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  1. Eco-Counter set installed and activated at Armory and Sixth

    Associated Project(s): 
    Pedestrian and Bicycle Counts
    Multimodal Corridor Enhancement Project (MCORE)
    Bicycle Counts

    A set of Eco-Counters were installed at the intersection of Armory Ave and Sixth St on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. This is the last set of old counters that were purchased in 2019. These counters were activated on April 27, 2022, and they are now collecting and transmitting data. See attached to see the pictures of these counters.

    Attached Files: 

  2. EPA Waste Management Webinar Presentation

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste
    Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
    iCAP 2020: Illinois Climate Action Plan

    Meredith Moore (iSEE) and Sydney Trimble (F&S) presented at the EPA Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Web Academy Webinar: University Best Practices in Waste Stream Management on 4-28-22. The presentation is attached. 

    Click here for more information.

    "This webinar session will highlight best practices in university materials and waste stream management, including reduce, reuse, and recycle principles. Participants will learn about the excellent waste reduction programs at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Colorado State University, and The Ohio State University. Our speakers will share proven practices that help colleges and universities minimize waste generation and promote materials reuse. Attendees will also learn about ongoing university case studies and projects involving waste characterization as well as other programs assisting campuses in achieving sustainability goals."

    Attached Files: 

  3. iCAP update presented at Senate Committee on Campus Operations

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP 2020: Illinois Climate Action Plan
    Provide Centralized Communication about Sustainability
    Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)

    These iSEE representatives presented an update of key efforts underway for the iCAP 2020: iSEE Associate Director for Campus Sustainability Dr. Jennifer Fraterrigo, iSEE Associate director for Education and outreach Dr. Luis Rodriguez, Sustainability Programs Manager Meredith Moore, F&S Associate Director for Sustainability Morgan White, and Sustainability Academic Advisor Eric Green. the key topics were:

    • Earth Month
    • Clean Power
    • Plastic Waste Reduction
    • Environmental Leadership Program
    • Sustainability Gen Ed efforts

    The following links were also sent to be shared with the committee:

    Also, if anyone is interested in participating in one of the Topical iCAP Teams, as a faculty member, please let us know. The topics are listed on the iCAP Portal at https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project/topical-icap-teams.

     

  4. Meeting agenda and notes

    Associated Project(s): 
    "Don't Waste" with Coca-Cola

    Agenda for meeting with Coca-cola national and regional team and UIUC representatives.

    • Climate Leadership Commitments and Plastic Waste Reduction
    • Coke Current Sustainability Efforts at Illinois (use of sustainability funds in current contract)
    • Coke Future Efforts to Reduce Plastic Waste
    • Enhanced sustainability collaboration between Coke and Illinois

    iSEE notes from meeting:

    Met with national & regional Coke representatives on 4/28/2022 to discuss increasing sustainable purchasing and waste management practices

    • Coke transitioning to bottles with higher content of recycled PET (rPET)
    • Support increased plastic waste collection (raw materials for rPET)
      • Reverse vending machines (RVM)– donation/reward for bottle/can recycling
      • Develop blueprints for messaging and events (social media, signage, materials for athletic events)

    Next steps

    • Connect with RVM manufacturer (Atlas Solutions) to discuss purchasing

    • Engage wit Coke partners Circular Solutions for a potential sustainability audit

  6. April Energy iCAP Team Meeting 4-27-22

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy iCAP Team
    Building-Level Energy Efficiency

    The Energy iCAP Team met on April 27th at 9:00 A.M. for an update on an ongoing student-run study of CO2 district heating and cooling feasibility as well as to discuss two recommendations pertaining to ensuring compliance of new campus buildings with existing state energy codes and F&S energy use standards. One draft recommendation that would use students in architecture or energy related disciplines as a means of ensuring compliance was tabled, while a second recommendation requiring new buildings to more carefully comply with existing standards will undergo further conversation for potential submission as a recommendation over the summer or in the early fall.

