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Project Updates

  1. November 4th, 2016 Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Support the MTD Bus System

    Meeting minutes 11/04/16

    -          Ankit showed us a video showing how some cities like Singapore are using tracking systems ( using cards) to track when people are getting on and getting off. This may improve the bus schedule. We could possibly using cards to track.

    o   MTD would have to put systems of the busses. Would require funds to implement this idea.

    o   Yangfeng mentioned some problems that could be associated with it. We must be careful if changing the bus schedule. Will MTD be open to the idea? It is quite some change.

    -          What we will talk to Ben about: one proposal on campus fleet, proposal on air travel to understand behavior, and parking proposal to change behavior. We will ask him what’s next, what’s on the agenda, and about further tasks to do. We need some more guidance.

  3. archived info - previous project background

    Associated Project(s): 
    Plant Sciences Window Shades [ARCHIVED]

    Per the SSC website, "The installation of energy/shade curtains in the plant sciences laboratory greenhouses will decrease energy usage needed for heating and cooling, increase natural light quality, decrease the use of high intensity supplemental lighting, and decrease energy usage by the application and removal of whitewash. Energy shade curtains have the potential to save between 20-55% in energy use. This project is an expansion of a 2010 SSC loan that helped install energy shade curtains in nine greenhouse rooms, plus additional grant funding to install meters in rooms with the curtains and rooms without. To date, the rooms with the energy/shade curtains have used an average of 32.3% less electricity and 28.8% less water used for cooling rooms in the summer months. Expanding these energy/shade curtains will produce even greater savings..."

  4. Analysis of Existing Bicycle Fleet Survey Responses

    Associated Project(s): 
    Provide Working Bikes for University Employees

    After receiving responses from four different active bicycle fleets on campus after about 3 weeks of having our survey active, we wrote up an analysis of the responses. This analysis is attached to this post as a .pdf file. 

     

    This past week we continued reaching out to people that we have either met in person about potentially starting bicycle fleets on campus. Doug Wolters, Director of Operations for ACES, was able to reach out to the business managers of ACES to share information that we sent him. I also sent emails to a couple people that took our survey requesting a short meeting so we can further discuss their program's success as well as any ways we can improve their bicycle fleets. 

    Attached Files: 

  5. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, last week we had 76 visitors, maybe one of the lowest totals for a full week this semester. It did coincide with cooler weather, so that helps to explain it. As far as the numbers go, we grossed 824.03; we sold 4 memberships for $120; one refurbished bike for $190; and one Build-a-Bike for $145.

    Last week I prepped for the bike shipment that will happen this Friday at 10am. Jim Sims dropped by, which was cool. The new outdoor fix-it station pumps arrived, another very cool thing. We got a great deal on some winter riding gear from our supplier, which should help get more people riding once it gets really chilly. I spoke with Simon Pokorny who is still interested in teaching a basic maintenance class, so when his schedule opens up a little, we will coordinate on that.

    This coming week I plan on prepping more for the bike shipment as well as ramping up publicity for it. The APO volunteer core is having trouble generating more interest due to transportation constraints so I will discuss options with them in advance of the event.

    Sincerely,

     

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

     

  6. SWATeam assessment for FY16

    Associated Project(s): 
    Changing Usage of Individuals

    Status: In Progress
    • Several initiatives underway focusing on student engagement — including Illini Lights Out and Eco-Olympics.
    • Initiatives are continuing for staff and faculty engagement — Certified Green Office Program, Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP).
    • Forming a plan to work toward a Green Labs program that would focus on reducing energy consumption in labs (e.g. fume hoods, refrigeration).

    Attached Files: 

  7. Campus map with street and parking lights

    Associated Project(s): 
    LED Campus
    LED Exterior Lights

    On October 28, 2016, Chad Kupferschmid provided Morgan Johnston and Sarthak Prasad with the campus map with all the street and parking lights owned by the campus or the city of Urbana or Champaign. The main purpose of this map was to help with determining the boundary of the campus so that they could recommend which street lights should be preferred for the immediate projects.

    Attached Files: 

  10. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, last week was a good one and ended on a high note—Friday was beginning-of-the-semester level busy. We had 95 visitors. Our gross sales were $1,268.60; we sold 10 memberships for $300, one bike for $150, and one build-a-bike for $140.

