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Projects Updates for place: Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC)

  2. Nitrile Glove recycling status update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Glove Recycling

    HI All,

    As you may be aware, I am leaving the University at the end of the month. So I am providing you with a communication document about the Nitrile Glove Recycling Program, just to make sure everyone is on the same page.  I am also including all contact information so if there are any questions, you know who to call.  Please see the attached.

    All the best,

    Bart

    Attached Files: 

  3. IGOC postponed

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illinois Green Office Challenge

    Dear Illinois Green Office Challengers,

    It is with regret that I must announce a decision to postpone the Illinois Green Office Challenge.  At this point, resources are simply not available to conduct the Challenge with the quality you expect and deserve.  For that reason, the competition has been placed on hold for the foreseeable future.  Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

    Sincerely,

    Bart Bartels

    Technical Assistance Engineer

    Illinois Sustainable Technology Center

  5. Award Letter and Report - Styrofoam Densifier

    Associated Project(s): 
    Styrecycle: Expanded polystyrene (EPS) recycling program
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    This project is intended to permanently set up styrofoam (expanded polystyrene, or EPS) recycling on the UIUC campus for the first time. This project aims to emulate a very successful program at the University of Wisconsin at Madison; some funding has already been secured for student support and supplies from UW as part of an EPA grant that students and postdocs there have received. The key difference between UIUC and UW is that UW had the benefit of a local styrofoam recycler, and UIUC does not have that benefit: the closest recycler is in Indianapolis and the cost of transporting undensified EPS is too high for this to be viable. This project will establish a partnership with Community Resource, Inc. in Urbana, who have agreed to handle all of the logistics of picking up styrofoam from large containers (“gaylords”) in campus buildings, transporting it to their site, feeding it into a machine called a “densifier”, and selling the densified material to a company in Chicago. Community Resource, Inc. will in return pay back a portion of the proceeds from the sales in order to support student interns on campus who will promote and support the program. The goal of this project is to establish a self-supporting program that will ultimately capture most of the styrofoam waste from our campus and recycle it, while supporting student interns to oversee and continually improve the program.

    Attached Files: 

  6. Community Resources Inc interested in partnering with iSEE

    Associated Project(s): 
    Styrecycle: Expanded polystyrene (EPS) recycling program

    On 12/03/2014 03:06 PM, Bartels, Bart A wrote:

    Hi Everyone,

    I just concluded a conversation with Matt Snyder of Community Resource Inc (CRI).  He is very interested in housing a densifier.  I am going to set up a meeting with him to work out the details and get pricing.  This is going to be the proposal based on his interests and our needs:

    Participating buildings will have a Gaylord on the dock for EPS dropoff.  CRI will pick up the gaylords and take the material to their facility, where the densifier or compactor will be housed.  Matt will take care of paying the labor for pick-ups, processing, and sales.  He will be paid out of the sales revenue with part of the revenue coming back to us.  The money coming back will pay for interns that will facility more EPS collection.  The meeting will determine responsibilities and how the revenue will be divided. 

    I am hopeful that we can work out acceptable terms.  Matt wants to make this work.  He said he shipped out a truck load of EPS this morning, even though it didn’t make sense.  I will let you know when the meeting is to take place.

    Bart

  7. Dining ships another gaylord full of gloves

    Associated Project(s): 
    Glove Recycling

    Dear all,

    Michael at Housing  just got another Gaylord full of gloves ready to ship at dining services. Making the total pounds of gloves recycled at Dining to over 1000lbs in just four months!

    Way to go all!!

    Regards,

    Shantanu

  8. procurement webinar

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainable Electronics Campus Consortium

    Hello Colleagues and Sustainable Electronics Enthusiasts. It’s been a while since we had a meeting, and in case you missed it, I wanted to point out a recent Sustainable Electronics Initiative blog post which may be of interest. Students from the Illinois Business Council’s Green Initiative have been recycling printer cartridges as a fundraiser. We had hoped to have them give a presentation for the consortium, but due to scheduling conflicts, they instead provided some information for our blog. See http://wp.istc.illinois.edu/sei/2014/09/26/ui-sustainable-electronics-campus-consortium-bc-green-initiative-recycles-printer-cartridges/. If you want to set up a similar cartridge recycling program in your office or unit, pay particular attention to the referral information in the post, so the BC Green Initiative can receive additional funding for the referral.

    Also, I want to encourage you to participate in a webinar next Tuesday, October 21, at 9:00 AM on “Sustainable Electronics for Purchasers.” You can register at https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/890717127. I’ll be presenting on topics such as purchase avoidance, reuse, repairing instead of replacing, supply chain issues (e.g. conflict minerals), and resources to help make more responsible choices. This webinar is a presentation for the IL Green Governments Coordinating Council Procurement Subcommittee, but is open to other interested parties. The presentation will be around 30 minutes long with time for questions after, so although we’ve set aside an hour, it will likely be more like 40-45 minutes long. I hope you can join us!

