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Projects Updates for theme: all

  3. Illini Gadget Garage Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illini Gadget Garage [ARCHIVED]

    From Joy Scrogum on April 11, 2023: ISTC transferred this project to the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning in January 2019. To my knowledge, CITL held maybe 1-2 repair events in 2019, but ended the project because they didn’t have adequate support to hire a student coordinator, and one of the staff members who took it on was promoted and had less time to attend to the project.

  5. Sustainability in RA training

    Associated Project(s): 
    Educate Future Leaders
    Broaden Sustainability Education

    Hi Tony,

     

    I met with folks from Housing yesterday about incorporating sustainability into RA training. Eric and Daphne were also on the call. We identified a few approaches for sharing content. I now need your help developing the materials.

     

    One approach is to provide a short (3 min max) video for RAs to view, followed by questions to assess learning. As a framework, I suggest we use the sustainability guide that the interns developed with Meredith (attached). Do you have any video content that would be appropriate? The student training video is too long, but hits all the highlights. Is this something you could shorten? We need to send the video by mid/late June.

     

    A second approach is to provide content for a microlearning session that would pair with the facilities session. They prefer a mixed mode approach, i.e., not just lecture/slides. We need to provide the content within the next two weeks. Is this doable? I shared the sustainability guide with them and am awaiting feedback.

     

    A third approach is to distribute materials during the RA resource fair, which is held August 10th.

     

    Finally, Housing is open to sharing information via their “Housing Insider” newsletter and digital platforms. It would be great to have your help developing content for those.  

     

    Let me know what you think and we can also touch base at the management meeting today.

     

    Thanks,

    Jen

    Attached Files: 

  6. iSEE Green Chapter and Event Certifications

    Associated Project(s): 
    Certified Green Event Program
    Certified Green Chapter Program
    Certified Greener Campus Programs

    Happy Earth Month! Congratulations to our newest recipients of the Greener Campus Program.

     

    Green Chapter: Delta Gamma, Silver, Recertified April 2023

    Green Event:

    -Chancellor's Office for Special Events Gov Pritzker Press Conference, Certified April 2023

    -ECEC23, Certified April 2023

     

    Keep up the great work, and check out our exciting events for Earth Week this year!

  7. Weekly Update: Bike sales, Bike Fix-it day, Stripping junk bikes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Business as usual over here. We’ve almost fully occupied the front lobby space with for sale bikes—which will likely diminish a bit this week with the warm weather. Fingers crossed.

    This upcoming Saturday we have a partnering event with the Urbana Parks District to help with a bike fix-it day from 10  - 12p in Urbana at the Phillips Recreation Center. Will be nice to get off campus and help folks where they are—or maybe closer to where they are. The event was successful last year and will hopefully be so again this year. Although, offsite repairs always mean you can’t bring every tool for every possible repair, which is a strong impulse.

    We’ve hit a bit of a stride with some volunteers and staff stripping junk bikes. This, of course, has the added bonus of creating a surplus of used 26” tires. We’ll have no trouble working through those in due time. Accordingly, I’ll be grabbing a few more from the warehouse this week.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 44
    Sales: $529
    Bikes (refurb): 2 for $240
    Memberships: 1 for $30
    Tires/tubes: 8 for $31

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  8. Student Athlete Advisory Committee / Varsity House reusable containers

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reusable Containers
    Zero Waste iCAP Team

    From: Holding, Justin Kenneth <jholdi2@illinois.edu>
    Sent: Monday, April 10, 2023 2:50 PM
    To: Hulse, Daphne Lauren <dlhulse2@illinois.edu>; Fraterrigo, Jennifer M <jmf@illinois.edu>; Palella, Nikki <palella3@illinois.edu>; Keating, Claire Elizabeth <cek6@illinois.edu>
    Subject: Re: Hendricks House and SAAC

     

    Hey all,

     

    The meeting with Jonathan went great and he is super open to new ideas.

     

    Based on my previous meeting and Student-Athlete's feedback, Jonathan decided to buy these reusable containers: https://gfsstore.com/products/310397/ & https://gfsstore.com/products/310378/ (not sure if the oz sizes are exactly the same).

     

    He said he had enough budget to buy 500 of each to give to every student-athlete. He has already seen a decline in the styrofoam containers. But deli containers (for things like cereal, yogurt, soup, and small snacks), plastic bags (sometimes), and plastic silverware are still being used. The reusable containers did feel flimsy - especially compared to the Good2Go ones - but they are much cheaper. So I would be worried about durability and scratching/damage if real silverware is used.

