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Projects Updates for iCAP Working Group (iWG)

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  1. LW002 Vet Med Parking Lot Re-Design - Submitted

    Associated Project(s): 
    Land and Water Recommendations Summary
    Land and Water iCAP Team
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Vet Med Parking Lot Re-Design

    The Land and Water iCAP team submitted the following LW002 Vet Med Parking Lot Re-Design recommendation on 4/2/21:

    "This recommendation calls for a redesign of the Vet-Med parking lot F27 to reduce runoff and prevent flooding of the Dairy Farm. Project design recommendations would include adding stormwater infrastructure such as bioswales and raingardens within the redesigned parking lot, as well as to the west of the parking lot where much of the runoff from the asphalt currently flows. A student project, which placed first in the Central States Water Environmental Association Student Design Competition: Environmental Category addresses this issue, but the team recommends hiring a Professional Services Consultant team, consisting of a professional engineer and landscape architect for the design. It is possible that the firm may be willing to donate the design, which would reduce the cost."
     

    Attached Files: 

  3. iCAP Working Group Meeting 1-20-2021

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Energy Performance Contracting / ESCO
    Energy iCAP Team

    Below is the recording link for the 1-20-21 meeting. Meeting minutes to follow.

    https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:2b989ffe-dd40-44b8-bba7-ae3543421080#pageNum=1

    ***Correction from recording*** Example scenario - if in the first year, College of Engineering spends $100 million on utilities and in year 5, they do work to reduce consumption by $1 million, will they get that $1 million of savings in perpetuity or for a limited time? They would get $100 million in allocation, but their utility costs would only be $99 million and they would keep the difference and be able to spend it on other budget items.

    Attached Files: 

  7. iWG Meeting Minutes from 10-9-20

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    iCAP 2020: Illinois Climate Action Plan

    The iCAP Working Group met for the first time during the 2020-2021 academic year on 10-9-20. The group welcomed new members and discussed the status of the SWATeam recommendations submitted last spring by the teams. The meeting minutes and spreadsheet of the recommendation statuses are attached. 

    Attached Files: 

  8. Email to Resilience SWATeam re: Edu002 recommendation

    Associated Project(s): 
    Education iCAP Team
    Resilience iCAP Team
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    iCAP 2020: Illinois Climate Action Plan

    Hello Resilience SWATeam!

     

    I hope this message finds you well. In the spring, one Education SWATeam (Edu002) recommendation to the iCAP Working Group suggested developing a sustainable communities paid internship program for students, in partnership with local businesses, non-profits, local government agencies, and local community-based organizations. As the recommendation states, the program would be designed to provide student opportunities in the sustainability field to advance resiliency efforts in our region and help tackle challenges related to climate change.

     

    The iWG recommended including the Resilience SWATeam in discussions on how best to move this forward since it directly involves and relates to the community. We recognized that cities are interested in working with students though funding may be a potential barrier. Your input on this recommendation will be very helpful. What are your initial thoughts on this recommendation? Does this seem like a feasible project, and what would be needed to implement such a program? Meredith may schedule a meeting in the fall between the two SWATeams to discuss further, though in the meantime, please respond with your feedback.

     

    Thank you!
    Ximing Cai

    August 2, 2020

     

  10. ZW001 Student Sustainability Ambassador Program - Successful

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    Zero Waste Recommendations Summary

    Dr. Evan DeLucia, Director of iSEE, sent Meredith Moore the following email: 
    --

    Good morning, Meredith

    I’ve had a chance to review the iWG recommendations and discuss them with iSEE leadership. Both recommendations, the Environmental Leadership Program and Student Sustainability Ambassadors are creative, will provide students with new opportunities to engage in sustainability learning, and will have a positive impact on our iCAP goals.

    The iWG should be aware that we are launching test modules as part of the leadership program this fall semester. iSEE has hired a coordinator to develop several learning modules, likely full day programs, on topics such as ‘environmental communications’ and ‘effective interviewing strategies’. We will use these modules to recruit faculty into the program, build partnerships, evaluate financial expenses, and evaluate student interest. If all goes well, these modules will serve as the components of full program. Once we have a better sense of the curriculum, we can also initiate fund raising activities.