    Attached Files: 

  7. Weekly Resiliency Team Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Build Resilience with Our Local Community

    Stacy Gloss and Meredith Moore met on 4/27 to discuss the following:

    1. DFA Student project on E-waste recycling poster was added to portal on 4/27/2022.
    2. Environmental Justice Next Steps by August 2022:
      1. Make 1 – 2 page fact sheet about EJ Planning
      2. Define plan for outreach this summer
      3. Implement the plan
    3. Capstone project on carbon offsets
      1. Obtain final deliverables on carbon offset project to include in iCAP portal
    4. Sustainability Clinic (Leading on Sustainability Issues)
      1. Socializing sustainability clinic to faculty; identify potentially interested faculty
    5. Community Conversations on Sustainability (Leading on Sustainability Issues)
      1. This is a newish idea that Meredith will socialize to iSEE and others and we can start working on it this summer. 

  8. Cell Phone and Electronic Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Build Resilience with Our Local Community
    Achieve Zero Waste
    Local Sustainability Issues

    A team of Design for America students worked on a year-long project diving into cell phone and electronic waste. The attached poster is the culmination of their work across the '21/'22 school year. We wish the DFA student team luck in all their future endeavors.

    DFA Team: Koshal Raghavarapu, Ananya Barman, Pooja Tetali, & Aashi Tyagi

    Attached Files: 

  10. Introductory meeting with Robert O'Daniell

    Associated Project(s): 
    Increase use of EVs and other Alternative Service Vehicles
    Use Electric Vehicles (EV)
    Install Public Use Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations

    I met with Robert O'Daniell on Wednesday, April 27, 2022. We covered several topics, including the electrification trend, Federal and State tax credits for EVs, but majority of the time was dedicated to learn about the EV charging stations in Champaign County as compared to other cities.

    Robert also shared his own experience as an EV owner and the survey he is currently conducting to gauge interest in increasing the number of public-use EV charging and possibility of introducing DC Fast Charging to the campus and Champaign County.

    I will create the survey on Google Forms, and then help deploy it on-campus. We also discussed where to promote this survey.

    See attached the documents that we covered during this meeting.

    Attached Files: 

  11. Illinois Sustainable Technology Center Contact

    Associated Project(s): 
    Diversion of Non-Recyclable Plastic using Pyrolysis Process to Produce Fuels for Campus

    From: Prasad, Sarthak <sprasad9 at illinois.edu>
    To: Brinkworth, Jessica F <jfbrinkw at illinois.edu>
    Cc: White, Morgan <mbwhite at illinois.edu>
    Subject: Plastic to fuel: Sriraam Chandrasekaran at ISTC

     

    Hi Jessica,

     

    Sriraam Chandrasekaran (schandr at illinois.edu) works at Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) and his research is in plastic to fuel. Here is his profile: https://directory.illinois.edu/detail?userId=schandr@illinois.edu&widgetId=32

     

    I think he would be a good resource. Thank you,
    Sarthak

     

    Sarthak Prasad

    Sustainable Transportation Assistant

    Facilities & Services

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    Phone: 217-300-9575

    Email: sprasad9@illinois.edu

  12. Tree Map Partnership

    Associated Project(s): 
    Build Resilience with Our Local Community
    Campus Tree Inventory
    Tree Campus Higher Education

    From: Heidi Leuszler <HLeuszler at parkland.edu>
    Subject: Tree Map partnership

     

    Hello all, I hope this finds you and yours well!

     

    I am on the Sustainable Campus Committee at Parkland College and we are discussing updating our campus tree map and digitizing it. I am including all of you in this email because I am wondering if we do not have to recreate the wheel and can join an existing tree map in our community.

     

    I have worked with https://www.opentreemap.org/ in the past, but the $3000 price tag per year is rather steep for us. Do any of you use this program?

     

    In a quick search, I found the following local Tree Inventory maps (all of which Parkland campus is missing from):

    City of Urbana https://urbanail.treekeepersoftware.com/index.cfm?deviceWidth=1920

    UIUC campus https://illinoisedu.treekeepersoftware.com/index.cfm?deviceWidth=1920

    City of Champaign ROW Trees https://cityofchampaign.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=7e979451571143abbf5befb6eeb9b01b

    City of Champaign  https://gis-cityofchampaign.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/cityofchampaign::city-owned-trees/explore?location=40.130930%2C-88.279305%2C13.85 

    Champaign Park District https://cparkdistirct.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=88afa8b642a1464585eaad55a999dd5a

    Urbana Park District https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aaX3IOinNA&t=23s (but I could not find public access to the inventory)

     

    Is it possible we can add our campus data to an existing map? Perhaps we all partner and can add city, park, and campus data to make a more comprehensive community map.

