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  1. Advantages of hot water versus steam within buildings

    Associated Project(s): 
    Steam System Maintenance
    Use Clean Power

    Below is an email exchange between Jim Sims and Tom Keller:

    Mike or Tom,

     

    The EMT is discussing the advantages of converting building heating systems from steam to hot water with steam distribution. Would one of you be able to clarify this benefit?

     

    Thanks,

     

    Jim

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

    Jim,

     

    Hot water is more efficient than steam because it is easier to control. This also adds comfort to the occupants. Steam can be easier to leak and it is hotter, so there are some small safety concerns. Steam tends to be a bit noisier than hot water. Hot water can be easier to maintain than steam.

     

    There are quite a few other reasons. This is why hot water heating systems have become the industry standard.

     

    Thanks,

     

    Tom

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

     

    EMT,

     

    I asked Tom Keller and Mike Halm to provide some feedback regarding the advantages of hot water versus steam within buildings. Please see Tom Keller’s response below for our information. Please let me know if we would like for Tom would like to further explain “quite a few other reasons” or his primary benefits listed below.

     

    Thanks,

     

    Jim

  2. Project advisor acquired

    Associated Project(s): 
    Project Revert to Earth

    From: Kim, Hannah <hannahk9@illinois.edu>
    Sent: Tuesday, March 7, 2023 9:17 PM
    To: Hulse, Daphne Lauren <dlhulse2@illinois.edu>
    Subject: Re: Advisor Request

     

    Dear Daphne, 

     

    Thank you so much for your willingness to help us out yet again:) We would absolutely love to have you as our advisor. Thank you! 

    We are currently focusing on finishing the application for the funding as it is due 3/24. We can definitely meet to discuss the details as there is quite a lot that we need to cover. I can send you the basic rundown of the progress we have made so far and the application we are working on later this week. You can look through them and we can meet after spring break! Please let us know what time and day works for you the best. We are so pumped about this as well as we are learning new things every single day throughout our process. Can't wait to talk to you again:) 

     

    Thank you, 

    Hannah Kim

    From: Hulse, Daphne Lauren <dlhulse2@illinois.edu>
    Sent: Tuesday, March 7, 2023 4:09 PM
    To: Vaya, Sakshi <svaya2@illinois.edu>; Kim, Hannah <hannahk9@illinois.edu>
    Subject: RE: Advisor Request

     

    Hi Sakshi & Hannah,

     

    Great to reconnect with you! Jen and Morgan both pointed you in my direction, and I am happy to help assist/advise with this project. I understand that as a part of this project you are interested in pursuing SSC funding, which I am happy to help with as well. As needed, I can bring in other subject matter experts as the project progresses.

     

    As a start, would you both like to meet to discuss this project a little more in depth, and what exactly you will be asking for in the SSC application? I can provide some history/context into waste management on campus, and some of the challenges we currently face with contamination and implementing composting in this region of Illinois.

     

    Do you have a specific timeframe you are working within? I would suggest that we set a time to meet the week after spring break (3/20). Let me know how that sounds! I’m very excited about this project 😊

     

    Thank you,

    Daphne

     

    Daphne Hulse (she/her)
    Zero Waste Coordinator
    Facilities & Services | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
    +1 (217) 333-7550 | dlhulse2@illinois.edu
     
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    Please consider the environment before printing an email. Under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act any written communication to or from university employees regarding university business is a public record and may be subject to public disclosure.

  3. Sarthak's work at New Employee Orientation

    Associated Project(s): 
    Appropriately Staff Sustainable Transportation Efforts
    Appropriately Staff Zero Waste Efforts

    Attached is a Transportation Demand Management presentation created for Employee Orientation.

    Below is an email exchange between Morgan White and Sarthak Prasad on Sarthak's involvement in employee orientation:

    Hi Sarthak,

     

    Can you please provide a short statement here about what you for New Employee Orientation, including slides, topics, and time commitment.  We are looking to increase the F&S presence in new employee orientation, and I shared that you are already involved.

     

    Thanks,

    Morgan

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

    Hi Morgan,

     

    Please see attached the slides that I use for the IHR New Employee Orientation. It is a 30-45 minute commitment for me per month, including travel time. These orientations are held on the first Monday of every month, and I talk for about 15-20 minutes. The orientations are usually at the Conference Center, but sometimes they have it virtually.

     

    I will be updating the slides for next month’s orientation to include It’s Your MTD and Commuter Program information. I have been attending these since fall 2021.

