September is Champaign County Bike Month:

• Bike to Work Day is on Wednesday, September 10th, 7:00-10:00 am
• Light the Night is on Tuesday, September 16th, 4:00-7:00 pm

The C-U Bike Month Facebook page and cuBikeMonth.org will have announcements when BTWD registration opens later this month. The cuBikeMonth.org calendar already has several bike events listed for August through October.

iCAP Team recommendations are a vital part of our community engagement and public input procedures for campus sustainability.  Topical green teams with students, faculty, staff, and community members develop clear and specific recommendations for campus units to enact.  The recommendations are submitted to the iCAP Working Group chairs to route, according to the Formal Procedures.  The typical process includes four steps:

1) Submitted: iCAP Team submits the recommendation to the iWG chairs for review by the iCAP Working Group (iWG).

2) Transmitted: The iWG transmits their assessment of the recommendation to the applicable campus unit.

3) Approved: The unit that received the recommendation replies in the affirmative.

4) Successful: The recommendation has been implemented.

One focus area in FY26 will be to narrow, update, and execute a new CAM policy as an update to BF-11, "Recycling, Recycled Products Procurement, and Waste Reduction". The goal of the updated CAM policy will be to ensure that all paper purchased on campus (except for submitted and approved justifications) will need to be at a minimum 30% post-consumer recycled content.

All bikes collected through the abandoned bicycles project have been inventoried as of today, 218 bicycles were collected. This inventory will be shared with appropriate campus units, marking the completion of Phase 3 of the project. If you believe your bike may have been impounded reach out to bike@illinois.edu with detailed information about your bike, including where you left it.

On 7/28/25, members of the Bird Strike student group, advisors, and sustainability staff met to discuss the next steps for improving bird safety on campus. 

Invitees included: Sheri Glowinski, Sarthak Prasad, Benjamin Van Doren, Cheryl Bikcnell, Josh Whitson, Morgan White, Sarah Jacobson, Leilany Fuentez-Garcia, Wren Dulnev, Miriam Keep, Quinn Connolly, and Joy O'Keefe.

After the meeting, Quinn sent the following message to the members and advisors of the Bird Strike group:

Thank you all for meeting with us yesterday. The next steps are for the student group to select the building and scope of windows that should be included for a cost estimate.

Once your goals have been set and the scope of work is determined, please let Morgan and I know. We will let you know what funding is needed to get a construction cost estimate that you can include in the SSC funding request in the fall.

The proposed project for a solar array at the Speech and Hearing building was deemed canceled due to the design study which found the roof unable to hold the solar array, as well as an informal shade assessment which found that the panels would not get all day sun due to the existing buildings.

Please see below a conversation between Morgan White, Jen Frattergio, and Paul Foote regarding this project:

On January 26, 2024 Paul said:

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Hello Jen,

I hope you are having an enjoyable Friday!

I have a quick question, Marth, Aman and I did a quick assessment of the Speech and Hearing bldg. for rooftop solar array and found it to be a poor source for solar insolation due to the Psychology bldg.. shadowing over it for the morning hours and

then there are some trees that block summer sun to the north and west as well.

We are tasked with submitting an IL Green Fund (SSC) application for this project and I am wondering if there is a reason this location was chosen and/or can we select another location that may produce higher outputs from the sola array?

Here is the charge language: Develop and submit an application to IL Green Fund (SSC) for rooftop Solar on Speech and Hearing Sciences Building in collaboration with stakeholders.

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Jen forwarded the inquiry to Morgan White and Stacey DeLorenzo:

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Hi Morgan and Stacey,

See below for a question from Paul and the Energy Team.

Morgan, you had suggested the team apply for funding from the IL Green Fund (SSC) for rooftop solar on the Speech and Hearing Sciences Building. What was the reasoning behind this recommendation? Is a tool used or an analysis done to identify suitable buildings for installations?

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Morgan replied:

Hi Jen,

Just to close the loop on this old question from 1.5 years ago…  There was an analysis of large roofs that could potentially be retrofitted with solar.  Many of the large roofs are made with gypsum board which is not strong enough for panels, and the remainder would require a structural analysis.  Someone said the Speech and Hearing Sciences Building was retrofitted with a different lower-weight type of insulation which should make it viable to handle the weight of solar panels.  We did an in-house assessment with F&S Design Services, and it was found that the roof could hold the weight of the panels.  Then the Student Sustainability Committee funded a full design, which was completed and is on the iCAP Portal / in F&S records.  The iCAP Energy Team pointed out that the new high-rises around the facility block a lot of the sunlight, so the project was essentially cancelled.  I think it would still be helpful to do a shade study for the building, and potentially it could have a green roof on it.  It is very visible from the Hub (one of the highrises nearby), so it could be a visible sign of our climate action.

July 2025 photos of the Florida Orchard Prairie have been added to the box folder.

Work Order (11267754) was created for Bike to Work Day tasks, these taks include the placement of tables, chairs, waste receptacles, and hand sanizter at the welcome stations. 

This morning, Sarthak, Emily, Ricardo, and Max began Phase 3 of the abandoned bicycles project: inventorying the impounded bicycles. Completion of this process is anticipated by 7/30.