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Projects Updates for key objective: No name

  1. Weekly meeting with Audrey Freeman

    Associated Project(s): 
    Encourage Telecommuting

    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!

  2. Photo Archive 2011-2020

    Associated Project(s): 
    Prairie Restoration at Florida & Orchard
    Private Donation for Prairie at Florida and Orchard
    Increase Pollinator-Friendly Areas

    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 

     

  3. 3/12 Zero Waste SWATeam Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    Reusable Containers
    Large-Scale Food Waste Composting

    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

  4. F&S March 2021 Insider: F&S Waste Management Department

    Associated Project(s): 
    State Waste Reduction Plan
    Increase Recycling Rates
    Achieve Zero Waste

    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.

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

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

    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!

  6. Meeting with Joyce, Nynika, and Morgan

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

    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.

  8. Introductory meeting between Audrey Freeman and Sarthak Prasad

    Associated Project(s): 
    Encourage Telecommuting

    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!

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

    Associated Project(s): 
    Resilience iCAP Team
    Vision Zero
    Environmental Justice Plan
    Local Sustainability Issues

    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!

     

  10. First Team Meeting for Building Envelope Pilot Project

    Associated Project(s): 
    Building Envelope Pilot Project
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Carbon Credit Purchasing Program (C2P2) with Second Nature

    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.

  11. Net-Zero Energy meeting

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

    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.

  12. The Student Sustainability Committee Coffee Hour

    Associated Project(s): 
    Advance Student Sustainability Outreach Efforts

    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

  17. Environmental Justice Plan March 2021 Brainstorming Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Environmental Justice Plan
    Resilience iCAP Team

    The Environmental Justice Working Group met on 2-26-2021 (meeting minutes attached) and discussed the next steps to move forward with environmental justice planning. These include: 

    • Review EJ plan framework and provide initial comments/feedback and think about what you wish existed
    • Review key indices that we know we can change/have control over (e.g., trees in Urbana but not influence over interstate commerce or international trade)
    • Revisit initial indicators of resilience document which address some broad environmental justice categories; review this document and give some thought to these categories (how can we address specific challenges and solutions, what data is needed to tackle these? e.g., review local control such as emergency shelters)
    • As you are researching and/or reflecting on this, consider a health angle and the overlap of environmental justice challenges
    • Here is a direct link to the EJ Box Folder where other resources are housed

  18. Data Sets - Environmental Vulnerability Assessments

    Associated Project(s): 
    Environmental Justice Plan
    Resilience iCAP Team

     

    Below are data sets provided by Scott Tess and Lacey Rains Lowe to assist the student work on environmental vulnerability assessments in spring 2021. 

     

  19. ECEB Net-Zero Updates & Clarifications

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

    As of March 01, 2021, many small edits and content ideas were suggested for ECEB-related project pages on the iCAP Portal. These suggestions to update the pages were provided by Joyce Mast and include the following:

    • The North Campus Parking Solar Project was canceled.
    • The ECE department was looking to buy Solar Farm 2.0 Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) from F&S to try and achieve net 0 emissions.
    • They are working to secure grant money for a monitor inside the ECEB where students can interact with their current progress. I attached more information about it.
    • The ECE Building Audio Tour video can also be used to identify any additional and supplementary information.

  20. SSC Funding Request & Approval for ECE Lobby Displays

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

    On February 28, 2021, Catherine Somers sent out an email to Professors Bruce Hajek and Philip Krein regarding the ECE lobby displays. As written in the exciting email:

    "I have a bit of good news!  The Student Sustainability Committee-funded lobby display which will eventually have interactive features to encourage energy savings, is taking shape.  The kiosks and the touchscreen panel are installed and rotating informational slides.  Joyce Mast continues to make excellent progress on the real-time display of solar energy production." -Catherine Somers

    This approval follows suit after the Mast's submitted application for SSC funding for the lobby displays. In Step 2 of the funding application, $30,000 was requested from the SSC for "Electrical and Computer Engineering Building (ECEB) Interactive, Energy Education/Production/Use Display."

    See the attached file to view the SSC funding application.

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