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  1. Potential to Participate

    Associated Project(s): 

    A couple options are being looked into as possible ways to compete in this year's Recyclemania Competition.  One option could be a zero-waste basketball game.  Another possibility would be to hold an e-waste collection event.  More information will be available in the near future.

  2. Exit Signs to be upgraded to LEDs in 7 buildings

    Associated Project(s): 

    Building

    Bld #

    Cost (labor/material)

         

    Animal Science Lab

    165

    $10,900

    Temple Buell Hall

    339

    $7,300

    Turner Hall

    197

    $10,500

    Grainger Library

    324

    $8,200

    Roger Adams Lab

    116

    $12,300

    Engineering Science Bld

    174

    $13,400

         
       

    Cost (Material only)

    Abbott Power Plant

    120

    $36,900

         
     

    Total

    $99,500

     

  3. Lunch and Learn planned for 1/29/14

    U-C ENERGY STAR Challenge Launch Party and Lunch & Learn 1/29/13

    Learn about the launch of the Urbana-Champaign ENERGY STAR Challenge and meet others taking the Challenge.  RSVP here.  This effort invites building owners and managers to benchmark their buildings' 2013 energy use on the free ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool and then track and improve their energy performance though 2014.

    Buildings will compete against one another to see who can achieve the greatest energy use reduction in 2014 with awards to follow in early 2015.

    Participants can access free in-person assistance using the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool, get connected with financial incentives to move their projects forward, and have access to technical support to help pinpoint building energy savings.

    ES_Challenge_Logo.1.jpg

    Lunch & Learn

    Join other building owners and managers who are benchmarking, tracking, and improving their building energy performance with the free, web-based ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool.  

    This free training will demonstrate the basic functions of ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and show you how to get your building ENERGY STAR Certified.  RSVP now.
     

    espm_logo.1.png

    About Portfolio Manager

    Portfolio Manager is an interactive resource management tool that enables you to track and assess energy and water use across your entire portfolio of buildings … all in a secure online environment.

    More importantly, it can help you implement every step of your energy management program, from setting a baseline and identifying which buildings to target to setting goals and tracking improvements. It’s also the tool for getting recognition from EPA for your efforts.

    Use it to help you save energy, save money … and save the environment.

    energy_star_logo.1.jpg

    Details

    Date
    Wednesday January 29th

    Time
    Noon to 1:30pm

    Location
    Champaign County EDC
    1817 S Neil St. Suite 100
    Champaign, IL

    Admission & Lunch
    Free.  RSVP required.  
    Sponsored by the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation
    EDC_Logo.png

     

  4. overview of the small starts grant projects

    Small Starts is a federal grant program administered by the Federal Transit Administration for eligible transportation projects that cost less than $250 million total. A Small Starts grant proposal is being spearheaded by MTD for a segment of high-traffic streets in the center of campus, which would require a cost-sharing component by all the CATS member agencies.  Within the University District, this grant proposal includes bike lanes on White Street, Wright Street, Green Street from Wright Street to Lincoln Avenue, and Armory Avenue from Wright Street to Fourth Street.  Within the Small Starts proposed improvements, the University has jurisdiction over Armory Avenue from Wright Street to Fourth Street, the Wright Street existing bike path to the east of the roadway from Armory Avenue to Green Street, and the Green Street existing bike path to the north of the curb from Wright Street to east of Goodwin Avenue. 

    The Green Street bike path removal should occur when the City of Urbana installs bike lanes on Green Street.  The Wright Street bike path removal will need to happen in conjunction with the installation of bike lanes on Wright Street, which is under City of Champaign jurisdiction.  The bike lanes on Armory Avenue should occur when the Wright Street and Armory Avenue intersection is reconfigured.  That reconfiguration will include shifting the street and sidewalk southern edges farther to the south, so it will be primarily under the jurisdiction of the University.  However, this work will require careful coordination with the City of Champaign, and the intersection should be done in conjunction with the bike lane installation on Wright Street.

    The projects in this grant proposal are the top priority safety concerns for the University and the other CATS agencies.  Every effort should be made to assist MTD with obtaining this grant, so these safety issues can be addressed quickly and completely. Additionally, because the Small Start Grant will require some matching funds from the member agencies of CATS, the University should be diligent in helping to meet the required match.

  5. Printing and Photographic Services Building

    Associated Project(s): 

    As part of the Lighting Retrofit #5, 862 T-12 fixtures in the Printing and Photographic Services Building were replaced with more energy-efficient T-8 fixtures. This switch will incur an Annual kWh Savings of 151,916 hours. The simple payback for this project is 3.15 years.

