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Projects Updates for theme: all

  2. Status update from Bart to Tracy

    Associated Project(s): 
    Establish a Net Zero Waste Plan and Policy

    Tracy,

    Here is an update and overview from our conversation this morning.

    1.        We will start by auditing BIF on the week of October 5-9.  Kari Cooperider is our contact.  Everything is in place at this venue.  Bin mapping has already been done.  We will pick up most of the material from both dumpsters on a daily basis.  You may not have to empty these all week but we will let you know if it is needed.  We will also weigh all the recycling totes on site before you pick up that material, but not remove anything from the totes.  Everything removed from the dumpsters will be taken to ISTC for sorting and then dropped off at the WTS the next morning. 

    2.       The Illini Union will be audited the week of October 12-17.  Dave Guth and David Parker are our contacts.  They are working to have Area provide them with a roll off for that week.  Bin mapping has been done.  They are already looking to purchase new bins and change signage.  We will capture 400 pounds of material and take it to ISTC for sorting.  Afterward that material will be taken back to the Union.  The compactor will only be used in the case overflow is needed.  We will coordinate the collection of samples to prior to the Area pickups.  

    3.       LAR will be audited the week of October 19-23.  Contacts are Michael Wassom (BSW Supervisor) and Brenda Welch (Dining Supervisor) .  For this week you will provide a 20 yard roll off and place it at the loading dock next to the compactor.  The compactor will not be used during this week.  For this week LAR will place everything in liners and place them in the 20 yard roll off.  We will be pulling out 40 bags per day but there will most likely still need to be pickups depending on how much material is left over.    We will call you when that is needed and to coordinate our samples being picked up prior.  Bin mapping has already been done.

    4.       RAL is also scheduled for October 19-23.  Our contacts are Wes Riggsby and Ron Eggett.  For this audit they have agreed to use liners for that week.  They are also going to try and direct any waste from the Chemical Life Sciences building to the dumpsters on the other side of their building.  Because RAL has a deep dumpster, you have agreed to replace it with a 20 yard roll off.  We will be picking up 40 bags per day and taking them to the ISTC for sorting.  That material will be taken to the WTS the next morning.  We believe that some pickups may be needed but we will call you if that is the case. 

    The materials will be collected and then sorted behind ISTC.  To accommodate student workers, the timing of the sorts will be from 3pm -7pm each day.  Surveys will also be done on each building. 

    Cheers,

    Bart

  3. weekly update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all,

    This past week was busy but good.  I was able to start our partnership with the school of education and orientate the EDU 201 students.  I registered quite a few bikes, and we had strong attendance at the Center.  We also lent a pair of bikes to the Krannert center for a performance, which is said to have been wonderful.  We sold 1 bike for $120, 12 student memberships for $300, and 3 community memberships for $120.  The Center grossed $1278.  I went to the BPAC meeting.  Nothing of note there, we just went over the MCORE plans.

    This coming week I will be training students from the EDU 201 class on how to help us at the Bike Project and Bike Center.  I will be preparing for my absence in October for Bike!Bike!.  I will also be training new employees, and making sure shop operations are up to standard.  With the busyness of fall, and trying to fill in for the not yet hired active trans coordinator a lot of things were not attended to as well as I would have liked. 

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  5. Bike parking added

    Associated Project(s): 
    FY12 SSC Bike Parking Upgrades [ARCHIVED]

    BIKE RACK REPLACEMENTS: The replacement of 344 broken/unusable campus bike racks at the College of Education, Loomis Laboratory, Main Library, Mechanical Engineering Building, and Smith Memorial Hall was completed. Bike racks at David Kinley Hall and the Psychology Building will also be replaced in coordination with construction taking place at those locations. 

     

  6. New fume hood standards drafted

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reduce Active Fume Hoods

    NEW CHEMICAL FUME HOODS: In response to our ongoing focus on energy conservation programs and increased interest by campus units, F&S has completed a draft of revised ventilation facility standards that incorporates criteria for the use of high-efficiency chemical fume hoods (HE-CFH). These units have air flow requirements that are different from standard fume hoods and can decrease operating expenses related to air handling and overall energy consumption. In creating the draft, F&S conducted an in-depth engineering study, including surveying equipment manufacturers and installers, as well as other universities. 

     

  7. weekly update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all,

    This past week was very busy.  We did lots of good stuff.  We successfully pulled off the LTN 2015.  We served quite a few people, and found a new person to work at the shop.  We sold one bike for $160, 2 build-a-bikes for $100, 6 memberships for $150, and grossed $10,078.57.  I made more shop fliers, and continued to setup the EDU 201 course.  Stacey and I have been following up on the cargo bike situation, and I met with Jeff Yockey about the Bike Summit.  No bike built.  We have been too busy.

    This week I will finalize hiring a new employee who will substitute when staff are now here/transition into staff.  We will be losing two staffers in December, and more in the spring.  I am working on getting the shop back into shape after the student rush, and organizing it a little better.  I will also be doing orientation for the EDU 201 course Wednesday night.

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  9. Earth Week 2015 info

    Associated Project(s): 
    Earth Week

    Earth Week 2015 was April 20-24. Sustainable marketing guru Jacquelyn Ottman (right) inspired more than 140 people from the Illinois campus and the community with her keynote address on Earth Day (April 22). Other events included awards ceremonies for “green” competitions — including 24 honorees from our own Certified Green Office Program — plus an Arbor Day celebration that drew more than 70 people to a tree planting on the Main Quad near the Henry Administration Building. Check out the full schedule of events!

