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Project Updates

  1. Research on Stormwater

    Associated Project(s): 
    Green Infrastructure
    University of Illinois Research Programs/Opportunities

    Rain gardens and barrels needed for study

    We will be conducting a study regarding the ability of residential rain gardens and rain barrels to harbor mosquitoes. We are looking for households with rain gardens or rain barrels to participate in the study. The study will involve a brief survey regarding use and approximately one visit per month throughout the summer. Please email stormwater@life.illinois.edu to participate.

    Catherine Elizabeth Wangen . Department of Entomology

  3. Provost Fellow for Sustainability - opening

    Associated Project(s): 
    Develop a Funding Solution for the iCAP

    From: Illinois Provost [mailto:provost@illinois.edu]
    Sent: Monday, May 02, 2016 7:08 PM
    To: dddh-l@listserv.illinois.edu
    Subject: Call for New Provost's Fellow Positions: 2016-2017

     

    Dear Deans, Directors, and Department Head/Chairs,

     

    Please share this announcement with your faculty, and consider making nominations yourself.  Note that nominations are requested by May 16, 2016.

     

    The Provost’s Office seeks candidates for two Provost Fellow positions beginning in Fall 2016. 

     

    The Provost Fellows Program is designed to develop leadership skills at the campus level for some of our most accomplished tenured faculty.  Fellows participate in a range of mentoring and learning opportunities, collaborate with colleagues in the Provost's and Chancellor's Offices and in other academic and administrative offices across campus, and assume leadership roles on critical campus strategic initiatives and projects, designed in conjunction with fellows' individual interests and longer-range career goals.

     

    Our current Provost Fellows are:

    • Professor Lauren Goodlad, Department of English
    • Professor  Kelly Ritter, Department of English
    • Professor Rosa Milagros Santos, Department of Special Education

     

    We will focus on recruiting fellows interested in sustainability and special projects, as summarized below:

     

    • Provost Fellow for Sustainability. The position will focus on the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) and the Fellow will play a leadership role in the sustainability initiatives related to campus space and facilities.  There may also be opportunities to participate in a variety of project based efforts, as well as standing committees which include faculty, staff, and students. 
    • Provost Fellow for Special Projects. The position will focus on efforts to develop policies and guidelines emerging from campus budget reform discussions, explore strategic and curricular innovations, and realize our diversity and inclusion goals.  There will also be opportunities to help campus improve hiring and staffing policies and processes.

    Provost Fellow appointments are for one year at 50% time, with some support for summer activities.  Fellows must be tenured faculty members. 

     

    Deans and Department Heads/Chairs may nominate faculty members by sending their names and a short statement of their qualifications to provost@illinois.edu. Your assistance in identifying distinguished faculty with interest in leadership roles is critical to the success of this program.

     

    Faculty members can self-nominate by sending a curriculum vitae and a short statement of professional goals to provost@illinois.edu. For self-nominations the Office of the Provost will seek the endorsement of the candidate’s dean and unit head/chair. 

     

    Nominations are requested by May 16, 2016.

     

    More information can be found on the program website:

     

    http://provost.illinois.edu/fellows/index.html

     

    If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact Vice Provost Abbas Benmamoun (benmamou@illinois.edu). 

     

    Best,

    Ed

     

    Edward Feser

    Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost

     

  4. Arbor Day Celebration

    Associated Project(s): 
    Tree Campus Higher Education

    https://news.illinois.edu/blog/view/6367/355381

    Facilities and Services and the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment will host an Arbor Day celebration from noon to 1 p.m. April 29, on the Quad near Noyes Laboratory. Associate Chancellor Mike DeLorenzo will kick off the celebration by reading the Arbor Day proclamation. Attendees will be able to help plant the tree and take part in a trivia contest.

    Attached Files: 

  10. Archived info - previous project description

    Associated Project(s): 
    Utilities Master Plan for Energy Production and Distribution

    The Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP), completed in 2010, identifies several goals related to energy production and distribution on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) campus. The iCAP called for a detailed study of the University's Energy and Utility systems. That study is now ongoing and is intended to be interactive with the sustainability goals of the iCAP. The University is working with a multi-disciplinary consulting team to study the requirements and opportunities necessary to safely and reliably meet the current and future campus energy needs. The areas of study will examine factors including safety, system reliability, environmental impacts, environmental permit requirements, cost, budget constraints, pending/likely changes in legislation and regulations related to energy utilities, fuel costs, industry trends, innovative technologies and sustainability. Note that the study is limited to the Utility enterprise. Comments regarding improvements in transportation and buildings should be made directly to the sustainability office.

    To that end, we are reaching out to the broader campus community to understand what ideas you have in mind that might help the University community meet our energy-related iCAP goals and objectives. If you have specific ideas we would love to hear from you. Please use this form to offer suggestions.

  11. Archived info - previous project description

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reduce Emissions from Energy Consumption

    Energy conservation is considered the easiest and most cost-effective way to achieve reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Opportunities for conservation on campus are great. In order to reduce emissions, the Climate Action Plan has laid out potential energy savings on campus in areas such as lighting, building commissioning, fume hoods, behavioral change and incentives, and information technology. All of these areas are prospective energy saving components and can contribute to a more sustainable campus.