     

    Daphne was able to join and got some good insight into the entire process. Hendrick House acts as the caterer and does not maintain the space so they don’t have a lot of control over the trash. But for the kitchen, they still put everything in the dumpster (including cardboard). So we have some room for improvement there.

     

    Overall - I think we should help set up communication between Varsity and SAAC (or just students in general) to make sure this program can continue for years to come. I think a follow up with Colin and pushing for a sustainability position in SAAC is the best next step. I’ll give Colin a few days to respond to Daphne’s email but I’ll try to set something up again.

     

    If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.

     

    Best,

    Justin


     

    On Apr 7, 2023, at 5:23 PM, Hulse, Daphne Lauren <dlhulse2@illinois.edu> wrote:

     

    Wow, this is amazing!! Please count me in for the 4/10 meeting at Varsity Room - happy to join you and continue this great momentum.

     

    Thank you,

    Daphne

     

    From: Holding, Justin Kenneth <jholdi2@illinois.edu>
    Sent: Friday, April 7, 2023 4:47 PM
    To: Fraterrigo, Jennifer M <jmf@illinois.edu>; Palella, Nikki <palella3@illinois.edu>; Keating, Claire Elizabeth <cek6@illinois.edu>; Hulse, Daphne Lauren <dlhulse2@illinois.edu>
    Subject: Re: Hendricks House and SAAC

     

    Hi everyone,

     

    I received this message from Jonathon last week: 

     

    "Justin, thank you for your patience regarding this project. I am happy to announce that beginning on Monday, April 3rd Varsity Room Dining will be offering free, reusable, eco-friendly containers to any student-athlete that requests a set. A set of containers will consist of (1) 38-ounce rectangular container and (1) 48-ounce circular container.

    Additional individual containers and/or sets may be purchased by student-athletes if they would like.
    Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or would like to meet again to continue our previous discussions.”


    This email came as a surprise as I had not received a response to my emails sent earlier this semester. I am planning to visit the Varsity Room this Monday, 4/10, at 12:45 PM to chat with Jonathon about the program. A friend sent me the information they have received (attached) and told me they weren't exactly sure how the program worked. I’m hoping we can bring together our knowledge and resources to create a stable, successful program. 

     

    You all are more than welcome to join, otherwise I’ll send my notes and recommendations after. Additionally, I think another meeting with Colin, Jonathon, and everyone else will be important before the semester is over.

     

    Best,

    Justin

    <IMG_0476.jpeg><Screenshot 2023-04-03 at 5.48.56 PM.jpg>


     

    On Feb 15, 2023, at 8:48 AM, Fraterrigo, Jennifer M <jmf@illinois.edu> wrote:

     

    Thanks, Justin. If you are talking with Jonathon, could you also mention food waste and Grind2Energy? It would be great to recruit the Varsity Room/Hendrick House into the program.

     

    Jen

     

    From: Holding, Justin Kenneth <jholdi2@illinois.edu> 
    Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2023 6:58 PM
    To: Fraterrigo, Jennifer M <jmf@illinois.edu>
    Cc: Palella, Nikki <palella3@illinois.edu>; Keating, Claire Elizabeth <cek6@illinois.edu>; Hulse, Daphne Lauren <dlhulse2@illinois.edu>
    Subject: Re: Hendricks House and SAAC

     

    Hi Jen,

     

    Thanks for the information!

     

    I haven’t heard from Colin since our last meeting - I’ll reach out to him. I’ll also contact Jonathon Curtis, the chef at the Varsity Room, to talk about the prospect of reusbales.

     

    I’ve actually spoke to multiple people at Hendrick House regarding sustainability. So, if we need a little push there, I know who to reach out to. Also, I know they have a good stock of reusable containers as well - I’ve borrowed them!

     

    Best,

    Justin

     

    On Feb 14, 2023, at 5:21 PM, Fraterrigo, Jennifer M <jmf@illinois.edu> wrote:

     

    Hi all,

     

    Hope you are doing well.

     

    I am writing to follow up about the prospect of establishing reusable container and Grind2Energy programs at Hendrick House. I met separately with Tim Knox and University Housing and Dining leadership over the past month. What I learned from Tim is that SAAC and student athletes have tremendous influence with Hendrick House and should request that Hendrick House implement these programs. University Housing and Dining does not have enough staff to wash additional containers or sort food waste for G2E, even if Hendrick House were to pay for these services. However, Housing seemed to think Hendrick House has the capacity (just not at the Varsity Room). Housing is willing to be a resource for Hendrick House by sharing information, answering questions, etc.

