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Projects Updates for theme: all

  2. UIUC goals for Prospectus

    Associated Project(s): 
    Big Ten & Friends Sustainability

    The Big Ten and Friends Sustainability group is collaborating on a Prospectus about how sustainability helps the universities accomplish several of their missions.  Each participating school was asked to note their high-level and visionary goal for the Prospectus and the Big Ten group as a whole.  Sustainability staff at UIUC offered the following goals:

    What are your goals for using the outcomes of the Big Ten Prospectus at your institution?  “The University of Illinois Provost Office (budgetary authority) is interested in evaluating the appropriate funding model for our sustainability efforts, and we hope to use the outcomes from the Prospectus to help inform them about the importance and benefit of the overall sustainability efforts, and how it ties directly to the campus mission.”

    What potential (think big!) do you see for our network as a whole?  How can this work help us leverage regional impacts, move all of our institutions forward, etc.? “We have been making great strides in sustainability, but campus continues to elevate other mission priorities over sustainability when achieving these goals is considered cumbersome or unfeasible. We hope that through this Prospectus, the Big Ten and, subsequently, campuses across the nation will see that sustainability is a mission-critical goal, and will not proceed with any action until it can be made sustainable. Could we also partner on various efforts, from Carbon Credits to recycled paper purchases to RECs, etc. to save money and effort? We should also update the website at http://greenbigten.msu.edu/index.html and https://wikispaces.psu.edu/display/Big10EnvStew/Big+Ten+Environmental+St....”

  3. Zipcar brand ambassadors at Quad Day

    Associated Project(s): 
    Increase Zipcar Membership on Campus

    The Zipcar Brand Ambassadors joined the Transportation Demand Management team at Quad Day this fall.  They handed out all the promotional information they had with them in the first forty minutes of the four hour event, and then shared sustainable transportation materials along Green Street for the remainder of the afternoon.

    Also, F&S is looking into digital sign materials to promote Zipcar.

  11. F&S design meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Speech and Hearing Rooftop Solar PVs

    Brian Finet shared a preliminary sketched layout for the Speech and Hearing Rooftop Solar PV, in a short meeting with Morgan Johnston and Robert Halverson.  During the spring funding meeting of the Student Sustainability Committee, they questioned if it was possible to do a scalable design for this building, so more than the originally funded 11kW could be installed in the future.  The answer is yes, this is highly scalable.

  12. New Effort Towards Promoting Departmental Bicycle Fleets

    Associated Project(s): 
    Provide Working Bikes for University Employees
    Departmental Bike Sharing
    Independent Student Projects

    August, 2016, a new initiative towards promoting departments to start their own bicycle fleets began. Lily Wilcock, Active Transportation Coordinator, took on myself (Logan Ebeling), a student intern to help with this project. I am participating in the project as part of ENVS 491, a class required for my Sustainability Minor. 

     

    This project is an evolution from the Departmental Bike Sharing project (see Associated Projects) and is using materials from that project and is drawing off its success. 

     

    We met August 24th at the Campus Bike Center to discuss goals for this semester. We settled on two broad goals: First, assessing the health, challenges, and success of already existing departmental bicycle fleets and second, promoting the formation of new bicycle fleets on campus.  

  15. Preliminary meeting with F&S Engineering Design

    Associated Project(s): 
    Speech and Hearing Rooftop Solar PVs

    Morgan Johnston, Robert Halverson, and Brian Finet met to discuss the design needs of the Speech and Hearing Rooftop Solar PVs project (on building #209).  Key points discussed are:

    Per the building occupants, this project needs to be installed at the same time as the Capital Project in that building, currently scheduled for summer 2017.  Therefore, the bulk of the design needs to be completed by December 2016, and the installation methodology should be clarified in September or October, 2016.

    The project must be metered, in order to track the solar energy generation.  There are several metering options and considerations to be addressed.  The meter needs to track real-time energy generation from the array, but this project does not currently include setting up a dashboard website specifically for this array.

    Discussion about the pros and cons of various mounting methods were discussed.  Additional potential for rooftop leaks are the primary concern for building occupants and maintenance contacts.  The most manageable installation style is to connect the solar panels to an existing load bearing column for the building.  Ballast style installations, while not creating an immediate rooftop penetration point, are very likely to wear on the roof and create non-point source leaks which are hard to find and eliminate.  Additionally, with a ballasted mounting system the snow load is difficult to calculate due to the unpredictable effect of snow drifts.

