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Projects Updates for place: Garage/ Car Pool

  4. Presentation on SmartWay status with F&S Transportation

    Associated Project(s): 
    EPA SmartWay Affiliate

    Sinead Soltis (F&S intern) presented an overview of the SmartWay Program to Dan Hiser of F&S Transportation & Automotive Services. Representing the department, Dan was very excited to be a part of this conversation and offered helpful suggestions for having a suscessful campus rollout. Adding the SmartWay logo to the keychains of the cars used for carpooling, along with adding it to his own signature were some of the many suggestions offered. We plan to also collaborate with F&S Transportation in the future to add the importance of our affiliate status in this program in the training for new employees within the department and throughout the whole campus staff.

    See the attached pdf for presentation slides. 

    Attached Files: 

  5. Presentation on SmartWay status with members of the Illini Union

    Associated Project(s): 
    EPA SmartWay Affiliate

    Sinead Soltis and Morgan White of F&S Sustainability presented an overview of the SmartWay Program to different members of the Illini Union staff. The meeting included: Dave Guth (Illini Union Director of Operations), Tod Petrie(Director of Illini Union Bookstore), Erik Riha (Illini Union Marketing Director), and Todd Moeglich (Illini Union Asst. Director for Procurement). An engaging discussion led to ideas of where the SmartWay program can be shared to staff members across the Illini Union, along with the importance of our affiliate status as a model to the community.

    See the attached pdf for presentation slides. 

    Attached Files: 

  6. 12/2 Transportation SWATeam Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Use Electric Vehicles (EV)
    Encourage Telecommuting
    Commuter Program: Bus, Bike, and Hike

    Attached are the meeting minutes for the 12/2 Transportation SWATeam Meetings, as well as the Zoom chat file.

    Discussed were the following:

    • Telecommuting/Teleconferencing Policy and Commputer Program Intern 
    • EV Parking Department Dashboard Data
    • EV Task Force
    Attached Files: 

  7. 11/18 Transportation SWATeam Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Use Electric Vehicles (EV)
    Install Public Use Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations
    Encourage Telecommuting

    Attached are the meeting minutes and chat from the Zero Waste SWATeam meeting on 11/18.

    Discussed were the following topics:

    • Establishing a telecommuting/teleconferencing policy.
    • Discussing working with an interdisciplinary health intern in IHR to tackle research/application of teleconferencing/telecommuting policy and commuter program.
    • Establishing an EV Task Force through the Parking Department to re-assess campus EV needs.
    Attached Files: 

  8. Presentation on SmartWay status with F&S Stores and Receiving

    Associated Project(s): 
    EPA SmartWay Affiliate

    Sinead Soltis (F&S intern) presented an overview of the SmartWay Program to Travis Molitor of F&S Stores and Receiving. Collaboration on the topic will hopefully include affiliate recognition on their new website, along with physical signage outside of PPSB Stores & Receiving. In addition to this recognition, Travis plans to discuss with his staff about our status in this program. 

    See the attached pdf for presentation slides.

    Also, Travis recommends reaching out to Housing Storekeepers and Chem. Sciences contacts.

    Attached Files: 

  9. Sinead Soltis presented the SmartWay Program to iSEE representatives

    Associated Project(s): 
    EPA SmartWay Affiliate

    Sinead Soltis, as an F&S Sustainability intern, presented the new SmartWay Program to Meredith Moore and Jenna Kurtzweil at iSEE.  The iSEE reps were very supportive of the program roll-out and had great suggestions for additional contacts to share the information with, such as the Engagement SWATeam.

    See the attached pdf for presentation slides. 

    Attached Files: 

  10. F&S and UIC status update call in regards to SmartWay

    Associated Project(s): 
    EPA SmartWay Affiliate

    Discussions continue in regards to University of Illinois System's EPA SmartWay affiliation status. Kate Yoshida, UIC Program Director of Sustainability, met with Morgan White and Sinead Soltis to brainstorm departments across both campuses that would benefit from learning more about the SmartWay program. Morgan and Sinead shared their plans to present to iSEE, F&S Transportation, the Illini Union, and other relevant departments that will assist in recognizing our status of being an affiliate.

  11. F&S Sharing SmartWay status with UIS

    Associated Project(s): 
    EPA SmartWay Affiliate

    F&S Sustainability reached out to Cindy Ervin, the University of Illinois-Springfield Transportation Supervisor, about our system's status as a SmartWay member. Attached is the letter sent to share this information, along with other important resources on getting involved as a SmartWay partner along with its benefits. 

    Attached Files: 

  13. Illinois Student Government initiates discussion with F&S about recycling plastic bags

    Associated Project(s): 
    Plastic Bag Recycling

    Greetings Director Attalla,

     

    The Environmental Sustainability Committee of Illinois Student Government is working on developing a solution to the increased plastic bag waste that has been generated on campus this semester. We would like to start an initiative to bring plastic bag collection locations on campus with the purpose of recycling plastic bags at an off-campus location. Myself, the committee chair Creen Ahmad, and our committee vice-chair Ari Kelo would like to organize a meeting with you and any other relevant members of the F&S team to determine how we can implement this plan.