     

    I had also worked on slides for Sustainability on campus, but you had asked me to wait before you reviewed it. Thank you,

    Sarthak 

    Attached Files: 

  4. iSEE New Green Event Certifications

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

    Congratulations to the newest recipients of our Green Event Certification Program!

     

    -Recreation, Sport, and Tourism/Champaign Park District Bunny Open House, Certified March 2023

    -Chancellor's Office for Special Events University of Pretoria Delegation Lunch, Certified March 2023

     

    Keep an eye on the iSEE calendar for all of the Earth Month activities coming up in April!

  5. Weekly Update: Open M-F, Closed for Spring Break

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Notable item of the week was running out entirely of used 700c tires—popular size, I guess! I was able to run over to the warehouse and grab enough wheels off junk bikes that we’re able to live another week. I used the long bike trailer on Wednesday morning and yet another person called out “nice bike!” as I pedaled by. I always get looks or comments when piloting that thing around.

    This week we’ll be opening back up to 5 days a week, M – F 2 to 6p. We’ll see how our Tues/Thurs numbers look but I doubt we’ll be swamped yet as folks adjust to our new hours.

    We’ll be closed next week for Spring Break and reopen Monday, March 20th.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 18

    Sales: $174.50
    Memberships: 1 for $30
    Tires/tubes: 6 for $43

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  6. 3-6-23 Internal Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    "Don't Waste" with Coca-Cola
    Fighting Illini, Fighting Waste
    Green Sports Alliance (GSA)

    On March 6, UIUC sustainability representatives met and discussed the following:

    Attendance: Tony Mancuso, Julie Wurth, Marty Kaufmann, Jen Fraterrigo, Steve Breitwieser, Shawn Patterson, Travis Tate, Daphne Hulse

    Agenda:

    1. Discussed the results from the 3-2-23 game.
      1. F&S will post for Don't Waste Wednesdays.
      2. iSEE will post on their newsletter in a couple weeks.
    2. Jen to assist with calculating the recapture rate -- Daphne to provide the bottles and cans to weigh.
    3. Email Travis and Steve the document shown (Shawn's calculation notes).
    4. Todd Wilson -- U of I homepage: send the March 2 results.
    5. How do we stand across the Big Ten schools for recycling at athletic events? Investigate

  7. Invitation: Franklin STEAM Academy Earth Day Outreach

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability Engagement and Outreach

    Below is an email exchange between William Villaflor from the Urbana Community Learning Lab and Stacy Gloss:

    I am reaching out to invite you to participate in Franklin STEAM Academy's Earth Day/Month celebration. Throughout the month of April, Franklin Middle School, located in Champaign, is looking to organize a full month of events, guest speakers, and engaging learning opportunities to educate and empower their students to grapple with issues surrounding environmental justice, sustainability, and conservation.

     

    Franklin is open to a variety of topics that would inspire students' passion for the earth and the environment; some examples of ideas include: a presentation on local conservation efforts, a hands-on opportunity to work with plants and animals, creating compost bins, environmental career exploration, etc.

     

    If you are interested in this opportunity and determining whether this will be a good fit for your organization, we would be happy to connect you to the best person at Franklin STEAM Academy. Of course, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.

     

    Warmly,

     

    William Villaflor and the CLL Team

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

    Good morning friends and colleagues,

     

    I have learned of a request for participation in Franklin Middle School's Earth Month activities coming up soon. 

    Please contact Will Villaflor....if you are interested and able to participate.

     

    Sincerely,

     

    Stacy Gloss

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

  8. March Meeting Reminder

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Sustainability Leadership Council (SSLC)

    Below is an email regarding the next SSLC Meeting from Jack Reicherts.

     

    From: sslc-request@lists.illinois.edu <sslc-request@lists.illinois.edu> On Behalf Of Jack Reicherts
    Sent: Sunday, March 05, 2023 5:12 PM
    To: sslc@lists.illinois.edu
    Subject: [sslc] SSLC Meeting TOMORROW! Mosey on by! 🤠

     

    Howdy partners!

    This here's yer friendly neighborhood cowboy, remindin' y'all about the next SSLC meeting comin' up quick. We'll be meetin' on Monday, March 6th at 6 pm in the Illini Union Student Org Complex.

    We kindly ask that all y'all organizations send a representative to the meeting, 'ceptin' in case of a group-wide conflict. If there's a conflict, please send us a quick update on what yer group's been up to and any plugs y'all want us to make during the meetin’.

