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Projects Updates for theme: all

  5. Campus Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC) spring 2023

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC)
    2014 Campus Bike Plan [ARCHIVED]
    Reduce Driving on Campus
    Commuter Program: Bus, Bike, and Hike
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Pedestrian and Bicycle Counts
    It's Your MTD Too!
    Bicycle Registration
    Collection and Donation of Abandoned Bicycles
    Bicycle Counts
    Bicycle Friendly University Status
    2024 Campus Bike Plan
    Bike Share with Veo
    ADA Transition Plan and 2017 Supplement

    Please see attached the final presentation for the CTAC spring 2023. Watch the meeting recording here: https://uofi.box.com/s/mid9gjqnhyziake9txcdf9jee08rgx6h

    Attached Files: 

  6. Discovered University of Michigan's "Understanding Water Bottle Behavior of Students" Study

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reduce Single-Use Plastics
    Drinking Water Survey

    From: Fraterrigo, Jennifer M <jmf@illinois.edu>
    Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2023 9:38 AM
    To: Hulse, Daphne Lauren <dlhulse2@illinois.edu>
    Subject: water bottles

     

    Daphne,

     

    I came across this gem of a resource today: It is comprehensive and data-driven. The synthesis and recommendations at the end are excellent! Also, the fact sheet could help us streamline our education messaging.  

     

    https://graham.umich.edu/media/files/campus-course-reports/WaterBottleBehaviorFinalReport.pdf

     

     

    Jennifer Fraterrigo (she/her)

    iSEE Associate Director for Campus Sustainability and
    Professor of Landscape and Ecosystem Ecology
    Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences

    University of Illinois

    W-423 Turner Hall, 1102 S. Goodwin Ave.

    Urbana, IL 61801

    jmf@illinois.edu
    ph 217-333-9428

    https://fraterrigolab.nres.illinois.edu/

  8. ASHRAE Publishes First Zero Energy and Zero Carbon Building Evaluation Standard

    Associated Project(s): 
    Building-Level Energy Efficiency
    Energy iCAP Team

    News

     

     

    ASHRAE Publishes First Zero Energy and Zero Carbon Building Evaluation Standard

     

    ATLANTA (April 27, 2023) – ASHRAE has released a new standard to measure zero net carbon and energy goals in buildings.

     

    ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 228-2023, Standard Method of Evaluating Zero Net Energy and Zero Net Carbon Building Performance, sets requirements for evaluating whether a building or group of buildings meets a definition of “zero net energy” or a definition of “zero net carbon” during building operation. The standard draws from ASHRAE Standard 105, among others, to address energy and carbon flows across a site boundary, their measurement, and their balance.

     

    “Achieving a zero energy building has been viewed by many as a difficult goal to meet, with unforeseeable roadblocks and differing guidance,” said Keith Emerson, P.E., Life Member ASHRAE, chair of the Standards Project Committee 228. Standard 228 provides a consistent method for determining whether new and existing sites have reached zero energy. We hope this standard will become a helpful resource for building professionals in strategic decarbonization planning.”

     

    Additional features of Standard 228 are as follows:

     

    • Allowances for sites that lack the opportunity to produce adequate renewable energy, while placing additional requirements on the use of external carbon and renewable energy in the calculation.
    • Defined calculation of energy in terms of source—a multiplier on the energy crossing the site boundary to include energy used or lost in extraction, generation and transit to the site.
    • The main energy calculation made in terms of annual average factors. Allowance is made for the calculation of individual hours where data is available.

     

    Standard 228 does not apply to the establishment of building energy performance goals or limits; design guidance or design requirements; embodied energy of building materials and systems; and transportation to and from a building. The standard is also not intended to circumvent any safety, health, or environmental requirements.

     

    To purchase Standard 228-2023, visit ashrae.org/228 or contact ASHRAE Customer Contact Center at 1-800-527-4723 (United States and Canada), 404-636-8400 (worldwide) or fax 678-539-2129.

     

    Standard 228 has been published on continuous maintenance. A Standing Standard Project Committee (SSPC 228) has been formed to update the standard through the publication of addenda or revisions to any part of the standard. SSPC 228 is chaired by Dr. Paul Torcellini. Instructions for how to submit a change can be found on the ASHRAE website at ashrae.org/continuous-maintenance.

     

    About ASHRAE

    Founded in 1894, ASHRAE is a global professional society committed to serve humanity by advancing the arts and sciences of heating ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration and their allied fields.

     

    As an industry leader in research, standards writing, publishing, certification and continuing education, ASHRAE and its members are dedicated to promoting a healthy and sustainable built environment for all, through strategic partnerships with organizations in the HVAC&R community and across related industries.

