During the summer of 2022, Tyler Swanson (iSEE intern) worked with Meredith Moore and developed the attached report on sustainability in athletics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 

In Spring of 2022, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign became a Supporting Member for the Northeast Recycling Council’s (NERC).

As an Advisory Member, we are invited to:

• Submit articles for the Email Bulletin.  
• Submit blogs – which will be advertised on social media.
• Participate in four substantive committees:
  
  • glass markets
  • regional recycling markets
  • bottle bills
  • diversity, equity and inclusion
• Participate in Projects or Initiatives:
  
  • Government Recycling Demand Champions. There three levels of participation champion, advocate, and state recycling organization advocate. https://nerc.org/projects/government-recycling-demand-champions

The August 26, 2022 issue of Insider featured the "Achievements in Transportation". Read the article online at https://fs.web.illinois.edu/Insider/2022/08/26/achievements-in-transport... or see below.

Achievements in Transportation

Be it walking, bicycling, taking transit, or driving vehicles, getting around the campus is done more sustainably than ever.

The F&S Transportation Demand Management (TDM) department creates, maintains, and coordinates the overall transportation network for all modes of travel. TDM implements campus and community policies and plans, like objectives in the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP).

“Safe and sensible transportation, in all its forms and complexities, is essential to a functioning campus,” said Stacey DeLorenzo, transportation systems manager.

Read the full Transportation Demand Management Plan FY22 Achievement Report on the F&S website.

Students walking to Quad on Centennial Plaza in spring between the Chemistry Annex and Noyes Laboratory.

Key achievements include:

Asset Management Plan

• $1.25M was allocated for pavement maintenance and improvement projects, starting in FY22.
  • Pennsylvania Ave – Asphalt patching West of Maryland: $98,471.81
  • First and Peabody – Concrete patching: $47,866.28
  • College Ct westbound lane near PAR – Concrete patching: $42,055
  • Campus-wide – Spray injection: $25,000
  • Campus-wide – Crack sealing: $25,000

• F&S TDM is responsible for the 2014 Campus Bicycle Master Plan. The department installed the campus’ first bicycle shelter, removed abandoned bicycle paths, and enhanced bicycle facilities.

• Installed bicycle and pedestrian counters by Eco-Counters at 4 campus locations, with more planned soon. Learn more at Pedestrian and Bicycle Counts.

Programming

TDM educates and encourages students, faculty, and staff to use active modes of transportation. TDM evaluates and plans campus infrastructure to create a safe environment.

The Bike at Illinois website features information on bicycle education and facilities, bike sharing, registration, safety, and more. The F&S website includes information on walking, MTD buses, accessibility, and car-share options.

Collaborations

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is home to some of the world’s brightest researchers and students. The phrase “an active partner in research, teaching, and learning” added to the F&S mission, to academic collaborations. Working with researchers is an essential component to the future of F&S, and a major theme emphasized in the F&S Strategic Plan. F&S collaborates with students and researchers to envision the campus as a living lab and implement research to see the impact with real-world application.

All INSIDER stories on F&S academic collaborations, visit https://go.fs.illinois.edu/Academic.

Can pavement construction use food waste?
Dr. Lance Schideman (ISTC), Dr. Yuanhui Zhang (ABE), and Dr. Ramez Hajj (CEE) use bio-oil produced from food waste as a rejuvenator for asphalt. F&S is collaborating with these researchers to implement this technology on campus pavement in the near future.

Do students collaborate with F&S?
The TDM department collaborated with more than 25 students in the last year to help with class projects, research, or interests in transportation systems on campus.

Walkability Audit
F&S conducted a thorough walkability audit. Nearly 75 volunteers collected data for the following surveys: a) Walkability Audit survey, which focused on the general walkability of the campus (macro level), and b) Deficiency Reporting survey, which focused on identifying specific faults on campus (micro level analysis). Sutapa Banerjee, a master’s student in urban planning, analyzed the walkability audit survey to determine the “walk index” of 76.2 for the campus. The deficiency reporting survey data and ADA transition plan supplement will improve accessibility on-campus.

Those involved: Sutapa Banerjee (MUP-2 student), Dr. Lindsay Braun and Dr. Bumsoo Lee (Department of Urban and Regional Planning), Mylinda Netherton (Disability Resources Educational Services), Allison Kushner (Office of Access & Equity), Ryan Welch (F&S Grounds), Brent Lewis (F&S Capital Programs), and Chad Kupferschmid and Justin Pinnell (F&S Facilities Information Resources).

Tyler Swanson worked with Meredith Moore during the summer of 2022 as a campus sustainability intern and developed the attached report outlining recommendations to improve UIUC STARS score.

The Education iCAP team had a hybrid meeting from 5:00 P.M. - 6:00 PM on Monday, August 29th. The team reviewed the Education iCAP objectives, shared project updates, and brainstormed new action ideas for this semester. Meeting minutes are attached.

The August 2022 - updated sustainability gen-ed proposal is attached. 

All, We’re down to two oddball bikes for sale here at the Bike Center. Demand remains high; donations remain low. We’re still helping plenty of folks, though. Visitor numbers support that.

Had a staff meeting last Thursday and then Friday was quite busy, but we were adequately staffed, which was a welcomed change. Unfortunately, the rest of the days are still in-progress in that department.

Neil St and Stadium Dr remains an ever-dangerous section of campus as I was victim this morning to a dangerous driver barreling past me—on the right, no less—at the underpass.

The numbers:

Visitors: 157

Sales: $2,140
Bikes (refurb): 4 for $595
Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $50
Memberships: 28 for $840
Tires/tubes: 28 for $219

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

The iCAP Teams and iCAP Working Group gathered for the annual kickoff event on 8-24-22. Current members attended to learn about the iCAP 2020, the role of the teams and members, and meet sustainability staff and fellow team members. The presentation is attached and the recording can be found here.