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Project Updates

  1. Last Month for Bulk Solar Pricing

    Associated Project(s): 
    September is Final Month to Use Bulk Pricing for Solar

    Solar Urbana-Champaign 4.0 is scheduled to end new contract signings for solar installations on September 30 at 5pm.  That means you have just 3 weeks to schedule a site assessment with New Prairie Construction, receive a proposal, and sign a contract for your shiny new solar array. 

    Email 12 months of electric bills to solar@newprairieconstruction.com with the subject line "last minute solar proposal."

    If you've already received a proposal, then all you need to do is say YES to your very own renewable energy power plant.  And keep in mind that 2019 is the last year for the 30% federal tax credit.  It's 26% next year.

    Join the 200 other friends and neighbors in the Urbana-Champaign area that are enjoying a home or business running on sunshine courtesy of Solar Urbana-Champaign.
         

    Second Bulk Discount Achieved

    All Solar UC participants receive compounding 1% discounts off the purchase price of their solar installation as the program reaches 50 kilowatts, 150 kilowatts, and 250 kilowatts of contracted capacity.  The 2019 round of Solar UC currently stands at 151 kilowatts of contracted capacity!  So a 2% discount on all installations!
     

     


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  2. VeoRide August 2019 ridership overview

    Associated Project(s): 

    Below are the key numbers for the month of August:

    August Total Rides:21910

    Rides per bike per day:1.7

    Average Ride Time: 8 Minutes

    E-bike Rides:16,511

    Peddle Bike Rides:5,398

    Private property removal reports:10

    Total Market Rides: 301,278…Over 300k!!!!!!

  3. Weekly Updates for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 

    Hello Pete and Shawn--

    This past week, I recontacted Purchasing and Tech Services to follow up on my inquiries about toner cartridge recycling. Aaron Finder at Purchasing has received some information on Office Depot's program and is pursuing additional information from them. I have not heard back from Tech Services and will try to phone them this week.

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

  4. 2019 Mode Share results - Faculty/Staff and Students

    Associated Project(s): 

    The mode share for campus employees driving alone is down from an original figure of 74% to only 60%!  There is more work to be done to reach our FY20 goal of only 55%, but this is great progress! Check out the graph at 4.4 Reduce Single Occupancy Vehicle Usage, or read the attached files for more details.

     

     

  5. Weekly Updates for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 

    Hello Pete and Shawn--

    I don't have any zero waste activities to report for the past week. I have not received any further news on toner cartridge drop-off sites and will follow up on the inquiries I made in August in the next day or two.

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

  6. Sustainable Student Farm Open House

    The Sustainable Student Farm will host its annual Open House on Friday September 6 from 3-6 PM.  Tours of the SSF and Woody Perennial Polyculture projects will be offered as well as food items prepared by the U of I’s Housing and Dining Services featuring produce from the farm. The Student Sustainable Farm grows fruit and vegetables that are sold within the campus community.  Woody Perennial Polyculture is an experimental, alternative farming approach focusing on perennial tree crops instead of annual cropping systems.  Come out to listen, eat, and learn!

    September 6, 3–6:00 PM • https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sustainable+Student+Farm/@40.079908,-88.2189663,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x880cd6f002562e19:0x5ffbd796430d2fef!8m2!3d40.079908!4d-88.2167776

    Bruce Branham • Department of Crop Sciences

  7. Freezer Challenge was in the Chancellor's message

     
    Click here to see this online
     
     
     

    A monthly e-newsletter where Chancellor Robert Jones shares campus news, stories, successes and information


    Welcome Back


     
     

    I hope you'll take a moment to watch this short video welcoming students to campus. I am grateful to each one of you for making this a special place to live, learn and work. No matter how long you’ve been part of the Illinois community, there is always something new to discover. I look forward to seeing what we will accomplish together. 

    Sincerely,
    Robert J. Jones
    Chancellor

     


    Celebrate Homecoming


    It's time to come home, Illini.

    Illinois Homecoming will take place Oct. 13-19. From pancakes at the Homecoming 5K to family fun in Grange Grove, don’t miss out on all our community has to offer. 

    For the full list of events, view the homecoming website and the Facebook event.

     


    Congratulate Students


     
     

    Illinois students are outstanding. For the spring 2019 semester, the university announced:

    - 7,240 Dean’s List students
    - 243 Bronze Tablet honorees
    - 9,068 May graduates

    For the complete list of names, view this list.

     


    Rediscover TailGREAT


    The 1980s tailgating competition is returning to Illinois after a 30-year hiatus. 

    TailGREAT will take place on Saturday, Sept. 21 when the Illini take on Nebraska at Memorial Stadium. The competition will award the Best BBQ and Most Creative Tailgate.

     


    Celebrate Our Community


     
     

    Illinois was ranked #20 on the list of Best Colleges for your Money by Money magazine.

    Champaign-Urbana was named one of the Top 40 places young people are moving to by USA Today.

    Illinois received first place in the International Laboratory Freezer Challenge’s Academic category for the second year in a row.

     


    Learn About University News


    Application opens - The Illinois application for freshmen and transfer students opens Sept. 1.