     

    If you are interested in this, have thoughts, know a better person to contact, etc., let me know and we can get a meeting together to discuss possibilities.

     

    Thank you!

    My best,

    Heidi

  13. Weekly Update: Friday Ride, New staff

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Pretty quiet last week. Friday picked up along with the weather. And nicer weather meant our first successful Friday Ride of the season!

    This week a couple new staffers will be starting. As the weather has warmed, we’re seeing an uptick in volunteer interest as well, which is welcomed.

    Tonight is the Bike Project Member Meeting, which I’ll attend.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 39
    Sales: $862
    Bikes (refurb): 3 for $550
    Memberships: $3 for $90
    Tire/tube: 3 for $6.25 (used/new)

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  15. New iSEE Green Event Certifications

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

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

     

    Chancellor's Office for Special Events Illinois Promise Welcome Lunch, Certified April 2022

    Chancellor's Office for Special Events University-wide Commencement ceremony, Certified April 2022

    Chancellor's Office for Special Events Commencement Dinner, Certified April 2022

    Chancellor's Office for Special Events Bronze Tablet Reception, Certified April 2022

     

    Keep up the great work!

     

     

  17. Sustainability Grammys 2022!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Earth Month
    Student Sustainability Leadership Council (SSLC)
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    The first-ever Sustainability Grammys, hosted by iSEE, SSLC, SSC, and the Illini Union Board was a tremendous success! Congratulations to Red Bison, Project4Less, and Grow2Give on earning awards in the Impact, Engagement, and Initiative categories respectively. 

    Attached Files: 

  18. Residence Hall Research Site Email

    Associated Project(s): 
    Obtain and Publicize Water Data
    Land and Water iCAP Team
    Green Infrastructure

    Below is an email sent by Dr. Edwin Herricks to Morgan White regarding a research site to study stormwater mitigation designs.

     

    Morgan,

     

    You may not know, but some time ago I led a project to create a research site on the parking lot across from the residence halls to study parking lot stormwater mitigation designs.  Of importance we installed a weir for a gauging capability for the lot discharge.  Unfortunately, the U did not proceed with the lot improvements so the weir simply sits.

     

    Art Schmidt is aware of this and over the years I have encouraged him to take advantage of the infrastructure. 

     

    Hopefully if you know about this capability you may find some use for it.

     

    Ed

  19. Invitation to HCL and NCEB event on 05/25/22

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illinois Solar Decathlon

    Below is an email invitation to an event at the Hydrosystems Laboratory:

    Hello all,

     

    On behalf of Illinois Solar Decathlon, I would like to invite you to our event, Reimagining HSL and NCEB, where our Concept Team will be presenting their semester-long projects to UofI Facilities and Services. Feel free to invite other faculty as well. More details below.

     

    Title of the event: Reimagining HSL & NCEB

    Venue: Hydrosystems laboratory, Room 1017

    Time : Monday, 25th from 5:00 pm

    Everyone is invited.

     

    Schedule 
    5:05 - 5:25 PM: Photovoltaics and Green Roof Team
    5:25 - 5: 45 PM: Building Automation Systems Team
    5:45- 6:05 PM: Sustainable Landscapes Team

    *15 mins for each team's presentation and 5 mins for Q&A*

     

    We hope to see you there!

    Attached Files: 

  20. Walkability audit: Spring 2022, Meeting 8,9

    Associated Project(s): 
    Walkability Study

    On April 14 and 21, 2022, Sarthak and Sutapa met to discuss the progress of the Walkability audit.

    Tasks decided:

    1. Data analysis will begin on 22nd April for the rest of the data points collected during Phase 2 of the audit.

    2. Campus high priority zones will be weighted higher than low priority zones. This will impact the overall walkability Index of the campus.

    3. Deficiency categories with highest number of recorded points identified are: Sidewalk Maintenance, Crosswalk Maintenance and Accessibility. Create a list of recommendations to improve them.

    4. Presentation of overall results to Transportation department by Sutapa on May 3rd, 2022, Capstone Poster presentation on May 5th 2022.

     

     

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