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Projects Updates for key objective: No name

  1. Sustainability Sub-Council Meeting 3-18-21

    The first Sustainability Sub-Council meeting occurred on 3-18-21 and discussed the iCAP process and procedures, Solar Farm 3.0, Energy Performance Contracts, and Land Management Practices. The meeting minutes and presentation are attached. 

  2. Weekly meeting with Audrey Freeman: Tasks for the week of March 29th

    Associated Project(s): 

    The Telecommuting & Commuter Program intern met with supervisor Sarthak Prasad on Monday, March 29th, 2021 to discuss updates on the program and goals for the upcoming week. Over the past week, they have researched different current telecommuting programs at the 14 other Big 10 universities and created a spreadsheet to document their findings. In the coming week, Sarthak will reach out to the HR department to gain more information on how faculty feel about working remotely at the University of Illinois. In addition, they will create a questionnaire for the Illinois HR department and a questionnaire for when they begin interviewing other universities about their respective telecommuting programs. They hope to collaborate with the transportation SWATeam to get feedback on their proposed questions. 

     

    Meeting minutes are attached!

  3. Congratulations for completing the Plastic Free Challenge!

    Good afternoon, Congratulations on completing the Plastic Free Challenge! You should be incredibly proud of yourself for your dedication to waste reduction this past month. We hope this challenge revealed some of your personal waste habits and prompted you to think about actions you can incorporate into your lives (and encourage others to incorporate!) to decrease your personal environmental footprint. Please don’t forget to share what you have learned this past month with friends, family, and peers. Keep up the momentum!

    If you have not already, be sure to submit your Week 4 Google Form by Monday, March 29. Please submit a photo or short video of a sustainability action or tip that you are proud of from this past month or would like to share with others. As mentioned last week, we will reach out to you one last time on Thursday with some exciting announcements: the raffle winners and statistics on how we did as a group reducing our plastic waste over the past month. 

    Although grid and point-tracking are no longer required actions, we hope you continue to be conscious of your plastic use this week and beyond. We are very impressed with everyone’s insightfulness and reflection during this challenge - don’t stop now!

    We hope you continue to keep in touch with us and reach out with any questions or comments; we always love talking about sustainability and would be thrilled to discuss with you further! Earth Month is right around the corner - please check out the continuously-updated sustainability calendar of events (both virtual and in-person opportunities). To close out the March Plastic Free Challenge, we hope you join us this Tuesday, March 30 from 7-8 pm for our second Ted Talk: Eco-Edition event, hosted by senior Maddy Liberman and F&S/ISTC staff member, Shantanu Pai. This month, the focus will be on plastics. Together we will watch a pre-recorded Ted Talk followed by a casual discussion and roundtable. Sign up here to register for this online event.

    Be sure to sign the "Use the Bin" pledge to commit to sustainable action and personally pledge that you ensure your recyclable items always make it into the appropriate receptacle. Thank you for a great month, and congratulations once again! Have a wonderful week and talk to you on Thursday.

    Meredith Moore, iSEE Sustainable Programs Coordinator
    Emily Dickett, iSEE Sustainability Intern

  4. Engagement SWATeam Meeting

    The Engagement SWATeam met on Friday, March 26 to refine current proposed recommendations, including a General Education Board Sustainability Task Force and Code of Conduct revision. The team plans to submit its General Education Board recommendation by Tuesday, March 30 in time for the next iWG meeting. Additional information on the meeting is included in the attached meeting minutes.

    Attached Files: 
  5. 3/26 Zero Waste SWATeam Meeting

    Attached are the meeting minutes from the Zero Waste SWATeam meeting on 3/26. The agenda is as follows:

    • ZW002 NERC Recommendation (+comments)
    • ZW003 GreenerOffice Delivery Program
    • ZW004 Reusable Dining Options (+comments)
    • Roundtable Discussion (if necessary)
  6. Sustainability Career Panel 4/9/21

    Interested in careers in sustainability? Join us to hear a panel discussion from industry professionals and learn how the field is changing and how to pursue sustainable careers.