    At the meeting, we'll be discussin' some mighty fine opportunities, includin' the Citizens Utility Board Letter Writin' Event, a lunch meeting with Prairie Rivers Network, sign-ups for Green Quad Day/Earth Day Festival durin’ Earth Month, and the newly named Green Globes awards ceremony (used to be called the Sustainability Grammy's and briefly "Growies"). We'll also be talkin' 'bout an upcomin’ meetin' with the administration at the Sustainability Council.

    And, of course, we'll be providin' updates from all of our member organizations, so don't miss out on this chance to stay in the loop!

    So, saddle up and mosey on down to the Illini Union Student Org Complex on Monday, March 6th at 6 pm. We're lookin' forward to seein' y'all there!

    See ya down the trail,
    Jack Reicherts, Co-Sherrif of the SSLC.

    Yeehaw!

  9. The spring SDA webinar event

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability Engagement and Outreach

    Below is an email exhange regarding a spring 2023 SDA Webinar:

    Dear Wanjhen,

     

    Thanks for Yu-Feng's arrangement. It seems that all invited speaker have agreed that our first SDA webinar will be hold on 8:30am-10:30am, 4/11 in Taiwan (7:30pm-9:30pm CDT, 4/10 in U.S.). Can you help us in announcing the Webinar to our colleagues in the Future Earth Taipei, and also arrange the on-line virtual meeting affairs(invitation letters, lecture fees, links, softwares, login.....) for our international speakers?

    The title for the spring SDA webinar in Future Earth Taipei is "Campus Sustainability Actions as a Living Laboratory"

     

     Here is our invited speakers and agenda:

     

    0. Introduction: Dr. Ping-Yu Chang, (5min.) Professor, National Central University ,Taiwan; Secretary, SDA in Future Earth Taipei

     

    1. Dr. Yu-Feng Forrrest Lin (15 min.), Director of   Illinois Water Resources Center; Principal Research Hydrogeologist in Illinois State Geological Survey; Clinical Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

     

     

    2. Dr. Andrew Stumpf (15 min.), Principal Research Scientist, Prairie Research Institute in Illinois State Geological Survey; Co-founder of Illinois Geothermal Coalition, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

     

     

    3. Ms. Morgan White (15 min.), F&S Associate Director for Sustainability, Interim Director of Capital Programs. 

     

     

    4. Mr. Jack Reicherts(15min.), Chair of the Student Board, Illinois Green Fund and Student Sustainibility Committee

     

     

    5. Dr. Jui-Pin (Rubin) Tsai (15 min.), Assistant Professor, National Taiwan University

     

    6. Q&A time (15 min.).......(I saved 25 min. if we have delayed or further discussion)

     

    Thanks for your great helps. Let us anicipate the webinar then!

     

    Best regards,

     

    Ping-Yu Chang

    Secretary, SDA Group in Future Earth Taipei

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

    Hi Ping-Yu,

    I think it might be better to yield my time to Andy, Morgan and Jack for them to talk 20 minutes each.  If you really want me to speak, I can give a quick introduction to on campus as a living lab concept for 3 minutes.

     

    Yu-Feng

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

     

    Hi Team,

    I would like to initiate our discussion by suggest the workflow of this webinar:

    1. Introduction: Ping-Yu (5 min.) – End with our previous and current collaboration as the transition to Yu-Feng
    2. Definition of Campus Living Lab: Yu-Feng  (5 min.) – End with UIUC is a perfect testbed as the transition to Morgan
    3. UIUC Campus Administration on Sustainability as a Living Lab: Morgan (15-20 min.) – End with the student partnership as the transition to Jack.
    4. UIUC Student Actions on Sustainability as a Living Lab: Jack (15-20 min.) – End with geothermal projects as an example for the transition to Andy.
    5. Geothermal research development at UIUC: Andy (15-20 min.) – End with current international collaborations with Europe (Powell Center and Groundwater Special Issue), South America (Columbia and Brazil), Japan and Taiwan (as Ping-Yu mentioned in the beginning) as the transition to Jui-Pin.
    6. Progress and opportunities in Taiwan, and conclusion: Jui-Pin (15 min.)

     

    Please feel free to share your ideas on the workflow, time, contents, and anything else.

     

    Yu-Feng F. Lin

  13. TED Talk: Eco Edition Series - February 2023

    Associated Project(s): 
    TED Talk: Eco Edition Series

    February's TED Talk: Eco-Edition discussion was hosted by Professor Megan Matthews. Matthews led the group in an insightful discussion on renewable energy and what really needs to be done in order to achieve a greener future. 

    If you missed the discussion or would like to reference any materials Matthews presented, see the attached file.