     

    The Society is showcasing integrated building solutions and sustainability in action through the opening of the ASHRAE Global Headquarters building in metro-Atlanta, Georgia.

     

    For more information and to stay up-to-date on ASHRAE, visit ashrae.org and connect on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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

    Big news from ASHRAE:

     

    Ralph DiNola

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

     

    Hi Team,

     

    Came across this announcement from ASHRAE this morning and pertains to our recent discussions.

    I don’t have access to the full standard. Maybe Damon has access to the full pdf.

     

    Best,

    Andy

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

    Saw this too, pretty interesting and worthwhile read!

    I don’t have the full PDF yet but have access to the site to purchase it as a member, but perhaps F&S would be willing to do so?

    DM

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

    It would be great to have it. I also interested to know more.

     

    Best

    Yun

     

  11. Fountain Expenses

    Associated Project(s): 
    Responsible Stewardship of Campus Land and Water

    Hi Ehab,

     

    A quick and random question as we have a potential naming opportunity (may be honorific) for the fountain adjacent to the Hallene Gateway and Alice Campbell Alumni Center.  Can you estimate the annual operating expense for the foundation, flower bed, etc?  If there is another appropriate source for this information, please feel free to pass along.  Thanks in advance for all your help.

     

    -- Barry

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

    Hi Ehab,

     

    Please see the fountain maintenance costs for the past two years in the screen shots below and the information for the past 12 years in the spreadsheet in the attachment.

     

    Ryan Welch emailed and said, grounds spends around $16,000 annually on prepping, planting, fertilizing, watering, weeding, removing, disposing and purchasing flowers for the Hallene Fountain bed. 

     

    If you have further questions, please let us know.

     

    Thanks

    Mark

     

     

    FY21022-2023

    Actual Labor

    $21,262.42

    Actual Material

    $12,722.11

    Actual Equipment

    $120.00

    Actual Contract

    $0.00

    Actual Total

    $34,104.53

    Actual Hours

    $339.50

     

     

    FY2022-2023

    Actual Labor

    $34,144.82

    Actual Material

    $1,698.71

    Actual Equipment

    $180.00

    Actual Contract

    $0.00

    Actual Total

    $36,023.53

    Actual Hours

    $471.00

     

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

    Thank you Mark. Is the $16k by Ryan’s team in addition to the $34k in FY21/22 and $36k in FY22/23? Or the total cost including Ryan’s team expenses is $34k in FY21/22 and $36k in FY22/23?

     

    Regards,

     

    Ehab

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

    Yes, this is correct.

    Thanks

    Mark

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

    Mark,

     

    Just to confirm, the total cost will be $50k for FY21/22 and $52k for FY22/23. Correct?

     

    Regards,

     

    Ehab

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

    Yes that is correct, sorry Ehab hit sent to soon on last message. 

     

    Mark Barcus

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

    Thank you Mark.

     

    Regards,

     

    Ehab

  12. Campus Landscape Master plans, native plant experimentation

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Landscape Master Plan (CLMP)

    Hi Brodie,

     

    I recommend talking with Brent Lewis, the University Landscape Architect (copied here).  Brent, I’m not sure what the discussions have been with the Hartley Garden area at the Arboretum, so feel free to bring us up to speed.

     

    Brodie, I also recommend you come to the Arbor Day Celebration on Friday on the main quad at noon, near Davenport Hall.  We will be planting an Arbor Day tree, and you can talk with both Brent and the Superintendent of Grounds, Ryan Welch.  I’ll be there too.  😊

     

    Thanks,

    Morgan

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

    Morgan,

     

    Thanks for getting back to me - I'll plan to stop by the quad on Friday for a chat with you, Brent, and Ryan.


    Thanks,

     

    BRODIE DUNN

  13. Zero Waste iCAP Meeting 4/25/23

    Associated Project(s): 
    Increase Recycling Rates
    Green Sports Alliance (GSA)
    Project4less
    Food Waste Reduction
    Education iCAP Team
    Engagement iCAP Team
    Zero Waste iCAP Team

    On April 25th, the Zero Waste iCAP team met to discuss the State Farm Center Recycling (ZW011) recommendation and brainstorm on the Zero Waste iCAP summary report for the 22-23 FY. 

    Meeting minutes are attached.

    Attached Files: 

  14. Education iCAP Team May Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Education iCAP Team
    Sustainability Internship Program
    Curriculum

    Education iCAP Team had its final meeting of the 2022-2023 academic year on Tuesday, April 25th, at 4 PM. The team further discussed initial thoughts on implementation of sustainability to Business College recommendation idea, sustainability workshop recommendation idea, and next steps for sustainability internship coordinator recommendation draft. The meeting recording can be found here. 