    More specifically, the iCAP said the University would implement decentralized energy billing at the college level in 2011, attain a 30 percent reduction in total building energy use (excluding the National Petascale Computing Facility) by fiscal year 2020 as compared to fiscal year 2008, and attain a 30 percent reduction in associated building related emissions. The iCAP also said that appropriate maintenance levels would be allocated to ensure that energy reductions are sustained.

  12. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Earth Week
    Mechanics Classes at the Campus Bike Center

    Hello all, this past week was very busy.  We had a good number come in, but events were the big thing.  We sold 2 bikes for $280, 1 build-a-bike for $50, 11 student memberships for $275, 2 community membership for $80, and grossed $978.  I participated in the Bike Census.  It was very well organized by Lily, and went well.  The BikeFace organized Ride with the Chancellor was a success.  I hosted an open house at the center before the ride.  The Chancellor seemed to enjoy the ride.  She mentioned not knowing the Bike Center existed until I explained what this strange garage filled with bicycles was.  I'm thinking about sending her a post card inviting her back.  I did a deep clean of the shop in anticipation of the visit and it keeps getting cleaner and better.  I made a informational document about cargo bikes for FAA.  Lily helped with some great improvements to the document that made it more friendly to non-cycling readers.

    This week I am going to work on classes, building bikes, and find out our commitment to Bike To Work Day.  It's been hard getting everything out of the warehouse, but I'm hoping to get this done this week. 

    From the Campus Bike Center,
    James Roedl

  15. Uni High steam conservation project

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Conservation Efforts

    Dave Hardin submitted a small project to replace about 35 obsolete thermostats and about 55 steam valves. There are several valves that are leaking through and heating the spaces, resulting in increased utility usage, as well as occupant discomfort. While we are doing this work, we will install a main isolation valve on the steam entrance line that is control by outside air temperature. Steam distribution goes around campus and turns the steam on/off twice a year for cooling and heating season, and with our lovely Illinois weather we could have significant temperatures swings that result in simultaneous heating and cooling situations. This isolation valve will eliminate those issues as well as provide a more comfortable building for the occupants while transitioning through season changes.

  16. Meeting details

    Associated Project(s): 
    Uni High Butterfly Garden

    Marianne Downey met with Morgan Johnston and Brent Lewis on April 20 and showed them the location recommended by David Stone for the butterfly/pollinator planting (between the Uni Gym and Hue House). Brent thought it was a good spot.

    They also discussed that the Math House and the Hue House have to be demolished for the butterfly plant project at the Uni High could begin.

    Marianne has asked David Stone and Japhia Ramkumar, for their advice as to the size of planting and what plants should be planted. 

    Attached Files: 

  17. ECBS SWATeam Meeting Minutes

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

    Discussion on the development of a campus sustainability brand continued, with the input of iSEE Communications attendees Tony Mancuso and Olivia Harris.  The Big Picture Recommendation discussion moved forward as well, and a subcommittee meeting was set for April 26.  The Green Office Program is up and running again, with Olivia Webb replacing Nishant Makhijani as iSEE Sustainability Programs Coordinator.  The Building Standards Consultation Group is planning to call its first meeting, led by Morgan Johnston and Fred Hahn, before the end of the semester.

    Attached Files: 

  19. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Departmental Bike Sharing

    Hello all, This past week was good.  We saw better weather and as a result a huge bump in attendance.  The newly reorganized space has gotten lots of compliments.  We'll see if it works in the long run.  We sold 6 bikes for $740, 1 build-a-bike for $30, 5 memberships for $140, and grossed $1490.80.  Lots of cool things going on.  I took a bunch more bikes out of the warehouse, and am building them to sell/make space.  I setup the wheel building class for May.  Lily and I presented the cargo bike to FAA, and agreed to work on sustainable transportation solutions with them.  I got a lot of work done on the annual reports in anticipation of the end of the fiscal year.

    This week I will be making a short report of sustainable transportation options for FAA, cleaning up the shop, helping with the Bike Census, participating in Ride with the Chancellor, and continuing to work on the annual reports.

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  20. Sonified Sustainability Festival a great success

    Associated Project(s): 
    Advance Student Sustainability Outreach Efforts

    Good morning, team!

    The Sonified Sustainability Festival was this weekend, and had a pretty solid turnout (between 400-500 by my informal running headcount throughout the afternoon).  If you couple that with the turnout for the Gallery opening (~100) and the previous two concerts (a little over a 100 each time) you’re looking at around 750 for the project as a whole, without even counting all the other folks who pass through the gallery show before May 2nd. 

    On top of that, we got some solid coverage for SSC.  We were included in the programs and all the advertisements, and also got decent recognition in the local media.  Here’s the news roundup:

    Not bad considering we were up against Ebertfest and the spring football game.

    All My Best,

    Micah Kenfield

    Student Sustainability Committee Coordinator

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