    Attached Files: 

  15. Weekly capstone meetings: Meeting from 2/23 and 2/24

    Associated Project(s): 
    2024 Campus Bike Plan
    Independent Student Projects

    Sarthak and Ethan met with Stacey DeLorenzo to discuss their development of the planning process for the 2024 Campus Master Bicycle Plan which will occur this semester. Stacey approved of a bicycle audit happening in the fall as well as gave some suggestions for some other stakeholders to include such as Ride Illinois. They also discussed more readings to refer to such as the TDM Plan and Urbana bike plan. This semester will culminate with the meeting with CTAC discussing the working structure and plan for the next two semesters. They also talked about other potential ideas to include in the plan such as scooter parking, more bike share programs, and more bicycle education programs. Stacey agreed to meet with Sarthak and Ethan once a month to get updates on their progress. 

    Attached Files: 

  17. Update on drilling

    Associated Project(s): 
    Geothermal Battery at Energy Farm

    From: Stumpf, Andrew J 
    Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2023 7:37 PM
    To: Rubin, Joshua ; Mies, Tim ; Lamb, Jeremy ; Klein, Bradley Dean 
    Cc: Lin, Yu-Feng ; Weckle, Amy Lorraine; White, Morgan 
    Subject: UTB at the Energy Farm

     

    Hi folks,

     

    Here is an update. Dom and Todd worked to get half of the hole grouted today and now wait until tomorrow morning to see if the battery floats, or not. Theoretically it should not, but we will see. They will start up again at 8 am if anyone is over that way. Xiaobing and Tony have gone back to Tennessee.

     

    Best,

    Andy

  18. Clean vehicle tax credits

    Associated Project(s): 
    UI Ride
    Use Electric Vehicles (EV)
    Decrease Emissions from UI Fleet

    Following is Pete Varney's response to the question from Morgan, "In addition to the Ford Lightning EVs, could we potentially get EV versions of the turtle-top 15-person vans?  Also, is there any discussion about getting Hybrid buses for UI Ride?"

    When discussing EV we have to look at manufacturer availability and operational needs. Car Pool vehicles, 15-pass vans, need to be able to operate both locally and on extended trips ruling out EV due to range restrictions.

    We won’t be looking to replace the first UI Ride bus until FY24/25. We can explore hybrid, but this class of vehicle is different from MTD hybrid buses. Electric may be an option. When the time comes, we’ll discuss with the System office as they put the $$ into UI Ride.

    Thank you,

    Pete

  19. Update from Brent regarding milkweed recommendation

    Associated Project(s): 
    Increase Pollinator-Friendly Areas

    Jen asked Brent on March 1 about the status of LW004 Monarchs Need Milkweed and ALUFS006 Increased Agroforestry. Brent responded on March 1 with the following message:

    Hi Jennifer,

    On this one, Morgan has our response.  We want to do the work with F&S Grounds, but would like to have the SSC pay for seeds.  I think I have a cost of $2200, which would allow for us to seed a fairly large amount of the low mow spaces on campus.  F&S wouldn’t charge for our time as we would be broadcasting, which isn’t difficult.  The benefit of having us do the seeding is that we would know where it was.  We would also focus on the higher visibility areas to greatest impact.

    If we can get funding soon, we can get the seeds ordered for this year. 

    Thanks!

  20. ALUFS006 update

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

    Hi Jennifer,

    So on this one, Allen Parrish and I didn’t see eye to eye on this and came to an impasse.  In suggesting more trees, he was concerned about the turning movements of the tractors and having trees eventually growing into the swale area.  I didn’t agree as the aerials looked like there was plenty of room for the tractors to maneuver and still be able to plant.  The swale issue too seemed thin.  Ownership and maintenance of the plantings also didn’t seem like something he wanted to take on.  Like I said, we just came to an impasse and I dropped it.  With Allen being gone, we might have a different conversation with ACES.   I will look talk to Doug Wolters and see if he and I can’t sit down and discuss this again.

    Thank you,

    Brent.  

     

    From: Fraterrigo, Jennifer M
    Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2023 4:22 PM
    To: Lewis, Brent
    Cc: White, Morgan
    Subject: ALUFS006 update?

     

    Hi Brent,

     

    Hope you are doing well.

     

    It came to my attention recently that the ALUFS006 recommendation to increase agroforestry was approved and transmitted, but there is no further information about implementation. I would appreciate a progress update. Thanks much!

     

    Jen

     

    Read more about the ALUFS006 Increased Agroforestry recommendation here.

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