attached below.

     

    Summary of the Clean Energy Transition Plan Interview:

    Cynthia Klein-Banai - Director of Sustainability at UIC

    On 3/28/22, the team corresponded through email with Dr. Cynthia Klein-Banai, who is the Director of Sustainability at UIC. We inquired about the plans for the energy transition at UIC and she provided us with valuable insight on the University’s current initiatives. While the energy situations at UIUC and UIC are different, there is crossover between many aspects.

    Attached Files: 

  12. This Week in Research

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Damien Guironnet is part of a team that is working to "develop plastic that can be recycled perpetually, reducing waste and pollution from single-use plastics." The public-private partnership is one of seven DOE-funded projects to combat plastic waste.

  13. New iSEE Greener Campus Certifications

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

    Congratulations to the newest recipients of our Greener Campus Certification Programs!

     

    Green Chapter: Alpha Phi, Gold-Certified March 2022 

     

    Green Office: The (In)Secure Landscapes Lab, Gold-Certified February 2022

     

    Green Events: 

    -University of Illinois Foundation -- Board and Donor Relations UIUC London Dinner, Certified March 2022

    -Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club Young Olympians, Certified March 2022

     

    Keep up the great work!

  14. Engagement iCAP Team Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability iCAP Portal
    Sustainability Engagement and Outreach
    Engagement iCAP Team
    Sustainability iCAP Portal

    The Engagement iCAP Team met on Friday, March 25 with Morgan White and Michael McKelvey to discuss the strengths and opportunities for updating the iCAP Portal. Potential recommendations will be clarified at their next meeting, including a How-To page, aesthetic changes, and utilizing analytics. Meeting minutes are attached.

    Attached Files: 

  15. Video Case Studies of Sustainable UIUC Campus Buildings

    Associated Project(s): 
    Advance Student Sustainability Outreach Efforts
    Independent Student Projects

    From: Shanmugam Narayan, Vinothni

    To: White, Morgan

    Recipients: mbwhite at illinois.edu

     

    Hello Morgan,

     

    I have shared the NCEL & HSL plans, newsletter, and Earth month schedule with my team. Thank you so much for sharing those.

     

    I have also attached a link for case study videos that my concept team students created for one of the activities I planned last semester.

    https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KRaWCbD2WYsWEA9bR0JUx9a_ELMov0v9?usp=sharing

     

    Thanks for initiating to include their work on the website.  Have a nice day!

     

    Sincerely,

    Vinothni Narayan Icon</p> <p>Description automatically generated

    Graduate – Masters | Class of Dec 2022

    Civil and Environmental Engineering | Construction Engineering and Management

    The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 

    vs37@illinois.edu  | +1 (217)-200-2817

     

  16. Interview with Scott Willenbrock (Former Physics Professor, UIUC Solar Farm Involvement)

    Associated Project(s): 
    Clean Energy Plan

    A document containing the notes from this interview is attached below.

     

    Summary of the Clean Energy Transition Plan Interview:

    Scott Willenbrock - Former Physics Professor, UIUC Solar Farm Involvement

    On 3/24/22, the team met with Scott Willenbrock. He provided a lot of valuable information on Solar Farm 1 and 2, as well as the potential for a Solar Farm 3. He described that Solar Farm 3 will likely be an off-campus farm due to the lack of space on campus. He did mention that there was potential for putting a farm on campus in between Solar Farm 1 and 2, but it would be necessary to relocate the research that the fields are currently being used for. He thinks Solar Farm 3 will most likely be off campus, and he says the biggest challenge with this is getting things moving and having enough people behind it. He gave us some advice on rooftop solar, stating that the fault is in the economy of scale, but rooftop panels can be useful due to their visibility on campus/ promotion of clean energy. He also believes that storage is a challenge that needs to be addressed, batteries are too expensive now.

  17. Meeting with F&S about Fleet Replacement Plan Development

    Associated Project(s): 
    Fleet Replacement Plans

    In February, Tyler Swanson, Allison Hefner, and Sarthak Prasad of the Transportation iCAP team met with Pete Varney at F&S to discuss the implementation of the F&S Fleet Replacement Plan and what lessons have been learned via the process. The team hopes to use information from the conversation to help other campus units develop their own fleet replacement plans.

    Notes from this conversations are attached.

    Attached Files: 

  19. Interview with Rob Roman (F&S Director of Utilities & Energy Services)

    Associated Project(s): 
    Clean Energy Plan

    A document containing the notes from this interview is attached below.

     

    Summary of the Clean Energy Transition Plan Interview:

    Rob Roman - F&S Director of Utilities & Energy Services

    On 3/22/22 the team interviewed Rob Roman. Rob’s biggest concern with a clean energy transition was the monetary aspect. The university only gets a certain amount of funding each year and a large amount of money is going to be needed for improvements to the system. Rob thought that geothermal is a good option for the University and thinks that it could be feasible on a large scale but would need to consult an expert to determine the land use. Rob also thought that a micro nuclear reactor was a very good option for the University with the caveat that it will be very expensive. He thought that the university does need to transition from its steam use for heating on campus unless a better emerging technology comes along. Rob told the team that biofuels have already been tried for the steam production, but it wasn’t feasible due to the transportation costs compared to natural gas and coal. Rob felt that for future energy plans they account for ambiguity and emerging technologies and have a place for energy storage which the campus currently does not utilize.

    Attached Files: 

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