     

    The next step is to convey this info to Colin and SAAC. Has anyone heard from Colin lately? If I recall correctly, he was going to ask SAAC members about whether they support these initiatives. Justin, if you want to ping him, that would be great. Any other ideas about how to keep this moving forward? 

     

    Thanks,

    Jen

     

    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/

    Attached Files: 

  10. SSC Project Step 1 Approval

    Associated Project(s): 
    Rainwater Management Program

    Hi Betsy,

     

    On behalf of the SSC, I am glad to inform you that your Rainwater Managment Step 1 has been approved. I would like to offer my sincerest congratulations! 

     

    I've attached the necessary documents for your Step 2 application with a reminder that the deadline for it is on April 21. 

     

    The board had a few questions with regard to the budget and a more concrete timeline, which should be clarified once the Step 2 is turned in. I just wanted to give you a heads up on which sections to focus on. 

     

    Congratulations again and please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, or concerns. 

     

    Thank you,

     

    Liz Witek

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

    Hello Rainwater Management Plan team! The Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) accepted the Rainwater Management Plan grant Step 1 Application and requested the Step 2 application be completed by 4/21. I will need to submit it on Thursday 4/20 though because I am busy with Boneyard Creek Community Day (BCCD) planning activities on 4/21.

     

    Colleen and I have completed the Step2 application and am requesting that the team review it and provide comments to me this week. I plan to address all comments on Monday 4/17 because I will be out of the office in training on Tuesday and Wednesday and busy with BCCD on Friday.

     

    Brent, I was recommended to ask you to fill out the Budget and Timeline spreadsheet since you are the Planning designee for this effort, I attached a draft with what I know. I also included your name as the Financial Contact on the application. In the email below, SSC stated they have questions about the budget and a more concrete timeline which should be clarified on the spreadsheet. There are also questions under the application Financial Information section that Environmental Compliance cannot answer (highlighted yellow). If someone else in Capital needs to complete this spreadsheet and the application financial section please let me know today so I can ask for their assistance.  

     

    Thanks in advance for everyone’s help!

    Betsy

    Attached Files: 

  12. Building Energy Modeling

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Models for Campus Facilities

    Hi Yun, Tom, and Joe,

     

    Here are the links for the original SWATeam recommendation, the iCAP Working Group assessment, the F&S response, and the link to the energy modeling page: https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project-update/energy005-modeling-energy-code-compliance-successful.  The original recommendation is attached here, and the iWG assessment says, “We recommend that Facilities & Services assign a staff member from Capital Programs or Utilities and Energy Services (possibly from Design Review) to work with Dr. Yun Yi’s class to develop the related energy models, on a timeline that matches the academic course abilities.”

     

    This is the link directly to the Energy Modeling project page on the iCAP Portal:https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project/energy-models-campus-facilities.

     

    Thanks,

    Morgan

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

    Hello All

     

    I like to follow up with our last discussion. 

    To check any update on the list of possible buildings for energy modeling next semester.

     

    Many thanks

    Yun

     

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

    Yun,

     

    Apologies. This slipped off my radar for a bit. I will get those to you as soon as I can.

     

    Tom

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

    Yun,

     

    Here are some with interesting designs:

    1.       0409 – ECE – Chilled beam and dedicated outdoor air unit (DOAU). Energy recovery.

    2.       1517 – Design Ctr. – Passive chilled beam, variable air-volume (VAV), DOAU. Energy recovery.

    3.       1545 – Campus Instr. Fac. – Chilled radiant, hot radiant, and DOAU. Geothermal. Energy recovery.

     

    Here are some smaller ones that may be easier to complete/complete more:

    1.       0154 – Personnel Services Bldg. – Packaged chiller, steam perimeter heat, constant volume fan-coil units.

    2.       1528 – African Am. Cultural Ctr. – VAV.

    3.       1584 – RIPE Greenhouse – Packaged direct expansion (DX), geothermal.

     

    I hi-lighted the one with a complete native energy model on-hand (I modeled the building and performed several lifecycle cost analysis). Several of those have PDF energy files that could be used as a back-check or instructional piece if desired.

     

    Thanks,

     

    Tom

     

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

    Hi Tom,

     

    Thanks for sharing a list with me. I am wondering if there is little more typical (education/office} buildings and with some meter data.

    Could you be able to recommend a few of the buildings in this criteria?

     

    Many thanks

    Yun

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

    Hi Yun,

     

    Most all of our buildings have metering at some level (minimum utility level). Some of the buildings we discussed and I was thinking of are:

     

    0339 – Temple Buell Hall – This one is big and has a complex initial design and re-commissioning history. Series-flow fan-powered VAV (original). Frankenstiened to VAV bu re-commissioning group.