  15. iCAP Resilience Team May Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Resilience iCAP Team
    Develop Local Carbon Offset Program [ARCHIVED]

    iCAP Resilience Team had their last meeting of the academic year on Tuesday, April 25th, at 1PM. The team edited the Carbon Offset Statement. The team will send this this statement as a recommendation format to the iWG. Afterwards, with the approvals of iSEE, iWG, and F&S, the team will send this statement to Chancellor Office. Attached is the meeting recording. 

     

     

  16. April 21, 2023 Illini Lights Out

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illini Lights Out

    At Friday's Illini Lights Out event, 4,145 light bulbs were shut off that otherwise would have been left on all weekend, saving $631 in energy costs. This also prevented 5.07 metric tons of CO2 equivalent from entering the atmosphere, which is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from the consumption of 570 gallons of gasoline. That's a huge impact!

    Friday's event was the last Illini Lights Out event of the semester. Stay up to date with other sustainability-related events and news by signing up for the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) newsletter here! You can also find iSEE on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

    iSEE is hosting a TED Talk: Eco-Edition series event on Thursday at 6 pm on the topic of climate change engagement. Sign up here!

    Illini Lights Out addresses objectives 2.2 and 2.2.2 of the iCAP, or Illinois Climate Action Plan, to increase energy efficiency and reduce building-level energy. Find out about other iCAP objectives here and read the entire iCAP here.

    Illini Lights Out is a certified Green Event! Click this link to learn how to green-certify your own event.

  17. Enactus Compost opportunity

    Associated Project(s): 
    Project Revert to Earth

    From: Hulse, Daphne Lauren
    Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2023 10:18 AM
    To: Vaya, Sakshi <svaya2@illinois.edu>; Kim, Hannah <hannahk9@illinois.edu>
    Subject: FW: Inquiry about Potential Partnership with Composting

     

    Hi Hannah & Sakshi,

     

    If your project receives funding from SSC, this may be an option for where to dispose of the collected food waste in the union/residence halls.

     

    Thank you!
    Daphne

     

    From: Schroeder, Claire Nicole <claire27@illinois.edu>
    Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2023 10:15 AM
    To: Hulse, Daphne Lauren <dlhulse2@illinois.edu>
    Subject: Inquiry about Potential Partnership with Composting

     

    Hello, 

     

    I hope you are doing well. My name is Claire Schroeder, and I am a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I am writing on behalf of https://www.illinoisenactus.com/

    Home | Illinois Enactus

    Illinois Enactus is a social entrepreneurship RSO at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Our projects solve inequalities in our community through entrepreneurship.

    www.illinoisenactus.com

    , a 501(c)3 social entrepreneurship organization that works on projects with the intent of creating sustainable solutions that address needs in the community. Currently, my team and I are looking to start a new initiative centered around composting and educating the fellow student body and community on its social and environmental importance. Because of this, we are looking for partners that will work with us to share their food waste with us so that we can work together to create a healthy form of fertilizer through the composting process. Would you have an interest in working with us by contributing your waste or the waste that you deal with from the UIUC dining halls to aid in our composting process? Would you like to positively contribute to our project, if it gets sourced officially in Enactus, so that we can together create this compost product? If so, please reply to this email and I would be glad to talk to you more about the project. Please get back to me at your earliest convenience, thank you!

     

    Best,

    Claire Schroeder

  18. Connecting about Carbon Credits

    Associated Project(s): 
    Utilize Carbon Credits

    Hi Morgan!

     

    It's Brandon--blast from the past!....

     

    In the working world, I'm at Nori, a carbon removal marketplace.  We are working on cutting-edge carbon removal methods and we are looking for relevant folks to interview.  We're looking for anyone who buys carbon credits, especially for their organization.  Do you or anyone you know jump out as a good fit?  Thanks in advance for any info.  And I hope Spring is treating you well there!  Warm regards,

     

    -Brandon Bowersox-Johnson

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

     

    Hi Brandon!!

     

    Glad to hear from you!..... 

     

    Would the interview be with you, or someone in your team?

     

    Thanks,

    Morgan

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

    Hi Morgan,

     

    The interview would be with me along with our co-founder, Alexsandra.  It would be fun to see you! 

     

    -Brandon

  19. offsets and landholdings as C sink in SIMAP

    Associated Project(s): 
    Carbon Credit Purchasing Program (C2P2) with Second Nature

    Greetings Carbon Offsets Workshop Attendees, and those looking to stay engaged with us!,

     

    Thank you so much for your participation at our workshop on Tuesday April 18th 3-4pm EST, and thank you as well to those who couldn’t attend but are looking to follow-up on the information we shared. We are grateful for the variety of perspectives represented in the meeting space, and the questions and comments we were able to address in the time we had. Moving forward, we’re looking to get your feedback on if there is a collective appetite for diving further into this topic, and what resources are still needed. 

