You are here

Project Updates search results

Search tips:
  • This form will search for words in the title OR the description. If you would like to search for the same term(s) across both the title and description, enter the same search term(s) in both fields.
  • This form will search for any of the words you enter in a field, not the exact phrase you enter. If you would like to search for an exact phrase, put double quotes (") around the phrase. For example, if you search for Bike Path you will get results containing either the word Bike OR the word Path, but if you search for "Bike Path" you will get results containing the exact phrase Bike Path.

  1. SSC Transportation Working Group

    Hi all,

    Thanks for signing up to join the SSC’s transportation working group! We are excited to get this semester started with you all and to talk about our upcoming transportation projects. We have our first proposal submitted, which we’ll be going over and any others we have at the time. The first proposal is attached in this email. Also, we’ll be talking about how the SSC functions and why your involvement is important for this process! It is really key for you come and voice your opinion on these projects because we want student input strongly represented on all our projects.

    Our first meeting will be next Wednesday, October 15, at 5pm in the Illini Union Room 403 and will last an hour at most.

    In addition, if you have any projects in mind and would like to ask questions then this first meeting is perfect for that as well! Step 1 proposals are due Friday, October 19th.

    Thanks and let me know if you have any questions,

    Grace

    P.S. If you would like me to remove you from the mailing list then please let me know.

    --

    Grace Kyung, MPH

    Sustainable Transportation Intern

    Attached Files: 

  2. funding opportunity

    Associated Project(s): 
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam

    From: Lage, Stephanie M [mailto:spauldng@illinois.edu]
    Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2014 1:54 PM
    To: swat-water@dib.illinois.edu
    Subject: FW: Illinois Water Resources Small Grant RFP

    FYI

    From: lmorrisn@illinois.edu [mailto:lmorrisn@illinois.edu]
    Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2014 1:47 PM
    To: Lage, Stephanie M
    Subject: Illinois Water Resources Small Grant RFP

    Mark your calendar: 

    The Illlinois Water Resources Center (IWRC) wants your proposals!

    Due: Friday, October 31, 2014

    IWRC requests proposals to fund promising graduate and undergraduate student research projects addressing Illinois water resources. We are particularly interested in projects that seek solutions for or provide novel identification of pressing water concerns in Illinois. PI's can request up to $10,000. Project duration is March 1, 2015-February 28, 2016.

    For more information visit: http://web.extension.illinois.edu/iwrc/pdf/2015%20RFP.pdf

    Questions:

    Lisa Merrifield
    lmorrisn@illinois.edu
    217-333-0045

     

  5. Enviropure emissions information

    Associated Project(s): 
    Enviropures
    Agriculture, Land Use, Food, and Sequestration (ALUFS) SWATeam

    Good afternoon,

    Yesterday afternoon, the question of how much carbon dioxide does an Enviropure unit produce was asked.  I’ve copied the information below from their website:

    “According to the EPA and USCC, carbon dioxide emissions generated from the aerobic decomposition of food waste by systems such as the EnviroPure systems are considered to be “biogenic”. This means that our EnviroPure Systems and the carbon it returns to the environment are part of the natural carbon cycle and so it does not contribute to greenhouse gases and global warming.”

    Please let me know if anyone has any further questions about the Enviropure units.  Also, please forward this information to other members of the swat team I may be missing.

    Thank you,

    Carol

    Carol H. Strohbeck

    Assistant Director of Dining Services, Equipment & Facilities

  6. ISTC Water Audit webinar

    Associated Project(s): 
    Water Conservation [ARCHIVED]
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam

    Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) Water Audit Webinar – Oct. 21 at 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. (web only)

    “Water Use and Conservation on Illinois College Campuses: The Ripple Effect”

    The Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN) and the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) are partnering to train college faculty and staff to conduct water audits on their campuses, increasing knowledge about water on college campuses, and furthering ISTC’s goal of reducing water consumption in Illinois by One Billion Gallons. To do so, IGEN and ISTC will implement a three-phase program. In the first phase of the program, IGEN will cohost a webinar with ISTC to educate interested colleges on the basics of water audits. The webinar will cover the following information:

    • Details of what a comprehensive water audit encompasses: the built environment, the campus landscaping, and the local topography/watershed;
    • Where to find specific information on water use on a college campus: what bills, what departments have information, what is metered, etc.;
    • Potential benefits of water audits: how to save money, water, and energy, and the environmental impacts; and
    • Overview of the next phases of the program and how to participate.