  6. Meeting set with OBFS

    Cindy Klein-Banai from UIC reached out to Jim Martinie and Ginger Velazquez at OBFS about train travel. "One recommendation of the Transportation subcommittee falls within the purview of OBFS. It is to modify the University Travel Policy to create incentives to use Amtrak rail.  Doing so would decrease University costs, offer improved safety, and provide environmental benefits in comparison to traveling by automobile.  We have been in touch with Heather Haberaecker, Executive Assistant Vice President for Business and Finance at UIC, who expressed her interest in the use of Amtrak between Chicago, Urbana-Champaign and Springfield..." 

    Ben McCall will be joining the call, as well as Stephanie Lage and Morgan Johnston.  Ben added the following note to Cindy's comments: "In addition to the issue of travel between our campuses, there is also the broader issue that our university's travel policies seem to actually forbid the use of rail travel unless it is cheaper than air travel (while ignoring climate impacts completely)."

    Cindy's office is setting up a conference call for January 23 at 3pm.

  7. Conference Call with Big Ten schools

    Associated Project(s): 

    From: Rob Andrejewski [mailto:rga116@psu.edu]
    Sent: Monday, December 16, 2013 1:26 PM
    To: Stacey White
    Cc: Amy Short; Catherine Huddy; Chris Kelleher; Colin Higgins; Jeff; Julia Burchell; MSU USGBC; Phuong Nguyen; Shane Stennes; clark.devries@unl.edu; Foote, Gerard Paul; matan.gill@unl.edu; Johnston, Morgan B; mkornitas@facilities.rutgers.edu; tjhoggatt@purdue.edu
    Subject: Re: Meeting today: Big Ten CCN Competition

    Hi All,

    Attached you will find the Building Captain Manual that Penn State used last year for our volunteers and Eco-Reps for our "Fight the Power" CCN competition last year. Here is the link to our dashboard from last year as well: http://buildingdashboard.net/psu

    I also included a "Best Practices" document that I downloaded from AASHE, but I still find it helpful. 

    Rob

    On Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 12:12 PM, Stacey White <whit0691@umn.edu> wrote:

    Hello everyone, 

    Looking forward to today's Big Ten CCN competition meeting. We're hoping to cover:

    • Schools participating
    • Dates/reporting times
    • Unified logo update
    • Marketing
    • Other ideas you'd like to discuss

    Talk to you soon,

    Stacey White
    Sustainability Coordinator

    University Services

    University of Minnesota

    Office: 612-624-3285

    Cell: 612-978-0843

    Fax: 612-625-4133

     

  8. committee meeting, Job Shadowing discussion

    Ed Choklek led a discussion about the Committee moving forward with creating a new Job Shadowing Program for college and university students with USGBC Illinois members in 2014. Tom Shelton shared the results from his Doodle Poll to all Committee members and the preferred months were March, April and October. After some additional discussions, we agreed that late March and October would work best for the campus sustainability professionals since April is a very busy month because of Earth Day activities. Ed Choklek answered questions from several meeting participants based upon their reading and review of information provided on the USGBC Missouri Gateway’s Job Shadowing Program. John Brophy, Paul Matthews and Ed Choklek will meet with USGBC Illinois leadership before our January 20, 2014, Committee Meeting to get approval to move forward with our proposed Job Shadowing Program and to determine resources available from USGBC Illinois to support this new initiative. (Check on using USGBC Illinois Chapter Speakers’ Bureau members and USGBC Illinois Chapter Board of Directors for the 2014 Job Shadowing Program since these groups represent many different business sectors.)

    Attached Files: 
  9. Household Hazardous Waste website

    Associated Project(s): 

    Dear Community Members,  Alternative options are being explored in an effort to identify more efficient strategies for the collection of Household Hazardous Waste (HHW).  To provide an informational hub in the research project’s seven-county area, a website has been created.  The site provides information regarding HHW, collection efforts in each county, collection sites, the project, and finally a collaborative blog to share thoughts with other stakeholders.  At the moment the website is still quite raw and running on a very slow host server, but please look over the content and provide feedback.  In the near future we will hold meetings in each county.   Our hope is that you will share your thoughts about what would work best in your community and the region as a whole.  Those thoughts will be considered in the construction of options for implementation.

    Here is the link to the HHW East Illinois website: http://hhweastillinois.co.nf/

    Thank you for your time and consideration,

    Susan Monte, Champaign County Recycling Coordinator

    Bart Bartels, ISTC Research Assistant

  10. Engineering Design preliminary meeting

    Eva Sweeney, Robert Halverson, and John Summers from F&S Engineering Design Services met with Paul Foote and Morgan Johnston.  They discussed the SSC step two proposal for an EV charging station.  Robert had met with Michelle Wahl and Tom Skaggs from Parking. Eva will be the key electrical engineer for this project.

    There was discussion about a connection from the parking meter to the electric charging station.  The meter could have contacts that would energize the charging station when the parking meter is paid. 

    There was a question whether this proposal is for one or two charging stations which would take two or four parking spaces.  Morgan said she would check with Michelle about the quantity.  It was later clarified that the proposal is for one charging station, which would need two parking spaces.