  16. Inquiry for how to request SSC funding

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar PVs at Idea Garden

    Ava Heap and Andrew Stumpf requested assistance from Morgan Johnston on an SSC project proposal for the Idea Garden rooftop solar.  Kristine provided a summary of the open issues to be addressed:

    • Survey of all electric loads to be placed on the system, 
    • if heating the shed is necessary and to be included,
    • where batteries would be stored, and
    • if the shed can support the panels (although that did not appear to be a problem).

    Morgan will work with Ava to clarify the needs of this project.

  17. Concrete Repairs

    Associated Project(s): 
    2014 Campus Bike Plan [ARCHIVED]

    While the plan implementation is not done yet, the Armory Avenue path has seen concrete repair and improvement this summer. Sections between Lincoln and Goodwin have been repaired after recent construction has made the existing poor conditions worse.

  18. Call out for Volunteers at Light the Night 2016

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Bicycle Safety Materials

    This years Light the Night has 1,090 bicycle light sets for installation on bicycles in the span of four hours. We need all the volunteers we can get! Sign up on the facebook page of the wiki!

    http://thebikeproject.wikispaces.com/light-the-night-2016

    https://www.facebook.com/events/247904592263343/

    Any questions or other ways to help the event, contact Lily Wilcock, lwilco2@illinois.edu .

  20. Joint efforts support pollinators in our community

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bee Campus USA
    Champaign County Sustainability Network (CCNet) [ARCHIVED]

    Prairie Rivers Network, the Illinois affiliate for the National Wildlife Federation, is leading an effort to support monarchs in the local region.  The are also working with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) on a plan for protecting monarchs in our state.  IDNR is planning a statewide event in Springfield on September 9 to share the results of initial surveys.

    The Champaign County Sustainability Network (CCNet) participated in the Pollinator Palooza on July 16: "Help plant milkweed at Firefighter Park, 305 S Randolph St, Champaign, Saturday July 16  from 9-12, bring gloves -- The Champaign Park District is transforming Firefighter Park (305 S Randolph) into a butterfly habitat. All City Staff are invited to help plant milkweed this Saturday from 9 am to noon.  Champaign joined the Mayor's Monarch Challenge Leadership Circle to save the Monarch Butterfly.  In the last 20 years, the Monarch population has declined by over 94%, shrinking from over 1 billion to just 60 million butterflies. Monarchs rely on Milkweed plants, the only plant that they can use to cocoon. The Midwest is an essential breeding ground for the annual Monarch migration from Canada to Mexico, and habitat loss has contributed to their decline."

    CCNet also hosted the Pollinator Pocket Garden Tour on July 28: "Walking Tour Begins at Bresnan Center,706 Kenwood Rd, Champaign -- Moving beyond pollinator week in June and to keep the conversation ongoing, CCNET is hosting a tour with, Randy Hauser, Horticulture and Natural Areas Supervisor for the Champaign Park District to learn about "pocket gardens". This will be a great learning experience for people who love plants and want to help the pollinators and the Monarch, but only have small space for gardens." 

    The City of Champaign and other partners in the community such as the Champaign Park District, Prairie Rivers Network and many others have been working to preserve Monarch Butterfly habitat throughout the community. The City of Champaign joined the Mayor's Monarch Challenge Leadership Circle to save the Monarch Butterfly. In the last 20 years, the Monarch population has declined by over 94%, shrinking from over 1 billion to just 60 million butterflies. Monarchs rely on Milkweed plants, the only plant that they can use to cocoon. The Midwest is an essential breeding ground from the annual Monarch migration from Canada to Mexico, and habitat loss has contributed to their decline.  The Champaign Park District hosted a number of Monarch Themed events throughout the summer focused on Monarch Butterfly education and habitat preservation.

    City of Urbana staff have planted milkweed seed in landscapes at the Boneyard Creek. They have also designed a butterfly and pollinator garden to be installed south of the City Building next spring. Additionally, Mayor Prussing has signed the Wildlife Federation’s Mayors For Monarchs Pledge. In accordance with the pledge and the Mayor’s interest in supporting monarch populations, staff have assisted in the creation or enhancement of monarch and pollinator gardens with community groups at the Lierman Garden, Urbana Free Library Garden, and Downtown Garden.

     

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