    Scholar endowment - A University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign endowment to honor scholar Yingying Zhang has been established by the Zhang family. Yingying's Fund will assist international students in crisis and their families.

    Student Success - A new Student Success Initiative aims to better understand the factors that lead to retention, graduation rates, placement, degree-completion time and more.

     


    Discover Illinois Research


     
     

    Better sleep - Optimistic people tend to sleep better and longer, according to a new Illinois study.

    Cheaper flight costs - Illinois researchers are using artificial intelligence to design a customized pricing model that benefits airline customers.

    Healthier diets in children - An Illinois study provides more evidence that kids who cook have healthier dietary habits.

    Safer K-9s - A new Illinois effort will ensure law enforcement K-9s get the specialized care they need when injured on the job.


    Unsubscribe from Illinois Noteworthy

     
     
     
     
     
     
  8. Updates from F&S - VeoRide Bike Share Rides

    Associated Project(s): 

    F&S shared an update regarding VeoRide Bike Share Rides on August 29, 2019. Click here to view the full article. Following is the excerpt from the article about VeoRides:

    VeoRide Bike Share Rides
    As the start of the fall semester is underway, Facility Managers should expect an increase in VeoRide bike activity. VeoRide is one of the sponsors for the annual Bike Month in May and several bike initiatives in our community. The number of rides each month is shared with campus, and posted online at https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project/dockless-bike-sharing. Last September and October, there were close to 50,000 rides each month on the 500 VeoRide bikes in our community, while February and March were closer to 10,000 rides each. The total for the first year was 247,236 rides!

    Please contact VeoRide hello@veoride.com, 855-836-2256, if you see a bike that needs to be moved or repaired. It is also okay to pick up and move a misplaced bike. If you can locate the vehicle’s ID number (located on the handlebar or lock), please include this information in your report. Bike share companies are responsible for addressing reported issues within three hours during peak hours.

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  9. DFA - request for advisor

    Associated Project(s): 

    Hi Morgan, 

     

    I hope your week is going well! I am with a team from Design for America, a student-run organization on campus, and we are working on a project with P&G to help citizens recycle plastic film more responsibly in our local communities. 

     

    For the project, we are required to work with a faculty advisor to help guide us through the research phase. While more involvement is more than welcome, we only ask to meet 3-4 times throughout the semester. 

     

    Your background in campus sustainability efforts and experience as Director of Sustainability at F&S is really exciting and would be an amazing perspective to add to our project. 

     

    We would love to hear about your work and any insights you might have, even if you are unavailable to work with us as a faculty advisor! Please let me know when would be a good time to chat this week! 

     

    Thanks,

    Rajee

  10. PWR016 Motion Sensor Lighting - Successful

    Dr. Mohamed Attalla, Executive Director at F&S, responded to Dr. Ximing Cai, iWG Chair, on August 27, 2019 stating, "We will prepare the report as requested."

    See the transmittal of PWR016 Motion Sensor Lighting Recommendation. 

    See the SWATeam Recommendation PWR016 Motion Sensor Lighting here. 

     

    for future updates on this effort, please see Occupancy and Daylight Sensors.

  11. eGen009 Campus Geothermal Policy - Successful

    Dr. Mohamed Attalla, Executive Director at F&S, responded to Dr. Ximing Cai, iWG Chair, on August 27, 2019 stating, "We will review options for incorporating geothermal into existing campus documents, and share our thoughts with the iWG before proceeding."

    For further information about this project, please see Geothermal on Campus

    See the transmittal of eGen009 Campus Geothermal Policy Recommendation. 

    See the SWATeam Recommendation eGen009 Campus Geothermal Policy

  12. Weekly Update - Build-a-Bike, Quad Day, First Visit Free suspended

    Associated Project(s): 

    All, Busy week, per this time of year. We’re down to two bikes for sale. We’ll be suspending the First Visit Free policy this week as we’re getting too busy to accommodate free repairs. We’ve got a few of the “You don’t have a bike, I guess I’ll build one!” B-a-Bs going. Fortunately the current crop of available bikes are in good shape and don’t need anything too intense and intensive done to get them road worthy. There may be a few crusty-bearing wheels walking out but this is not the time of year for perfection.
    Friday we were closed for Campus Recreation Student Staff Training, which went well. Saturday was our Illini Frenzy and Sunday was Quad Day, so it’s been busy to say the least. This week I’ve got a job recruiting opportunity this evening at the ARC from 8 – 9p. I’ll be attending that. Thursday after hours there’ll be a staff training for the Bike Center staff. So a fair bit of extracurricular activity this week!

     

    The numbers:
    Visitors: 123*
    Sales: $2,278.60
    Bikes (refurb): 10 for $1,475
    Memberships: 13 for $390
    Tires/tubes: 10 for $38

     

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Manager, Campus Bike Center

  13. Collection Containers to Increase Recycling Efforts

    As part of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s effort to improve sustainability, new recycling and landfill collection containers have been distributed to buildings on the Urbana campus. Eventually, more than 20 buildings will have the containers, which feature three top openings with easily-identifiable and color-coded labels for either “landfill,” “paper,” or “bottles & cans.”

     

    Collection Containers to Increase Recycling Efforts

     

    Pete Varney . Facilities & Services

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