    The ambassadors program has real promise to advance campus’ iCAP goals and to more fully engage students in sustainability activities. That said, iSEE is not prepared to launch this program at this time. Not for lack of merit, but rather for lack of bandwidth. To properly launch the leadership program mentioned above is a significant undertaking and we want to make sure we do it well. While iSEE is not prepared to launch this program at this time, we will take an initial step to explore its viability by discussing the proposed course offering with NRES.

    Please extend my thanks to the iWG and the SWATeams for their dedication to making Illinois more sustainable.
    --
    iSEE is working on developing a plan for implementing this program.

    See transmittal of ZW001 Student Sustainability Ambassador Program here.
    See iWG assessment of ZW001 Student Sustainability Ambassador Program here. 
    See SWATeam recommendation of ZW001 of Student Sustainability Ambassador Program here. 
    See NRES 285 iCAP Sustainability Ambassadors for future updates. 

  11. ZW001 Student Sustainability Ambassador Program - Transmitted

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    Zero Waste Recommendations Summary
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)

    Following the completion of the iWG assessment for ZW001 Student Sustainability Ambassador Program, the recommendation was transmitted to Evan DeLucia, Director of iSEE, on June 9, 2020.

    See the iWG assessment ZW001 Student Sustainability Ambassador Program attached. 
    See the SWATeam recommendation ZW001 Student Sustainability Ambassador Program.

     

    Attached Files: 

  14. ZW001 Student Sustainability Ambassador Program - Submitted

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    Zero Waste Recommendations Summary
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)

    The Zero Waste SWATeam made the following recommendation on 4/3/2020: 

    We are recommending a pilot program for what we are calling the Student Sustainability Ambassadors initiative. The main idea is to have teams assigned to buildings – one team per building - on campus with student volunteers playing a central role in these teams. Other members of each team: the Building Manager, one or two Zero Waste Contacts in each building (i.e. staff or faculty volunteers in each building from a list of campus contacts that the ZW Coordinator will put together with a view to promoting ZW.)

    The focus of each team: all aspects that are relevant to whether a building is being operated sustainably with attention to the actions of people in the building. This includes reducing waste, increasing recycling, sustainable purchasing, natural landscaping, energy use, amount of printing that is done, and so on. A large focus will be placed on relating these components to the iCAP goals and objectives.

    Student Sustainability Ambassadors will speak with people who work in the building about issues they notice and about how they use the building. They will work to quantify waste/energy/resources used/etc. in their assigned building. They will help to inform people in the assigned building about all matters pertaining to sustainability including issues at the campus level, in particular the goals of iSEE and F&S. They will also work to provide solutions to problems they identify in their buildings.

    Attached is the SWATeam recommendation ZW001 Student Sustainability Ambassador Program with comments from the Zero Waste SWATeam.

    Attached Files: 

  15. LW001 Data Repository - Submitted

    Associated Project(s): 
    Land and Water iCAP Team
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Land and Water Recommendations Summary

    The Land and Water SWATeam made the following recommendation on 4/2/2020: 

    The Land & Water SWATeam recommends that a single data repository and online dashboard should be established to ingest, archive, and disseminate data from various sustainability related monitoring on and around campus. This could potentially be a dashboard included on the iCAP Portal.

    Currently, there is a need to keep permanent records of original data and measurements from a variety of sensors and applications and in a variety of formats.  The university should be able to provide reliable, secure online access to sustainability-related monitoring data, to manage all monitoring network locations, to integrate data acquisition systems and external databases, and automate continuous data importing. Data such as water quality, soil moisture, green roof monitoring, nitrogen content will be tracked. Data can be input as public or private (such as data from research papers before publication) and entered manually or pulled from other platforms and software. The goal is to be able to provide online tools to visualize, analyze, and download data.

    The SWATeam has identified two potential options to develop this system, such as the College of ACES Soil Diagnostics proprietary software. Additionally, personnel from the Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Lab in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering have developed a natural-resources data-management system that is able to assimilate and store data from a wide variety of sensors and provide online access to user-selected data streams (described in Explanation and Background section).

    The Land & Water SWATeam recommends that iSEE provide support to make this system the repository and dashboard for all sustainability-related monitoring across campus.  This would provide a single portal that would enable students, faculty, University staff and administration, and the public to access these monitoring data.

    Attached is the SWATeam recommendation LW001 Data Repository with comments from Land and Water SWATeam.

    Attached Files: 

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