    0209 – Speech and Hearing – AHUs replaced recently and a small/medium sized building. VAV.

    0075 – Children’s Research Ctr. - AHUs replaced recently and a small/medium sized building. Constant volume re-heat.

     

    Thanks,

     

    Tom

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

    Hi Tom,

     

    Many thanks for the additional list. Sorry for the confusion, I meant real-time meter or sub-meter buildings that students can look into more detail.

    However, these buildings are good candidates for the class.

    I am wondering if F&S can share a building list that has some kind of information on building age, energy consumption, and buildings that have some type of energy model simulation outcome or results. 

     

    Many thanks

    Yun

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

    Hello Everyone,

     

    Hope everyone had a nice winter break. Sorry for the delay.

    The class went well and I have EnergyPlus models and reports from the students that I can share with you.

    I'd like to ask my TA to review the students' models to ensure they were done correctly before sending them to you.

    I hope you can wait a few more weeks, but I can send you the reports if you'd like to see them.

     

    Best

    Yun

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

    Hi Tom,

     

    Sorry for the delay. I thought that after getting tenured, I would have more time to work on the project, but I was wrong.

    Anyway, thanks for waiting. I have all the calibrated and reviewed DesignBuilder files and reports in the following folder.

    If you'd like, I can convert the DB file to an EPW file for your convenience.


    lease let me know if you'd like to discuss the outcome of the report.

    I'm happy to talk about the next group of buildings that we can model.

     

    Best

    Yun

  14. Illinois State Geological Survey Presentation 2023

    Associated Project(s): 
    Geothermal on Campus
    Geothermal at the Campus Instructional Facility (CIF)
    Sustainability Reports and Presentations
    Integrating Groundwater Resources and Geothermal Energy for Water-Energy Security and Resilience

    Presentation regarding the integrating groundwater and geothermal resources and applications on the UIUC campus.

    Attached Files: 

  15. 4-7-23 Housing + F&S meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Dump and Run

    Agenda:

    1. Alterations to the proposed locations for 20’ containers

    1. Removing 1 container at IKE.

    2. Determining if planters can be moved at PAR/FAR.

    1. Considering the parking lot (F-17) for

    2. Quotes for 5 20-foot containers (includes delivery and pick up)

    1. MI-BOX: $1,795

    2. StowAway: $1,499

    3. Paid with a P-Card? Still determining

    3. Advertisements

    1. 200 paper-sized advertisements for residence hall bulletins

    2. Advertisements for Housing’s digital boards - who should this be sent to?

    4. Banner

    1. Rough draft statement - any suggestions?

    2. Keep it evergreen - no dates, no company names, so it can be reused for future years. QR code can change information easily.

    3. Include University Housing and F&S logos at the bottom

    4. QR codes links to basic description of Dump & Run’s purpose (zero iCAP objective connection), comprehensive list of accepted items, info on bike donation to Campus Bike Center.

    1. Hosted on F&S website.

    5. Gaylords

    1. How many pallet/gaylords fit in a 20’ container?

    2. Does F&S have gaylords to contribute?

    3. Goodwill can contribute gaylords (take full, bring empty to replace).

    6. LAR, Busey-Evans

    1. How many boxes will be needed in these lobbies?

    2. F&S takes full boxes to PPSB Truck Bay, Goodwill, Salt & Light pick up from there.

    7. Volunteers

    1. 2 volunteers per storage unit

    2. Advertised to:

    1. Junior League of Champaign-Urbana

    2. Champaign County Forest Preserve

    3. Champaign County Master Naturalists

    4. Rotary Club of Champaign

    8. Food Donations

    1. Wesley Food Pantry wanting to discuss logistics.

     

     

    2023-04-07 recording of the meeting here in google drive.

     

  16. iCAP Portal Admin Meeting - April 28, 2023

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability iCAP Portal

    Done:

    • Fixed map marker popup formatting on Theme pages (e.g. Energy theme map)
    • Permissions:
      • Metric Tracking:
        • Add/update: iCAP Admins, iCAP Moderators, iCAP Clerks
        • Delete: iCAP Admins, iCAP Moderators, NOT iCAP Clerks
      • Metric Targets:
        • Add/update: iCAP Admins, iCAP Moderators, NOT iCAP Clerks
        • Delete: iCAP Admins, iCAP Moderators, NOT iCAP Clerks
    • Metric search/display (DEV):
      • Search text
      • Theme (via connected Project, i.e. Theme -> Project -> Metric)
        • Need to figure out how to display/search this... a metric can link to many projects, each with its own Primary Theme, so perhaps we should show each of them for the metric, a la the card collection we created for SSC?

