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Projects Updates for theme: all

  1. ISC and Staff Tour of MTD Facilities

    Associated Project(s): 
    Support the MTD Bus System

    Members of the ISC, and Sarthak Prasad attended a tour of MTD Facilities. This tour included a QnA session, and a walking tour of the facilities. Participants were shown the MTD hydrogen processing as well as a tour of one of the two hydrogen buses MTD currently operates. This tour facilitated many conversations that the student and staff attendees initiated. Please see the attached images of the hydrogen energy processing facility.

    Attached Files: 

  2. Weekly Update: Kids bike giveaway, Cranksgiving

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Busy week on the sales floor as the weather warmed up and we sold a few bikes. Also, got a half dozen or so kids bikes repaired for the KBG event in December.

    Over the weekend the Bike Project held their Cranksgiving bike food drive. Riders were able to collect ~400 lbs of donations to Faith UMC Food Pantry!

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 43
    Sales: $1,173.75
    Bikes (refurb): 3 for $530
    Memberships: 7 for $210
    Tires/tubes: 26 for $229

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center

  4. Apprentice program for electrical work

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Power on Campus

    Hi Josh,

     

    Do you know if we could request apprentices work on the 15kw solar install?  That could potentially bump us from a tax credit of ~$5500 to $33,000 if this goes through.

     

    Best,
    Tim

     

    ---------------------

    How much of the labor has to be apprentice? 

    Joshua Robin

    ----------------------

    15%  thanks!

    Morgan White

    ---------------------

    Thanks Morgan!

     

    With a small crew, if they had one apprentice, that might catch what we need. 

     

    I overestimated below at 6x the base $5500, where apprentice would make it 5x, so only 27,500. 

     

    Best,
    Tim

    ------------------------

    Thanks all. The contractor can put one apprentice on there.  Tech services and in house work would not have an apprentice most likely.  Is there a dollar value required for the apprentice labor or just 15 percent of total hours worked?  Are certified payrolls needed?

     

    Thank you

     

    Josh

  5. iCAP Resilience Team Meeting 11-10-23

    Associated Project(s): 
    Resilience iCAP Team
    Urban Biodiversity Master Plan
    Utilize Carbon Credits
    Vision Zero
    Air Quality Monitoring Station

    The iCAP Resilience Team Meeting met on November 10th, 2023 to discuss current project statuses, review the 2016 resilience commitment, and further discuss the mission and goals of the team.

    Meeting minutes, a supplemental slideshow, and recording is attached.

    Meeting recording: https://uofi.box.com/s/7xow5bqoe8zz0xk3qxyctdxi1duvg0mf

    Powerpoint: https://uofi.box.com/s/7ysynolap0ykpcaoxboxojaieispjn8a

    Attached Files: 

  6. Illinois EPA Announces $27 Million NOFO for Public Light-Duty Electric Vehicle Fast Charging Infrastructure

    Associated Project(s): 
    Install Public Use Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations

    Today, through its Driving a Cleaner Illinois program, the Illinois EPA announced the Driving a Cleaner Illinois – Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) EV Charging Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the purchase and installation of new Direct Current Fast Charging (DCFC) light-duty electric vehicle charging stations at publicly accessible locations. This $27 million opportunity is being made available through Governor Pritzker’s bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital plan for electric vehicle projects authorized under CEJA. The NOFO and related documents have been posted to the Illinois EPA website. Applications must be submitted to EPA.EVCharging@Illinois.gov by 5:00 pm CT on December 22, 2023.

    -------------------------------

    Hi Scott,

     

    I was just talking with Morgan, and we wondered if you know of any businesses in Urbana that would be interested in this program to fund the purchase and installation of fast chargers? If so, please let us know.

     

    Thanks,

    Jen

  7. Illinois Street Residence Hall Grind2Energy Tour

    Associated Project(s): 
    Grind2Energy
    Reduce Foodwaste

    Members from the ISC, ZeroWaste Interns, as well as Daphne Hulse and Codie Sterner attended a tour of the Illinois Street Residence Halls and their Grind2Energy system today.

    Attached Files: 

  14. Task Report for Sam Wuebbles from 10/2 to 11/7

    Associated Project(s): 
    Appropriately Staff Sustainable Transportation Efforts

    Here are the things I have been working on:

    • Material Research Lab bicycle rack design - in progress 
    • First social media post flyer (needs approval) - in progress
    • Other social media topics
      • 11/14 - bike fun facts
      • 11/21 - Fall Break
      • 11/28 - proper way to ride
      • 12/5 - (finals) proper way to store bicycle over break
      • *other events, topics, or positive bike riding examples* (I just remember you saying that you wanted a post a week)
    • Field work
      • bicycle rack placements
      • eco counter
    • Eco Counter
      • collected data
      • updated data in metrix
    • Created survey for dangerous areas / cautions for congestion bike paths / sidewalks on campus
    • iCAP
      •  
    • Readings
      • comp plans and informational bike readings
        • Examples: 5 E's, Campus Bike Plan (old and new), Bike at Illinois, etc.
    • ADA complaint
      • on the backside of learning about and understanding the complaint and seeing future takes.
    • worked for the staff information meeting at State Farm
    • attended the "Green Infrastructure and Erosion Control" (10/24)

  15. Student Let Project SegBin.ai Feasibility

    Associated Project(s): 
    Install Appropriate Waste Collection Infrastructure
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    Hey Morgan,

     

    The SSC has moved to fund this; I would like to get the go-ahead on it.

