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  2. 2018 International Freezer Challenge - 1st place internationally

    Associated Project(s): 
    Freezer Challenge

    We Won 1st place internationally in the Institutional category for last year’s efforts!

    My Green Labs and I2SL hosted the 2018 International Freezer Challenge see category winners here

    Place Photo here

    Worldwide recognition published through these media outlets:

    Lab Manager Magazine, Cold Storage March 2019

    Published article with participants quoted for expert advice here  

    Nature Magazine feature published in Oct. 2018 (see attached PDF)

    S-Labs highlights our achievements in their short-listed profiles here (PDF of short list attached)

    ISEE and Facilities & Services published news releases U of I Wins Freezer Challenge & 2018 International Freezer Challenge Champions

    Highlights from lab efforts in 2018

    Achievements from researchers in the 2018 competition!

    # of labs submitted score sheets

    45

    # of freezers/ refrigerators impacted

    323

    # of units defrosted and/or cleaned coils

    198

    # of units retired due to no longer needed

    16

    # of units replaced with a more efficient model

    9

    # of units that were cleaned out and/or removed samples

    162

    # of units where you updated or created new  inventories

    143

    # of samples moved from colder to warmer storage 

    14065

    # of units created a searchable digital inventory

    100

    # of units containing a Barcoded inventory

    27

    # of units shared among research groups

    103

    # of researchers that registered labs

    60

    # of individual labs registered

    58


    Goal for this year is to DOUBLE last year’s participation of 45 labs in 17 buildings and energy reduction, which totaled an estimated 720 kWh/day from October 2017 through June 2018. The annual total of 262,800 kWh of electricity saved during the competition is the approximate equivalent of the yearly energy used by 25 typical U.S. homes.

    We can repeat the WIN; so far, the CDC is the only group to win twice in their division.

    Join us

     

    Thank you

    Paul Foote

    Think Globally- Act Locally

  4. Second Nature Payment to UIUC

    Associated Project(s): 
    Carbon Credit Purchasing Program (C2P2) with Second Nature

    Second Nature paid UIUC for the sale of vintage 2017 carbon credits to Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) as part of UIUC's participation in the Carbon Credit and Purchasing Program.

    Second Nature transferred 2,865 vintage Carbon Credits (VCUs) to BP Target Neutral (BPTN) on behalf of UIUC.

    For this sale, UIUC receives $6.25 per credit. The total amount paid to UIUC for this sale is $17,906.25

     

    An email of confirmation of this payment is attached below.

     

    Attached Files: 

  8. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, As the numbers will show: we had a very slow week. Not a lot of visitors in but the weather was pretty gnarly, too. Snow never helps.

    All told, we have 40 bikes as in-progress shop builds or for sale, organized about as well as they can be in the back of the shop. Had my staff work on that last week.

    This week I’ll get a handle on summer availability for my staff and make a dent in the bike pile. I was contacted last week by an F&S intern about reviewing the Campus Bike Plan, so I’ll dig into that a bit this week, too.


    Numbers:

    Visitors: 29
    Sales: $20

    Thanks!

    Jake Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Manager

  9. Weekly Updates for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn--

    Zero waste activities for the past week were that I emailed the Siebel Design Center, the School of Art and Design, and the Architecture Annex to see if any of them would like the EPS densifier.

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

  11. Week 6 Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Water Audit / Inventory

    Good afternoon all,

    This week’s meeting went well and we were able to discover more information on the low-flow water fixtures installed in some of the university buildings. I was also able to update the excel sheet, to the correct display for when we get data. At the beginning of the meeting, I was able to catch the group up on the information I read in the Master Utilities Plan and Combined Heat and Power (CHP) convention. The CHP convention had very general information on CHP generation and some specifics in areas we are not interested in. There was not much information on how water consumption is monitored or improving.

    The Master Utilities Plan was very informative on how Abbot Power Plant and the Chiller plants work. It gave good background information and the condition they are in. It also provided suggestions on how to bring them back up to operational standards.

    During the meeting, we called Mark Warner, and asked him for more information on the low-flow water fixture installations. We were not able to gain an active list of updated buildings, but were able to learn some other information. We learned that Guy Grant was in charge of the program, and we will contact him in the following weeks. We also found out there were some complaints about the low-flow fixtures which led to the removal of some of these fixtures. For example, some of the sinks are not providing enough hot water. Another contact we will be reaching is the Refrigeration Foreman to learn more about the chiller plants.

    For the following meeting, I will continue my research on chiller plants and generate a list of questions about the projects to ask Kent Reifsteck, the Director of Utilities at F&S. I will also be using data on chilled water billing for each university building to figure out which buildings are in the chilled water loop. The low-flow water fixture project has been updated to involve which buildings have had them removed.

    Thanks,

    Austin Jung

    Attached Files: 

  17. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Last week I counted 20 bikes for sale and 19 only in need of safety checks. That should put our number in the 40+ range by the time it gets warm. Maybe higher if the weather stays in the single digits like this.

    Friday was completely dead. Not a single person in to work on their bike. I trained up staff on headset installation and test rode some bikes. We also reorganized in the back of the shop, designating areas into “For Sale” bikes and in-progress shop builds. It looks a lot cleaner and will make it easier to point people in the right direction for bikes, which will be crucial when the warm weather comes.

    This week I will be organizing a staff meeting for my team as we approach Spring Break and, after that, the potential for the first big rush of people into the shop.

    Huge thanks to the guys in the shop next door as I think they’re the ones who plowed right in front of the door to the Bike Center this morning. Usually the plows just push snow into the door but this morning when I got to work, it was cleared with a little path from the sidewalk to the door.

     

    Numbers:

    Visitors: 49
    Sales:  $151.20
    Memberships: 2 for $60

    Rubber/consumables: 9 for $27.70

     

    Thanks!

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

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