     

    Plastic bag use has increased greatly on campus this semester, being used in all dining halls, retail locations, and off-campus restaurants. Since these products are not easily recyclable, we feel it is important to ensure they do not begin to pollute the campus community or contaminate the current recycling chain on campus.

     

    We hope to meet with you soon, and we look forward to hearing about your availability!

    Sincerely,

    Tyler Swanson

     

  15. F&S sharing SmartWay status with UIC

    Associated Project(s): 
    EPA SmartWay Affiliate

    Morgan White and Sinead Soltis met with Katherine Yoshida, the University of Illinois-Chicago's Sustainabiliy program director about our system's status of being an EPA SmartWay Affiliate. Discussion included the history of SmartWay on our campus, along with ideas of how to integrate into UIC's campus. 

    A follow up call is scheduled for the end of October. 

  16. University of Illinois is now an EPA SmartWay Affiliate

    Associated Project(s): 
    EPA SmartWay Affiliate

    The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is now a registered SmartWay Affiliate! The EPA SmartWay Affiliate Agreement was signed on 6/19/20, and the university was officially welcomed to the program by a representative from the EPA on 7/16/20. Civil Engineering student Abby Culloton and F&S Sustainability Intern Sinead Soltis will begin integrating the SmartWay messaging within campus departments beginning in the fall 2020 semester.

    A SmartWay Affiliate is an organization that agrees to educate and support their members' efforts to improve freight sustainability.  Please follow the link below for more information and to explore how your team can become a SmartWay partner!

    https://www.epa.gov/smartway

  17. Mailbag solar article: Suggestion for UI solar panels

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Power on Campus
    Solar Farm 1.0
    Solar Farm 2.0
    Rooftop Solar Potential
    ECE Rooftop Solar PVs
    BIF Rooftop Solar PVs
    Uni High Gym Rooftop Solar PVs
    Solar Thermal at ARC
    Wassaja Hall Rooftop Solar PVs

    "Why doesn't the company installing the solar panels at U of I put them over the parking lot? I would provide shade for the cars underneath and would eliminate having to kill whatever would be underneath them in the fields."

    The best option for building solar panels is ground-mounted, said Morgan White, the associate director for sustainability at the University of Illinois.

    "As part of our Climate Leadership Commitments the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a goal of producing at least 25,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) per year from on-campus solar," she said. "When we evaluated options for meeting this goal, rooftop solar, solar over parking areas, and ground-mounted solar were all considered. The most cost-effective option is ground-mounted solar, and it also allows for larger-scale installations.

    "For a sense of the scale, the two solar farms will be a total of 75 acres, while the largest parking lot on campus is less than 15 acres.

    "When installing solar panels over parking areas, there are additional infrastructure and labor costs to raise the solar panels above the ground level. Although we do not currently have any solar over parking areas, Facilities & Services is working with the Parking Department to evaluate potential locations for a pilot installation. We are also continuing to install rooftop solar on individual buildings."

    Solar panels are on the following five Urbana campus buildings:

    — Business Instructional Facility

    — the Activities & Recreation Center

    — Wassaja Residence Hall

    — University High School Gymnasium

    — Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Building.

    "I'd also like to emphasize that the ground-mounted solar panels do not harm the plants under them. After building the first Solar Farm, we learned that there was an excellent opportunity for growing useful plants under and around the panels," said White. "This is a great opportunity for creating a multi-functional ecosystem, with pollinator supportive plants and protected areas for small animals and insects."

    https://www.news-gazette.com/toms-mailbag/toms-mailbag-june-26-2020/article_65ef2976-09b9-526a-848d-1419c905b0ec.html

     

  18. Spring 2020 Project Deliverables

    Associated Project(s): 
    ENG 177 GFX Global Sustainability Scholars
    2014 Campus Bike Plan [ARCHIVED]
    Develop Local Carbon Offset Program [ARCHIVED]
    Install Public Use Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations
    Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS)
    EPA SmartWay Affiliate
    Provide Centralized Communication about Sustainability

    Final Project Deliverables for Spring 2020

    There were 7 projects completed by the WIE-GFX Abroad Scholars in the Spring 2020 semester of ENG 177

    1. Armory Bike Path Restoration
    2. Study Abroad Carbon Offset
    3. Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
    4. AASHE STARS Report 2020
    5. Food Waste
    6. Sustainability Best Practices Guide
    7. EPA SmartWay Program

  20. EPA SmartWay Program presented infirst-year women in engineering class

    Associated Project(s): 
    EPA SmartWay Affiliate
    ENG 177 GFX Global Sustainability Scholars

    Abby Culloton, a freshman in Civil and Environmental Engineering, put together a project proposal for the SmartWay program and presented it on February 28th. This proposal included why being an affiliate of this program would be beneficial to campus, who/ what departments across campus would be involved, proposed objectives, and other facts that needed to be considered. 

    Attached is the full proposal.

    Attached Files: 

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