    Panelists will include representatives from:

    Eco Logic
    Prairie Rivers Network
    Urbana Park District
    Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

    Please register at:
    https://go.illinois.edu/SustainabilityCareersPanel

  7. Weekly meeting with Audrey Freeman

    Associated Project(s): 

    The Telecommuting & Commuter Program intern met with supervisor Sarthak Prasad on Friday, March 12th, 2021 to discuss updates on the program and goals for the upcoming week. They both attended the Transportation SWATeam meeting on Wednesday, March 10, 2021 and introduced the new role to the group. Moreover, they decided to focus on the telecommuting policy since it is currently more time-sensitive than the commuter incentive program. During the next week, the intern will research telecommuting policies at other Big 10 universities and report them in an updated excel sheet. Once this research has been completed, they will begin conducting interviews with the universities that have telecommuting policies to receive better input. 

    Meeting minutes are attached!

  8. Photo Archive 2011-2020

    Beginning in 2011 Alice Berkson began taking photos at the Florida – Orchard prairie on campus next to the President’s House.  The photos were taken each month from the same locations beginning in 2013.  The two years prior to that all 12 months are not represented.  A few photos are missing including all of October 2015.   A few extra shots are occasionally included of unusual situations or plants.   

    See https://uofi.box.com/s/cfmmscpv2335f57g7nzngx4g8nf4cqgj to view or download the images.

    The photos are in yearly folders.  Individual photos are labeled with the date first YYYY-MM-DD so that they will sort in order.   

    Photos were taken at the four corners.  At the North corners along Florida Avenue shots were taken east to west and west to east as well as diagonally from NE looking SW, and from NW looking SE.  At the southern corners, only the diagonal photos were taken.   

    The resolution on the photos is high so that small sections can be enlarged to identify plants and other features.   

    As of this writing the series is complete from 2011 through 2020.  

    John C. Marlin  January, 2021 

     

  9. 3/12 Zero Waste SWATeam Meeting

    Meeting minutes for the Zero Waste SWATeam Meeting on 3/12 are attached. The agenda for the meeting is as follows:

    • M. Liberman: NERC Recommendation
      • Is it ready?
      • Do you need support?
    • T. Etchison: Reusable Dining Options Pilot
      • Update?
      • Do you need support?
    • C. Steel: Adopt-A-Highway
      • Update?
      • Do you need support?
      • Are there any alternatives?
      • Can we make a recommendation that iSEE host their own event, which we help facilitate?
    • C. Steel: Composting Program/Urban Canopy
      • Update?
      • Do you need support?
      • Are there alternatives?
      • Can we go a different direction with this local, closed-loop composting program idea?
    • Roundtable Discussion
      • Removal of virgin paper from F&S stores/catalogues
      • Elimination of thermal paper receipts
      • Assessment of third party vendors footprint (single-use plastics, recyclable materials, etc) in the Union.
      • Student Waste Management Educational initiative.
      • Single-use plastics in vending machines.
      • Reuse of Surplus Goods
      • Battery Recycling
  10. F&S March 2021 Insider: F&S Waste Management Department

    In its March 2021 edition, the F&S Insider highlights the efforts of the F&S Waste Management department to continuously reduce the total volume of waste being sent to a landfill. This short story addresses campuswide recycling and waste hauling in-depth, and iCAP's Zero Waste vision for the campus.

    To read more about the department's appreciated work, please see the attached file below.

  11. Energy iCAP Team Meeting Minutes from 3-10-21

    The Energy iCAP Team met on March 10th, 2021 to discuss next steps on a recommendation for a Comprehensive Energy Master Plan after F&S has published their Energy Management Plan that aims for a 50% reduction in energy utilization by 2026. The team also discussed recommendations for a Green Labs Program and ways to manage space usage on campus. Given how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed in-person activites and created a hybrid workforce, the team believes it will be important to study underused spaces on campus to reduce building-level energy use. 