    Speakers will be: Megan Chery, Manager of Alliance for Water Efficiency; Aaron Dunbaugh, Director of Sustainability at Loyola University Chicago; and Michelle Maddaus, Founder and Civil Engineer with Maddaus Waste Management.

    Please register to attend the webinar at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/154690976. For additional information visit http://www.igencc.org/node/1115.

    In the second phase of the program, IGEN and ISTC will arrange regional training sessions at several Illinois community colleges to train stakeholders on how to conduct a comprehensive water audit on campus. In the third phase of the program, colleges will conduct water audits on their campuses and make recommendations that will reduce water consumption and apply for grants to implement the projects.

    ISTC is a division of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

  7. iCAP revision

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team

    Dear Team:

    Strategies 2 and 3 revised and attached.

    After some research I find very little room for revision of the Spring revisions. Really just a minor bit of word smithing. 

    We may want to explore more radical revisions but I didn’t attempt write those without group a discussion first.

    ~Rick Langlois

    Attached Files: 

  8. SSC Water Working Group

    Hello Water Working Group,

    Our first meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 14th at 5 PM in the Illini Union room 404.  This room can be accessed via the north staircases (entrance off of Green).  If you have a few minutes before the meeting, please familiarize yourself with the funding process and criteria, which can be found on the SSC website or using these links:

    http://ssc.union.illinois.edu/process.aspx

    http://ssc.union.illinois.edu/guidelines.aspx

    The meeting should not last the full hour. 

    I am looking forward to meeting everyone.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

    Julie

    Water Working Group Chair                 

    Julie A. Honegger

    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

    M.S. Agricultural Engineering 2015

  10. CCN plans from Eco-Olympics

    Associated Project(s): 
    Eco-Olympics

    From: Jessica Mondello [ecoolympics@gmail.com]
    Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2014 7:36 PM
    Cc: Yeung, Brian Silu; Mondello, Jessica Rae; McConnell, Claire Ellen; Aj Unander; Canteiro Reis Sobral, Francisco; Jacoby, Rachel Aryn; Sun, Siyang; Kim, Christine H; Saerang, Estherlita Angelica; Ross, Karoline Jeanne; Foote, Gerard Paul
    Subject: Eco-Olympics Meeting Recap

    Hey guys!

    I want to thank all of you who could make it the meeting. I'm so excited to see Eco-Olympics do bigger and better things this year!

    Here is a short recap of what we discussed:

    • Overview of Campus Conservation Nationals
    • Establishing organization team
      • If you're interested in being apart of organizing, let me know what position/s you are interested in! Spread the word!
    • Recruiting building captains
    • Reaching out to RSOs
      • RSO sponsor a building
      • Individuals from RSO
    • Talking in front of relevant classes
    • Speaking to RAs or other leaders on campus
    • BOTH WANT TO HELP US!!
    • They both have a huge following on campus and will be a great resource
    • APO Service Fraternity and Student Sustainability Committee

    Attached to this email:

    • Position descriptions/responsibilities
      • These are just examples of things you could do.
    • An information sheet that can be sent to RSOs/interested folks

    As of now, the next meeting will be October 20, 2014 at 8 PM in the UGL.

    Thanks again!

    Jessica Mondello

    Eco-Olympics | President

    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yN7bIgVpVcZ4Sq_Hw1huagFsPo6MJVCr6zFs...

    Attached Files: 

  12. draft revisions

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste iCAP Team

    Hello, SWATeam and Consultation Group.  Here is a draft of our section for the new iCAP, reflecting our discussions, our report last week, and Casey's work.  Please review and send me comments by Thursday at noon.  I will then prepare a revised draft and send it out for your review prior to our meeting next Monday at 4:30 pm.

    Thanks and best wishes.

    Warren Lavey

    Attached Files: 

  16. Campus approves an additional $100K for LED Exit Signs

    Associated Project(s): 
    LED Exit Signs

    After the successful completion of the recent LED Exit Sign upgrades, the F&S Building Maintenance division has received approval for another round of LED Exit Sign upgrades.  Ken Buenting, Sharon Ball, Ryan Wild, and Morgan Johnston met to discuss the prioritization process for identifying the next buildings to address.  Buildings will be ranked according to student/transient visitor contact hours (if this information can be obtained), results of campus code fire safety reports, and coordination with other projects or funding.

  17. notes from meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team

    Dear Colleagues

    Thanks for a very productive meeting last week.