  10. Archived - previous project description

    Associated Project(s): 
    Facilitate campus-wide sustainability events

     The Office of Sustainability strives to build a culture of environmental stewardship on campus.  Building and developing this culture requires constant engagement with the campus community—faculty, staff, and students alike.  The OS attempts to participate in every possible engagement activity offered to make an effort to influence behavior. The OS annually implements or participates in the following events:

    • Quad Day
    • Sustainability Week – National Sustainability Day
    • National Food Day
    • Faculty – Staff Expo
    • Wellness Fair at Faculty-Staff Seminar
    • Earth Week

  11. Shared metrics - UIUC FY14 data

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability Practitioners at RPC [ARCHIVED]

    In order to collaborate for sustainability improvements, it is helpful to have a shared baseline data set.  the Sustainability Practitioners developed a list of potential shared metrics for our region, and the attached file shows the UIUC data from FY14 for these metrics.

    These primarily came from the STARS report put together by Stephanie Lage at the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment, for the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.  There are also several data points taken from the Facilities & Services Utilities & Energy Services website.

    Attached Files: 

  12. idea for a Native Plants and Pollinator support discussion group

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability Practitioners at RPC [ARCHIVED]

    In August, this group discussed the general topic of native plants and pollinator support. We considered options for measuring the effectiveness of the current landscape as pollinator support, and we considered methods for encouraging more native plantings throughout the community.  One big hurdle is that there is no actual funding available.  One of the examples of past success with a similar situation is Champaign County Bikes, where a group of highly motivated community members worked together to change the bicycling culture.  We determined that a good first step would be for iSEE to invite interested individuals together to discuss options for moving forward.  (There are several groups that should be invited, so it will not be difficult to find the interested folks.)

    Scott Tess, from the City of Urbana, provided the following related links:

    http://pollinator.org/PDFs/Guides/PrairieParklandrx12FINAL.pdf

    http://resilient-cities.iclei.org/fileadmin/sites/resilient-cities/files/Resilient_Cities_2013/Using-Ecological-Theory-Guide-Urban-Planting-Design_low.pdf

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3353335/

  14. Update from Bart to Tracy

    Associated Project(s): 
    Establish a Net Zero Waste Plan and Policy

    Hi Tracy,

    Plans are coming together for the waste audits so let me give you the latest.

    1.        We will start by auditing BIF on the week of October 5-9.  Kari Cooperider is our contact.  Everything is in place at this venue.  Bin mapping has already been done.

    2.       The Illini Union will be audited the week of October 12-17.  Dave Guth and David Parker are our contacts.  They are working to have Area provide them with a roll off for that week.  Bin mapping has been done.  They are already looking to purchase new bins and change signage.

    3.       LAR will be audited the week of October 19-23.  Contact is Michael Wassom.  To do this audit we would like a roll off placed on site for that week.  Can you help us with that?  Bin mapping has already been done.

    4.       RAL is also scheduled for October 19-23.  Our contacts are Wes Riggsby and Ron Eggett.  For this audit they have agreed to use liners for that week.  They are also going to try and direct any waste from the Chemical Life Sciences building to the dumpsters on the other side of their building.  RAL has a very deep dumpster.  Could you replace that for the week with a shorter version?  We are happy to make frequent pickups to accommodate a decrease in capacity.   

    The materials will be collected and then sorted behind ISTC.  To accommodate student workers, the timing of the sorts will be from 3pm -7pm each day.  Materials will then either be dropped on the dumpster and recycling bins at ISTC or taken to the WTS the next morning.  I think most will have to be taken to the WTS because of the limited capacity at ISTC.  Surveys will also be done on each building.  Art and Design students are also putting together a structure built from waste.  Final reports on everything should be complete by year end.  Please let me know if you have any questions or want to discuss in more detail. 

    Cheers,

    Bart

     

  15. Green Apple Day of Service letter from iSEE to local schools

    Associated Project(s): 
    USGBC Student Chapter
    Contribute to Regional Climate Action Plans

    The USGBC Green Apple Day of Service (http://greenapple.org/dayofservice) was September 26, 2015, and iSEE Associate Director Madhu Khanna sent a letter to local schools encouraging them to participate.  The letter is attached here, and the outcomes are shown on the USGBC website at http://www.usgbc-illinois.org/green-apple-day-of-service-success-stories/.

    Attached Files: 

  18. UIUC recognized for use of Local Foods

    Associated Project(s): 
    Food Purchases from Local Sources

    "The University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign spends 25 percent of its yearly food budget on locally grown or processed food items. Campus dining services also exclusively serve fair trade coffee and almost all seafood is sustainably harvested. The university is also very committed to reducing waste and has enacted efforts to recycle cooking oil for biodiesel production and currently a quarter of the meals served on-campus are trayless."

    http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/The-Bite/2015/0826/Twelve-college-camp...

  19. weekly update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    The past few weeks have been very busy.  I have not been able to write a weekly digest.  We have seen a massive increase in people coming in.  The shop has been operating at above capacity, but with some patience on the part of those coming in as well as some kind volunteers we have gotten by.  We have tabled at the International Student Check in, Quad Day, and the Paraprofessional Resource Fair.  We pulled about 80 bikes from the warehouse, donated quite a few bikes to Habitat for Humanity, and a couple to the YMCA.  I helped coordinate bike volunteers for Dump and Run and helped a little coordinating volunteers for Habitat for Humanity.  I helped the organizers of the Illinois Bike Summit find speakers for the Community Bike Shop portion of the Summit.  I helped create some new advocacy materials.

    This week I plan on reorganizing the Center to fix the chaos of the last few weeks, building bikes, printing more advocacy materials, and working on ordering bike parts.

    I will see about creating a class schedule for the semester.

    From the Campus Outpost,

    James Roedl

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