    The major goings-on last week was the bike census on Wednesday. It went well! We collected a lot of useful and important data. I was interviewed about the event by the Daily Illini. Lily did a tremendous job organizing and executing the event. The service manager at Champaign Cycle stopped by and introduced himself; it’s always nice to have a face-to-face with other bike shops in town.

    This week I will be prepping bikes and pulling the good ones at the warehouse, scrapping the pile of junker bikes that Neutral kindly donated, building more for-sale bikes as well as some new storage shelves for the shop.

     

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  11. Long-Term PPA Recommendation

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    Clean Power Agreements Off-Campus

    In Spring 2016, a recommendation was submitted to allow longer-term contracts for the purchase of renewable power. The institute for Sustainability, Energy, and the Environment (iSEE) is currently reviewing this request with campus legal counsel and Purchasing departments to determine feasible options and potential next steps.

  13. Biomass Boiler at Energy Farm

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    Explore Options for 100 Percent Clean Campus Energy
    Biomass use on Campus
    Biomass Boiler at the Energy Farm

    Construction is underway in Fall 2016 to install a 200 kW biomass boiler at the Energy Farm. This system will initially satisfy all heating needs for the greenhouse onsite, and will replace the current propane heating system. In the future, more buildings may be added to the boiler system.

  14. Geothermal Profile Project

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    Explore Options for 100 Percent Clean Campus Energy
    Geothermal on Campus
    Geothermal Test Well at Energy Farm

    Beginning Fall 2016, a team at the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS, a division of the prairie Research Institute) led by Illinois Professor Yu-Feng Forrest Lin is conducting a series of detailed observations of the geothermal profile on campus - including high-resolution temperature profiling and thermal analysis. The team will drill to 330 ft and install a geothermal loop and fiberoptic cables. Results will help determine the feasibility of implementing geothermal systems on campus by identifying costs and possible challenges.

    Professor Lin has coordinated with faculty from the University of Wisconsin to incorporate lessons learned from their implementation of a geothermal exchange system at the nearby EPIC health care systems campus in Verona, WI.

    Professor Lin's team began drilling on 9/19/16. Daily drilling progress is logged and can be found by clicking this link.

    Attached Files: 

  15. Participation in the Campus Sustainability Celebration

    Associated Project(s): 
    Agriculture, Land Use, Food, and Sequestration (ALUFS) SWATeam

    SWATeam Memebers Chibuihe Asonye, Brent Lewis, and Joseph Edwards represented the team at the Campus Sustainability Celebration at Alice Campbell Alumni Center. During the celebration team members talked to campus community members about their work on the team and the progress on the ICAP goals. 

     

    Attached Files: 

  16. Update on Bicycle Fleet Progress from August to October 2016

    Associated Project(s): 
    Provide Working Bikes for University Employees

    Here is an update of what Lily Wilcock and myself (Logan Ebeling) have accomplished concerning departmental bicycle fleets on campus from late August to late October.

     

    We began with a goal of assessing the health and status of current departmental bicycle fleets on campus. Offhand, Lily knew of the following programs:

    • Kinesiology department
    • Living Learning Community in LAR
    • Urban Planning department
    • Building Operations and Maintenance
    • Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning

    In an attempt to reach out to those programs and other ones that we potentially did not know about, we developed a survey for people involved with those programs to take. A link to that survey was sent out in an E-Week advertisement on October 2nd. A screenshot of that blurb in the E-Week is attached to this post. We are still waiting on responses from that survey (so far we have about 3 responses). 

    Another goal was to advertise to departments that starting a bicycle fleet was even a possibility. Anecdotally, it seems that many people are unaware that the University is encouraging bicycle use for employees. To address this, we developed a short enrollment form that people could fill out if they wanted more information on starting a departmental bicycle fleet. A link to this enrollment form was also sent out in the October 2nd E-Week advertisement. We had around 10 replies to this enrollment form and sent out an email to the respondents with more information and an offer to meet and discuss possibilities for a bicycle fleet for their department. 