    Parking will have reduced revenue from the parking spaces.  A departmental space is $1980 per year.  Parking meters are currently charging $1.00/hour.  We need to be able to report on the effectiveness of this program, so we need to track the energy usage.  

    There will be ongoing maintenance costs.  The Engineering design work can help understand these potential costs, once the specific charging station is selected.

    This will go in parking lot B4. It will not be a leased space.

    The SSC request is for $20k.

    According to Robert, Michelle indicated that UA wants a trending report on usage.

  11. UIC sustainability report

    Associated Project(s): 

    UIC's Chancellor's Committee on Sustainability and Energy (CCSE) is tasked with making recommendations to Chancellor Allen-Meares on sustainability and energy related topics to maintain our campus's climate commitments. This fall, the CCSE created their 2013 CCSE Report, which included recommendations relating to campus grounds, transportation, recycling and waste management, energy and utilities, and events and activities.  A copy of this report can be found at http://www.uic.edu/sustainability/reports/CCSE_2013_Report.pdf.

  12. Notes from discussion with Central Stores

    Associated Project(s): 

    Ken Merrill gave an example of paper purchases:

    This year he has purchased 33,500 reams of virgin paper, 1073 reams with 30% recycled content, and 180 with 100% recycled content.  The means for this year 96.4 of the paper purchased through Central Stores has no recycled content. 

    • Computer purchasing commitment for EPEAT products does not exist although some colleges may have one.
    • Vendor Code of Conduct – Ken does not know of one.
    • Environmental Indicators for purchasing – None other than possibly regarding diversity.
    • Uses Life-Cycle Analysis – No
    • Incorporate disposal costs into the product costs – No
    • Minimum recycling standards – No
    • Green Cleaning Products – Yes, everything is green seal certified

    He said he was happy to purchase whatever the units want, but they have to want it.

     

  13. Meeting with Amy Liu

    Met with Amy because she was interested in moving some of the funding from retrofits to education.  I told Amy about some of the education projects I have worked on in the past including a taste testing table.  Amy seemed interested in having a table in the student union starting early next semester.  After the meeting I stopped and talked to Stephanie about groups that might want to join in the effort.  The information was passed on to Amy.  Amy said she would make contact and try to get enough volunteers to run the table for 20 hours per week.  She was also going to try to change the scope of the funding so she could make marketing material. 

  14. Email to students about CCN

    Associated Project(s): 

    From: Foote, Gerard Paul
    Sent: Monday, December 02, 2013 1:19 PM
    To: Mondello, Jessica Rae; Ross, Karoline Jeanne; Myles, Kirsten N; Khan, Nadia; Jones, KeJuan M; Jamal, Sahir S; Anjum, Hiba Sattar; Sheth, Saloni B
    Cc: Johnston, Morgan B; Hochman, Sarah E; Hauger, Kevin J
    Subject: Campus Conservation Nationals Introduction email

    Hello everyone,

    I hope everyone had a great holiday!

    As a follow-up to our initial meeting, I would like to thank you all for your interest in participating in the first ever UIUC CCN competition.

    It is great to find fellow students interested in making a difference in the world, and sustainability in energy conservation is a great place to start.

    This competition is promising to be an Awesome experience!

    Getting started: I would like to schedule a meeting where we discuss the roles needed and create the competition schedule.

    I know these next two weeks are demanding but we need to meet,

    With this in mind;  I  am available most evenings after 5 pm,  Mon and Tue I have prior arrangements but can cancel them if needed.

    Please respond today or Tue with which evenings and times that work or don’t work for you, then I will post the meeting options that meet the majority

    Attached is a sample timeline. Keep  in mind these are recommendations and we may opt to re-arrange to best fit our team’s needs.

    When I met with you there was some question as to the duties in each role participating in the competition, attached is a pdf of sample team position descriptions.

    When responding with meeting times if you already know what role or roles you are interested in please indicate that in your response.  Thank you!

    http://competetoreduce.org/ccn/plan.html This is a link to the competition training webinars, I encourage you to scroll to the bottom and read the CCN Competition Planning Guide and the CCN Data Collection & BuildingOS Guide. These will provide important data for understanding what and how we are going to accomplish CCN, as the competition organization team.

    For those of you that are more ambitious watch the webinars as they are well prepared and explain many facets of the competition in great detail.

    I have downloaded and watched them all!  

    As for an update on the current status of the competition;

    -We have a tentative timeline for collection and competition weeks, however we have been invited to participate in a Big 10 version of the competition as well, this may require us to modify our schedule to match the Big 10 timeline, will update as we progress.

    -The 20 res Halls with metering capability have been identified and I am working with the metering dept. to get training on how to digitally collect this data.

    -Most of the signatures on the CCN registration have been received with 2 remaining this will be completed by Dec 15th 2013.

    Thank you again for your participation and I look forward to working with all of you in creating this Amazing competition at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign.

    Paul Foote

     

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