    Best wishes,

    Joy

    Joy Scrogum

    Emerging Technologies Resource Specialist

    Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC; www.istc.illinois.edu)

    Co-coordinator, Sustainable Electronics Initiative (SEI; www.sustainelectronics.illinois.edu)

    Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable (GLRPPR; www.glrppr.org)

    ISTC is a Division of the Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    217-333-8948; 1 Hazelwood Drive, Champaign, IL 61820; MC-676

  9. Challenge is Open

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illinois Green Office Challenge

    Hi All,

    The wait is over and the Illinois Green Office Challenge has begun!  Please go to the sign-up page to register for the competition.  In this first month the focus is going to be on creating a profile in the Energy Star Portfolio Manager.  That activity will establish a baseline so you can measure your improvement throughout the year.  For support, workshops are now being scheduled.  If your organization would like to host an event please let me know.  As always, please call or email me with any questions.

    Cheers,

    Bart

  10. update from Shantanu

    Associated Project(s): 
    Glove Recycling

    Housing has been piloting the glove recycling program for about four weeks now.  LAR, PRI, and MRL are all considering implementing the program.  Kimberly-Clarke Professionals (KCP) is interested in potentially supporting an intern to help expand the program.

    If everyone on campus recycled their KCP gloves it would be about 20 tons of landfill reduced.

  13. Nitrile Glove Recycling

    Associated Project(s): 
    Glove Recycling
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    The Nitrile Glove Recycling Program is an expansion of a preliminary pilot program performed by the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC). The initial pilot program collected gloves used in the laboratory setting in one central location. Gloves were collected from individual ISTC laboratories once a week into a larger collection container, and were stockpiled until there was sufficient volume to ship to the supplier. This project expands the pilot test to several more buildings on campus as a stepping stone to eventually serving the entire campus.

    Attached Files: 

  14. Shantanu is adding two Lab buildings for glove recycling

    Associated Project(s): 
    Glove Recycling

    Blake Ashley from Kimberley Clark spoke with Shantanu Pai.  Blake said they thought we are doing Labs, and Shantanu is going to work on implementing it at RAL, CLSL, and Housing.  Tanya from Fisher is working with Shantanu on this project.  RAL has a meeting being scheduled on June 23.

  15. Update from Shantanu Pai

    Associated Project(s): 
    Glove Recycling

    Shantanu Pai and Madeline (an ISTC intern) are taking over the implementation of the Nitrile Glove Recycling program at Housing Dining Services, after Seth Reints left the university.  Shantanu has 24 containers that can hang on the edge of Dining's slim containers.  Dawn Aubrey also needs containers that hang on the edge of the larger brute containers.  Madeline has created a 3-D printed prototype, which will be sent to Shantanu's contact in Canada for replication.

    Morgan provided Shantanu with the information that Seth had received or provided to SSC. 

  16. Consortium meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainable Electronics Campus Consortium

    Hello Colleagues. I invite you to participate in a Sustainable Electronics Campus Consortium meeting, scheduled for 1:00-2:00 PM on Wednesday, April 9, in the Stephen J. Warner Conference room at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center.   ISTC is working with Katie Kinley, a UI senior, to develop a prototype of her concept for an inductive charger for wireless microphone packs used in lecture halls and classrooms. The goal is to test this unit’s potential to save money and labor, while also reducing battery waste generated by the University. Katie will describe her project, show her progress on building her prototype, and discuss plans for testing the feasibility  of her idea, which will hopefully include testing the unit in one or more lecture halls. She would appreciate any feedback, contacts, and suggestions consortium members might provide.   -Joy Scrogum

  18. Assist lab store managers with glove recycling

    Associated Project(s): 
    Glove Recycling

    Hi Bart,

    Please touch base with Seth about KCP glove recycling, to get up to speed on the program they are using at ISTC.  Then work with lab store managers around campus to help them implement the program.  We will need a tracking system to be able to report on campus efforts, so find out if KCP will provide us with annual volumes or if we have to do it ourselves.  You can also touch base with Olof Westerstahl in Corporate Relations to get up to speed on any conversations he has had with KCP.

    Thanks,

    Morgan

  19. Open Geothermal at ISTC Project Funding Agreement

    Associated Project(s): 
    ISTC Geothermal Loop
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    The goal of this project is to conduct a feasibility study regarding installing an open geothermal loop underneath the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center.  The open geothermal loop would take water from one of the many nearby aquifers and only introduce heat into the system.   The project will increase awareness of geothermal systems, determine the physical and chemical attributes of the aquifer, and study integrating the geothermal system with the current HVAC system.  The ISTC hopes to decrease their energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by 25%-50%. The ISTC would test the procedure on this building, but hopes to extend it to other campus buildings.  Thus, the Student Sustainability Committee is in favor of funding the full requested amount of $27,000.

    Attached Files: 

  20. Project kick off

    Associated Project(s): 
    ISTC Geothermal Loop

    The kickoff meeting for the ISTC geothermal study was led by Todd Rusk at ISTC on March 9, 2009.  The agenda was 1) to discuss the overall project objectives, tasks, and requirements and 2) to begin preparations for drilling the test wells.

    Participants included: Tom Abram, Eliana Brown, Kenneth Hlinka, Thomas Holm, Michael Jeffords, David Larson, Tim Lindsey, Kent Reifsteck, Bill Shilts, Douglas Walker, and Angela Wisehart.

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