    Discussion:

    • Question about a TODO: "Collections page: Add image upload option". At a previous meeting we had this TODO, but what was the context? Was it to have a thumbnail for each Collection? Or a banner image?
    • Should we link to "Take Action" project from homepage?
    • Archiving projects
      • Add "Archived" checkbox?
      • Add "Archived" to Visibility options?
      • Add "Archived" to Project Status options? (probably not - this mixes the status of the project itself with whether we still want it to show up on the site)
      • Remove from nested listings, still publicly available?

    TODO:

    • Header: remove "at" between UI and UC
    • Show "no content" message under Metric Chart when no tracking records exist
    • Look into Collection embedding again, à la Drawdown Solutions Library Sammy had found ("Filter by sector or area of action" section)
    • SSC project categories:
      • Education and Justice
      • Energy
      • Food and Waste
      • Transportation and Infrastructure
      • Land, Air, and Water
    • Metric search/display:
      • Theme (via connected Project, i.e. Theme -> Project -> Metric)
      • Most recent updates as of: (list of years) -> can we query Tracking data?
      • (Internal only) Last updated before (list of years) -> can we query Tracking data?
    • (Low Priority) Make column headers click-sortable on Projects by Project Status page
    • Fancy project layout mockups - keep tweaking #3 to improve contrast
    • Discuss metrics
      • Metrics with lots of data
      • Consider how to handle old metrics that no longer track new data. Archive somehow?
      • Fun with math (e.g. combining multiple metrics)
      • Calculated Metrics on Dev site

  17. SECS divestment application to SSC

    Associated Project(s): 
    Fossil Fuels Divestment - Support Letter

    Hi Madhu and Ehab,

     

    FYI, Students for Environmental Concerns is requesting Student Sustainability Committee funding ($1,000.00) to develop a database of U of I investments, in relationship to divestment. 

     

    Madhu, this is sponsored by Yu-Feng Lin at PRI, but I don’t think he is aware of the history in these discussions.  Perhaps you would like to reach out to Yu-Feng, or touch base with Susan Martinis?  (I don’t know if small scale projects come through iSEE for funding approvals or only larger budget projects.)

     

    Thanks,

    Morgan

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

    Just circling back on this – I did discuss this with Susan and will be meeting with Yu-Feng and Praveen Kumar to give them the background on this.

    Thanks

    Madhu

  20. iCAP Portal Admin Meeting - April 7, 2023

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability iCAP Portal

    Done:

    • Added last updated date on Project page
    • Project page:
      • Changed "Project History" heading to "Recent Project Updates"
      • Changed "View all project progress »" more link to "View all project updates »"
    • Removed user & date/time from search results
    • Added tracking date type (FY, monthly, etc.) to legend (e.g. Pedestrian and Bicycle Counts)

    Discussion:

    • Map marker popup display question (e.g. Energy theme map)
      iCAP Portal map marker popup screenshot
    • Question about a TODO: "Collections page: Add image upload option". At a previous meeting we had this TODO, but what was the context? Was it to have a thumbnail for each Collection? Or a banner image?
    • Should we link to "Take Action" project from homepage?
    • Archiving projects
      • Add "Archived" checkbox?
      • Add "Archived" to Visibility options?
      • Add "Archived" to Project Status options? (probably not - this mixes the status of the project itself with whether we still want it to show up on the site)
      • Remove from nested listings, still publicly available?

    TODO:

    • Metric search/display:
      • Search text
      • Theme (via connected Project, i.e. Theme -> Project -> Metric)
      • Most recent updates as of: (list of years) -> can we query Tracking data?
      • (Internal only) Last updated before (list of years) -> can we query Tracking data?
    • (Low Priority) Make column headers click-sortable on Projects by Project Status page
    • Permissions:
      • Metric Tracking:
        • Add/update: iCAP Admins, iCAP Moderators, iCAP Advocates
        • Delete: iCAP Admins, iCAP Moderators, NOT iCAP Advocates
      • Metric Targets:
        • Add/update: iCAP Admins, iCAP Moderators, NOT iCAP Advocates
        • Delete: iCAP Admins, iCAP Moderators, NOT iCAP Advocates
    • Fancy project layout mockups - keep tweaking #3 to improve contrast
    • Discuss metrics
      • Metrics with lots of data
      • Consider how to handle old metrics that no longer track new data. Archive somehow?
      • Fun with math (e.g. combining multiple metrics)
      • Calculated Metrics on Dev site

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