     

    Please feel free again to email Meredith directly with your questions and to get involved directly with our Carbon Offsets Network, C2P2 Initiative, and advisory council....

     

    For those of you looking to gain support with your climate action and resilience work in the southeast...

     

    Please visit this link to share your thoughts and feedback on this workshop by Friday April 28th. Please see links to resources included in the survey.

     

    View Meredith Leigh’s presentation linked here. 

    View our recorded zoom meeting video here. 

     

    See below our Q&A of questions and comments institutions and attendees had:

     

    Q&A with Meredith Leigh:

     

    Sandra Van Travis, Morehouse College’s Environmental Health and Safety Officer asks:

    Please send information on how to calculate offsets using trees.

     

    Campuses have hired arborists to determine sample areas and measure trees. These measurements require tree height, diameter at breast height, and species identification. Arborists are positioned to do this work. 

    If hiring an arborist is not possible, new remote sensing technology providers offer phone apps that can be used by students or faculty to calculate tree data and categorize by species. One company in particular is interested in partnering with HEIs. If you are interested in connecting with this company, email Meredith. 

     

    Christina Kwauk Asks:

    I am curious if any of the members of the working group are familiar with carbon offsets that go toward non-mitigation activities but rather to climate adaptation activities that may benefit climate resilience outcomes of environmental justice communities (i.e. instead of carbon removed, what about respiratory illnesses averted/reduced?). This may be totally out of scope for carbon offsets and this workshop, but I wanted to join to listen for these connections today. 

     

    This is a great question and a badly needed type of offset! Right now these kinds of values are considered “co-benefits” of carbon offsets, and people don’t put a dollar value on them like they do on MTCDE reductions, but offset projects are more attractive to buyers when they list these kinds of co-benefits. Campus participation in the Offset Network is a great way to develop projects uniquely suited to your campus, especially when your goals are to serve co-benefits and you have less pressure to just produce quantifiable offsets. An example of this is Clarkson ISE’s recently avoided forest conversion project through the Offset Network. Their main goals were to create student involvement in forest inventory and carbon project development, and to protect a piece of land and the endangered species of turtle that lives on it. The offsets generated from the project are small, and will count toward Clarkson’s Scope 3 emissions, but the co-benefits were what really made the project worthwhile for them. 

     

    Dr. Maria Boccalandro asks:

    If you are in a community college setting where you work with tax payer’s money how do you justify buying these credits? I think narrative matters... are there any best practices for community colleges you can share?

     

    A great question, and one that Second Nature is still working on as we diversify the institutions we support. I think the key to this is transparency- communicating to stakeholders both the intentions of the offset purchase and its impact. To this end, it would be advisable to make space for community input when the school develops its offsets strategy. This way taxpayers can provide feedback on whether they see value in the college purchasing offsets as a way of becoming climate neutral, and if so, what types of projects would feel valuable to them. Furthermore I think engagement in the Offset Network, where faculty and students can create local projects with high co-benefits would be a good fit for community colleges. The projects can be designed for community involvement and high community co-benefits so that the expense of engaging is co-owned and the positive impacts are felt beyond campus. 

     

    Thank you all again, and we look forward to reviewing your feedback!,

     

    Blythe Coleman-Mumford (she/her/hers)

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

    Hi Morgan, Madhu, and Elizabeth –

     

    Given that we have been discussing offsets and Second Nature’s role, I thought you might find the slides linked below (Meredith Leigh’s presentation, highlighted) of interest. They provide an overview of the topic of offsets and several examples of what various HEIs are doing in this space.

     

    Notably, slides 10-11 indicate that C sequestered in trees can be removed from total campus emissions as a “sink” in SIMAP. As you know, sinks are not the same as offsets because they do not require additionality. We know C sequestration for Trelease Woods and have the data to determine C sequestered by campus trees. So I think we should consider listing them as sinks. We could also consider other campus lands where land use/land cover might support C sequestration (cover cropping?).

     

    Based on the public SIMAP report (here), we have reported 0 sinks/non-additional sequestration in the past. When will we complete the next SIMAP report?

     

    Thanks,

    Jen

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

    Thanks for sharing this Jen. This is helpful to have. I will look over the slides. Can you also send me the write up by Warren Lavey.

     

    We should plan on discussing this at our next CS team meeting unless there is urgency to discuss it sooner

     

     

    Best

    Madhu

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

    Hi Madhu,

     

    It is not urgent; we can discuss at the next CS team meeting.

     

    The Resilience Team will be discussing the offset policy letter at today’s meeting. I will share once it is finalized. The law student working with Warren presented her findings about the MOU and paths forward at the April meeting. Notes can be found here:

    https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project-update/resilience-icap-team-april-meeting

     

    Jen

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