    Meeting minutes, agenda, and chat log are attached!

  12. Meeting with Joyce, Nynika, and Morgan

    Associated Project(s): 

    We met today to discuss the plans for the ECE Net-Zero Energy certification.

    • Joyce and Nynika found that we had lost access to the certification site, so Joyce is going to work with the certification agency to get us back into their system.
    • Joyce and Morgan agreed that based on the feedback from the certification agency, we will need to wait for the official designation until the Solar Farm 2.0 has been live for a year.
    • Nynika is going to review the guidebook (attached here) and their website FAQs (at https://support.living-future.org/collection/59-help-desk) to help us clarify the expected answers to the certification questions.
    • Morgan checked the building records and found a site plan and the 3d renderings.
    • Joyce will look for some building photos to include and send them to this group.
  13. Introductory meeting between Audrey Freeman and Sarthak Prasad

    Associated Project(s): 

    The new Telecommuting & Commuter Program intern met with supervisor Sarthak Prasad on Friday, March 5th, 2021 to discuss the new program and expectations for the coming months. Past research in telecommuting and computer incentive programs at the University of Illinois and other Big 10 universities were related and shared. The team discussed the general timeline of the project and hopes to complete qualitative research in the next month and a half. By the next weekly meeting, the new intern will read through all the articles provided by the transportation SWAT team and attend their bi-monthly meeting this upcoming Wednesday. 

    Meeting minutes and the March agenda are attached!

  14. Resilience iCAP Team Meeting Minutes from 3-02-21

    The Resilience iCAP Team met on March 2nd, 2021 with Vision Zero representative Stacey DeLorenzo to discuss how can the team can help accomplish zero fatalities from transportation in our communities. Updates were given on the Environmental Justice and Urban Biodiversity Plans, as well our ongoing collaboration with the Education Team to develop a sustainable communities paid internship program. The team also brainstormed ideas for how to move forward with identifying major local sustainability issues.

    Meeting minutes, agenda, and chat log are attached!

     

  15. First Team Meeting for Building Envelope Pilot Project

    The Building Envelope Pilot Project team held the first of three large meetings planned for the Building Envelope Pilot Project, which is funded in Spring 2021 with the SSC and Carbon Credit Sales funding. F&S, ICRT, and a student representative met to confirm the scope for the thermal imaging and blower door testing. We started with introductions of the team members and a general voerview of the pilot project.  Then ICRT leadership provided background information about ICRT, envelope commissioning benefits and processes, and initial expectations for the requirements to complete this project at the Transportation Building. At the end of the call, we defined next steps for getting the thermoimaging vendor on contract, specifying the equipment needs for the blower door testing, and scheduling the actual testing day. A tentative date to consider is April 13th, which is a non-instructional day this spring.

  16. Net-Zero Energy meeting

    Associated Project(s): 

    During the first meeting, Morgan gave Nynika (undergraduate volunteer) an overview on details relating to the certification including RECS and how the certification program works. Her next steps include:

    • Writing up a small spiel for the International Living Future Institute as to why we would like to use the "use data" from the calendar year of 2020 with the production data from 2021 towards the certification.
    • Looking through the Living Institute's certification requirements and understanding what information is needed and where to find it.

    The next meeting will be on March 10th.

  17. The Student Sustainability Committee Coffee Hour

    The SSC will organize a virtual Energy Working Group Coffee Hour. This event will be an excellent chance for students, staff, faculty, and community members to discuss their own views on campus and the community world when it comes to energy.  We hope you'll be there! Likewise, if you are interested in joining future working groups events for the Coffee Hour, please see the attachment.

    March 1, 7 PM • Zoom Event: Energy Working Group Coffee Chat

    The Student Sustainability Committee Coffee Hour

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