     

    One goal of mine was to develop two checklists to have available to people to aid in sending out information to people. These two checklists are completed and we have been sending them out to people where appropriate. The two checklists are attached to this post and they are:

    1. A checklist for maintaining existing bicycle fleets
    2. A checklist for starting a bicycle fleet

    These checklists drew heavily off of information in the Departmental Bike Sharing Manual from 2014 (attached to this project's main page). 

     

    Attached Files: 

  18. 2016 Winners Announced!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP)

    The 2016 ECIP award winners were announced last Wednesday, and they will be given plaques at the annual Campus Sustainability Celebration this week, 10/16 from 4-6 at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center.  Here is the letter.

    Congratulations!

    We would like to recognize your unit as a 2016 Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP) award winner during the Campus Sustainability Celebration on Wednesday, October 26 from 4-6 p.m. at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center. For planning purposes, please let us know who will be accepting the award(s) on behalf of your unit by Friday, October 21.

    Sustainability initiatives are at the core of Illinois’ commitment to its land-grant university mission. The Climate Leadership Commitment pledges the Urbana campus to be carbon neutral by 2050, which requires all students, staff, and employees working together to implement a dynamic, multi-disciplinary approach to campus sustainability.

    The ECIP awards began in 2013 as a way to recognize outstanding individual and team efforts that move us closer to reaching our Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) goals. The ECIP honors occupants of campus buildings that have reduced energy at the greatest level from one year to the next. This year more than $177,000 for improvement projects in winning facilities will be provided through the program.

    Everyone researching, learning, and working in these nine buildings is an ECIP winner, and we encourage as many participants to join the celebration as possible.  Hosted by Facilities & Services and the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment, the Campus Sustainability Celebration will cover the iCAP objectives, celebrate the diverse sustainability community, and recognize 2016 winners. 

    We look forward to you and your employees joining us to celebrate the ECIP winners and their contributions toward campus energy conservation.

    2016 ECIP WINNERS

     Occupant Action Category

     % Improvement

    Incentive Award

    1. Atmospheric Sciences Building

    7.5%

                 $50,324

    2. Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

    4.8%

                   $34,111

    3. Institute of Government & Public Affairs Building

    4.4%

                   $15,083

    4. 1207 West Oregon Street (tie)

    2.9%

                   $10,048

    4. Temple Hoyne Buell Hall (tie)

    2.4%

                  $11,486

     Energy Advancement Category

     % Improvement

     Incentive Award

    1. Davenport Hall

    25.8%

                  $26,335

    2. Ceramics Kiln House

    21.2%

                  $10,000

    3. Transportation Building

    14.0%

                  $10,000

    4. Rehabilitation Education Center

    9.6%

                 $10,000

     

    Helen J. Coleman, LEED AP
    Interim Executive Director

    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
    Facilities & Services
    1501 South Oak St.
    Champaign, IL 61820
    Phone: (217) 265-8477
    E-mail: hjcolema@illinois.edu

     

  19. ECBS SWATeam meeting minutes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illini Lights Out
    Green Lab Program
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam

    At the ECBS SWATeam meeting Doctor Yun Yi joined the team as a new Faculty Member. Dr. Yi shared with the team his campus level building performance research on energy usage modeling in Pennsylvania. It was decided that the buildings for an informal study at UIUC, based on Dr Yi’s model, will be the same eight buildings as for “Illini Lights Out” project. “Illini Lights Out” project was approved by SSC for $1000 of funding. Campus Sustainability Celebration will occur on October 26, where ECBS SWATeam's poster will be presented. 

    Attached Files: 

  20. Inquiry regarding volunteer time at Rain Garden

    Associated Project(s): 
    Red Oak Rain Garden

    Community member, Karen Folk, inquired about the potential to establish the Red Oak Rain Garden as an official volunteer location for the Master Naturalists and Master Gardeners to help maintain.  Eliana Brown, currently a Water Resources Outreach Specialist, asked Superintendent of Grounds, Ryan Welch.  Ryan indicated that he would be willing to approve the volunteer program, and the first step is to define a Memo of Understanding (MOU) describing the volunteer work to be done.  He said, "I am agreeable to this, as long as the work is done strictly by volunteers and there is a MOU for the maintenance responsibilities between F&S and the Master Gardeners."

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