     

    Improper waste segregation poses significant environmental and financial challenges. In colleges, even students often need to pay more attention to separate waste correctly, leading to damaged recyclables, increased landfill waste, and the labor-intensive task of sorting improperly discarded waste. This issue extends beyond universities, indicating a larger problem with waste management globally. The current approach of replacing traditional single-bin systems with costly three-bin recycling bins has improved diversion rates but falls short of expectations. Financial burdens arise from the need to hire workers for manual waste sorting. To address this problem, we developed a cost-effective solution that ensures minimal damage to recyclables by sorting waste at the point of disposal.

    The project's use of AI, and revenue optimization contributes to more efficient waste management practices. This not only minimizes contamination and reduces landfill waste but also optimizes the recovery of recyclable materials. The data analysis dashboard provides users with valuable insights into disposal trends and waste composition. This empowers users to make informed decisions about waste management, promoting responsible practices. Additionally the lower cost of switching to SegBin.Ai than conventional 3 bin dustbins by over 50% significantly reduces spend on waste management infrastructure and it also has a major boost in waste diversion rates.


    I don’t like the budgeted amount of $1,600.00 for CAD and Software, it is confusing, it appears the students are paying themselves. I would like clarification on this.
    Codie

    --------------------------

    Hi Codie,

     

    Can you point me to the full file for this?  Are they just developing a software program, or building some sort of AI robot system for sorting mail?

     

    Thanks,

    Morgan

    -------------------------------

    Hey Morgan,

    This is the link for the project application and Excel application, I cc’d Daphne Hulse in the email as she is the advisor and can help with clarification questions. I always appreciate your time,

    ------------------------------

    Hi Morgan,

     

    The student group here is developing both a software system and physical prototype to place on top of existing recycling bins (the ones that are not the 3-stream bins). They are piloting sorting system at the recycling bin for the software to distinguish different types of objects and tell the user which stream to place it in (trash, paper, bottles/cans, etc.). They are planning to pilot this at PPSB and Garage & Carpool, with the understanding that it needs to be feasible for BSWs.

     

    Thank you,
    Daphne

  16. Smart light poles - IUB -11/11 event

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste Messaging Campaign

    Daphne,

     

    Thought I would share that we are working to get more images up on the smart poles outside of the Illini Union bookstore. Katie is going to see if she can create a simple design for the 11/11 tailgate recycling event. Unfortunately the functionality and quality of the poles are less than to be desired, severely limiting everything from character limit, font size, style to final imagery. Nonetheless, we are trying and will share what we she comes up with for your review, as this is a great item for additional visibility.

    Malikah A. Gordon

    -----------------------------

    Daphne,

     

    Attached is a sign Katie designed for the smart poles outside of IUB. We are pretty limited in terms of text and images, for now. I would like to run these from 11/8-11/11. Please let me know if you have any feedback.

     

    Best,

    Malikah

    -----------------------

    This looks excellent – thank you for putting this together! I do not have any additional edits.

     

    Thank you,
    Daphne

  18. Weekly Update: Cranksgiving, Halloween last week

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Halloween was last week, and we are still awash in candy and Halloween-themed cellophane.

    Weather bumped back up, too, and we had a wait for stands on Friday. As the mercury goes, so do we. Accordingly, Monday and Wednesday project to be busy. 

    Getting some bikes on the sales floor and tackling some organizational projects; will continue to do so this week. Will also tackle some more kids bikes as we ramp up production for that.

    This coming Saturday (11/11) the Bike Project is hosting Cranksgiving, a bicycle ride/food drive to collect donations for a local food pantry. I’ll mention it to my staff and patrons this week.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 43
    Sales: $484
    Memberships: 9 for $270
    Tires/tubes: 8 for $59

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center

  20. AASHE 2023 and storm water question

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS)

    All,

     

    Was great to catch up with so many old and new friends at AASHE!  Thank you for keeping Texas in your hearts and in your top 4 CFP rankings ...

     

    I can’t recall if this group has discussed innovative storm water management.  All of our capital projects have very tight site boundaries so our opportunities for on-site management are few and costly. We’re investigating fee-in-lieu and stormwater credit funding models, but I’m wondering if anyone else has an established off-site stormwater management financing program in place ...

     

    Thanks!

     

    Jim

    ----------------------------------

    Jim,

     

    We've done some work on different approaches to managing stormwater. I'll send a separate email to introduce you to one of my colleagues who leads our efforts in this area.

     

    Shane 

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