    As per our discussion last week, please send me the revised versions of our iCAP report by Wednesday October 8 in the morning.

    I am at home and I do not have my notes here but I believe to the best of my recollection, we agreed that we would work on the following sections

    • Bumsoo Lee, Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning (SECTIONS 1-2; PGS. 2-3)
    • Peter Varney, Director of Transportation and Automotive Services, Facilities & Services (STRATEGY ONE – PG. 4)
    • Richard Langlois, Senior eLearning Professional, CITES (STRATEGIES TWO AND THREE – PG. 5-6)
    • Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, (STRATEGY FOUR – PG. 7)
    • Justin Licke, Student Member (NEW STRATEGY FIVE – HIRE A SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION COORDINATOR)

    If I got the assignments wrong, please let me know.

    Wojtek

     

    Attached Files: 

  18. draft energy conservation plans

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam

    To all:

    Attached is a draft document of some of my best thoughts on where the campus is going and/or should go in the next several years as we try to reduce the campus energy consumption from mechanical equipment controls perspective.  This is an evolving document at this point.

    Thanks,

    Karl Helmink

    Attached Files: 

  19. notes from meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam

    Dear ECBS SWATeam,

    Below are my notes from today's meeting.  It was a small crowd: Scott, Karl, Claire, and myself.  I hope we have a full crowd next week, because we have a lot of work ahead of us in just a few short weeks!

    Cheers,

    Ben

    ============================================================

    Q: Are we starting with a "blank slate" for iCAP 2015?  A: Not really, because we have iCAP 2010 as a historical context, and we have done so much in the intervening years that cannot be ignored. But we are also not bound to the specific commitments of the 2010 iCAP, or even the format.

    Q: Can we simply re-use the 2010 iCAP as is?  A: It's a good foundation, but needs improvement.

    Fume hoods are an important issue to address; potentially big savings.

    Should we recommend again to charge units for energy?  Possible counterargument is that Auxiliaries already bear the cost of energy but are not aggressively reducing energy usage.  Counterargument to that is they have expressed interest, but somehow don't have expertise and/or capital.  RCx cannot go into Auxiliaries; ESCOs can.

    Scott suggested that someone needs to write a first draft of recommendations; he is writing the Energy Generation team's draft. No takers.  But Karl has written a nice document that most had not yet had a chance to read.

    Occupancy sensors for HVAC can lead to big savings ~25%.

    Can we expand ESCO program?  We've done ~7 buildings, why can't we do 100?  What is the financial model?  If campus cannot tolerate that much debt, can we foist the debt onto the ESCOs themselves?  We haven't done this because it doesn't generate as much savings, but maybe we should reconsider that if it would help us expand.  Some issues with quality of contractors, familiarity with campus facility standards.  Two ESCOs have been used so far: ESG for VetMed and Loomis&friends, Siemens for the Oak Street Chiller.  Typically ~5 ESCOs bid on our jobs; most are from Chicago.

    What is in the SAIC report?  Ben will send around (see attachment). Do we need another SAIC study?  Or can we just leave this in the rear view mirror?

    More discussion of energy billing; challenge is to fairly bill units only for the energy use they impact (i.e., lighting and equipment, not steam).  Can this team recommend a high-level study to devise a mechanism for fairly charging units?  External consultant?  Team of faculty, facilities folks, and students with relevant expertise?  If we just parrot the recommendation from 2010 iCAP, probably we'll get the same result.

    Behavioral change is so important, and has not really been tackled on our campus (except very recently with Green Office program). Really need to improve this, and also try to measure it (surveys?).

    Scheduling HVAC systems - when doing so, better to make the change first and then handle complaints, rather than announcing in advance and generating complaints from people who will never notice.

    Can someone compile a list of "bullet-points" to begin the discussion that will lead to our recommendations?  Claire volunteered to do this, but will be asking others for suggestions and input.  Goal is to have a draft set of bullet points before next week's meeting, and then discuss at meeting.

    Karl noted that Big Ten & Friends Energy conference is coming up Oct

    12-15 at U. Iowa.  Should we offer to host the next one on our campus? 

    We have not hosted one since 1999.  Seems like we should. Possible F&S/iSEE collaboration?  Scott volunteered to be on organizing committee.

    --

    Professor Benjamin J. McCall

    Associate Director for Campus Sustainability Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus-sustainability@illinois.edu

     

    Attached Files: 

Pages