Student Sustainability Committee and the School of Architecture worked with F&S to move the 2009 Solar Decathlon House from I Hotel grounds, where it was located for seven years. The house moved to the Energy Bioscience Research Farm on Race Street south of Windsor Road. The 695-square foot building, weighing more than 50,000 pounds, was designed by University of Illinois students and took second place in the U.S Department of Energy’s 2009 Solar Decathlon. Since then it has been used by various campus units, who study the design and construction of the building.

A resident of Ashton Woods reached out to discuss the potential for increased recycling at graduate student housing sites. The Zero-Waste Coordinator met with her in early May and is in the process of gathering information from Housing, F&S, and the cities.

Morgan Johnston and Marya Ryan met with Nick Osborne at the Wounded Vets’ Center on March 23 to discuss glass recycling. Anna Barnes designed a glass recycling label for use inside the Center. Ryan is following up with CRI to discuss costs, pickup schedules, and other information. Once-per-week pickup of a 96-gallon toter service is targeted to start by mid-to-late August, when new residents move into the Center. As of mid-July, a service agreement with CRI is still to be formalized and is expected in late July.

Superintendent of Grounds, Ryan Welch, describes the difference in heat tolerance between spring and summer flowers on campus:

"We plant the early flowers (pansies) because they provide early spring color and are one of the only annuals that prefer cooler temps and will withstand frost.  The early or cool season annuals do not like heat, so they are removed and replaced with the summer annuals.  The summer annuals will not tolerate even a light frost and should not be planted before May 1."

While Thor Peterson was working at Parkland College as a part-time grant-funded sustainability coordinator, he shared that "Parkland is in the scoping stage of developing a green infrastrucuture and sustainable landscape operations and maintenance certificate."  He further noted, "There are a lot of questions percolating regarding a Green Infrastructure Operations and Maintenance—whether it would start as a certificate, or as a series of business training opportunities, or what." 

When Thor was leaving town at the end of his appointment, he indicated that Heidi Leuszler, a Natural Sciences professor at Parkland, will be a good contact for this effort, moving forward.  Thor and Professor Leuszler led a day-long workshop for Regional Planning Commission staff on green infrastructure. He said, "My hope is that the training will serve as a pilot for a more in-depth business training course that could be offered to public and private sector grounds staff charged with maintaining green infrastructure elements."

Eliana Brown, with Illinois Indiana Sea Grant, University of Illinois Extension, and Illinois Water Resources Center, is also interested in helping this program get developed.  She has brought additional stakeholders into the discussions with Parkland, including Carol Hays, Exec Director of Prairie Rivers Network, and Lisa Merrifield, U of I Extension Strategic Operation Analyst.