You are here

Content filtered by visibility: Public

Project Updates

  1. notes from phone call

    Associated Project(s): 
    Encourage Train Travel for Business Trips

    All

    Thanks for a good call. Attached is the summary of our meeting with to dos. In summary:

    1. Jim will run a FY14 travel report and look into tracking Amtrak
    2. We will develop content for website and messaging by mid-December, including info from Amtrak. Morgan and Stacey from facilities at UIUC will start that.
    3. Final language will be provided to OBFS by early January, after it is circulated among the group.
    4. Cathy will put the info on the website for start of spring semester and OBFS will announce it.
    5. Sustainability Offices (Cindy and Stephanie) will work on targeting the units that have the highest levels of auto travel between campuses.
    6. We will monitor the data to see how effective this was and opportunities for policy change.

    Cindy

    Attached Files: 

  4. Dining ships another gaylord full of gloves

    Associated Project(s): 
    Glove Recycling

    Dear all,

    Michael at Housing  just got another Gaylord full of gloves ready to ship at dining services. Making the total pounds of gloves recycled at Dining to over 1000lbs in just four months!

    Way to go all!!

    Regards,

    Shantanu

  6. note from Ben to iWG

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    2015 Illinois Climate Action Plan (2015 iCAP) [ARCHIVED]

    Dear iWG Members,

    We meet again this Thursday from 1:30-3:00, as usual in NSRC 358. Our lone agenda item will be going through the draft 2015 iCAP that Morgan, Stephanie, Nishant, and I (collectively known as the iCAP Drafting Committee) are assembling based on the SWATeam recommendations.

    I expect to send you a complete draft sometime tonight.  It's looking like it will be in the neighborhood of ~40 pages, and I hope you will be able to carve out some time to go through it carefully before Thursday afternoon.  It's okay if you'd like to share it with some of the people in the group you represent on the iWG to get their input, but if you do so please emphasize that it is a very early draft.  As a working draft, it should ideally not be widely circulated.  It would be great if you could embed comments in the Word document and return it to me before our iWG meeting.

    I will go over the draft at our meeting in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, analogous to how we envision doing so at the Sustainability Council meeting on December 8th.  I think this will also be a good format for us to discuss any contentious points in the draft.

    My plan is to incorporate your high-level comments from our meeting, together with your detailed comments in the Word document, into a revised draft that I will try to send to the SWATeams on Friday to get their feedback.  We will then incorporate their feedback and try to get you a new draft on the 1st or 2nd, so we can discuss it again at our meeting on the 4th.

    Thanks again for all your help, and I'll be sending you a draft sometime tonight!

    Cheers,

    Ben

  7. Parking Department Information

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team

    Michelle Wahl is on board regarding attendance at our next meeting. I'm attaching some basic cost information regarding costs of constructing/maintaining spaces on campus that she has provided. She is willing to provide more information, if requested. However, it might be beneficial for her to meet with the group to discuss what is desired rather than having her shotgun us with financial information. - Pete

    Attached Files: 

  8. Working Bikes donation

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Michelle,

    This Saturday we removed 390 bicycles from the warehouse.  Of the bikes we planned to ship to Ghana 60 or 70 did not fit into the shipping container.  I am arranging for Working Bikes to come down in a few weeks and pick these up.  I do not have a date yet.  I will let you know as soon as I can confirm details.  There are also about 60 good bikes that I will transfer from the warehouse to the bike center.  I will work with Tina and the other parking employees to get this done.

    Thanks,

    James Roedl

  9. meeting minutes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam

    Hello Everyone,

    Hope everyone is staying warm and healthy! I have completed the minutes for the last meeting held on Wednesday, November 11th. I have attached a PDF copy of them as well as uploaded them to the Google Doc Drive. If you have a chance, please read through them, as we discussed a lot of forward movement last week and our goals leading into Spring 2015.

    In addition, it has come to my attention that the currently standing meeting time is no longer feasible for some group members. The members who participated at the last meeting proposed that with such a hectic final 3 weeks, we have one more meeting the week following Fall Break. I have attached a Doodle survey to gain consensus of what a good last meeting time would be. Please fill it out by the end of the week so I can make necessary plans before break.

    Finally, as you will see on the minutes, we discussed project proposals for preliminary testing of large scale concept recommendations. Please bring with you an idea to next meeting.

    See you soon,

    Danielle

    --

    Danielle J. Thayer

    Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    Attached Files: 

  11. ISTC newsletter update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Medicine Take-Back Program [ARCHIVED]

    Nitrile Hypoallergenic Gloves

    Students Provide Brain Power to Keep Old Medicines Out of Waterways

    A fall course at the University of Illinois is preparing a team of students to educate local college and high school students about the proper disposal of old pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). The class, led by colleagues at the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Program working with Wei Zheng and Nancy Holm of ISTC, is one component of the grant titled "PPCPs: Extending Knowledge and Mitigation Strategies” that began in July as a partnership with U of I Extension and ISTC. The students are learning that how we choose to use and dispose of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) affects water quality. They are studying the impact of the many compounds – some of which are bioactive or toxic – that enter the environment, including from improper disposal. Part of the university’s Learning in Community program (LINC), the students are gaining practical work experience developing outreach materials to educate the public about PPCPs as well as marketing and advertising campaigns to emphasize the importance of disposing unwanted medicines in secure collection boxes at area police stations.

     

  12. Update from Ben McCall

    Associated Project(s): 
    Topical iCAP Teams

    Dear SWATeam Members,

    First of all, thank you so much for the very thoughtful input for the revised Illinois Climate Action Plan!  The iCAP Working Group is currently in the process of folding everything together into a consistent format, and reviewing the recommendations.  Our hope is that by the 21st or shortly thereafter, we will have a fairly complete draft to circulate to you for your feedback.  We'll need to ask you for a quick review, as we will be presenting the next draft to the Sustainability Council on December 8th for their comments. [We will hold a public comment period in January, and then we are targeting Sustainability Council approval in March, and Chancellor approval in April.]

    Second, I wanted to encourage your teams (if you have not already done so) to begin whatever process you think makes sense for constituting your Consultation Groups.  I know that at least one team (Energy Generation) has begun this process, but I suspect others have not, since we've been receiving inquiries from interested participants wondering when they will be contacted.

    Third, I'd like to remind you that in some sense the work of the SWATeams is just beginning...we are counting on your teams to make specific recommendations for new policies or actions that campus units should be undertaking to meet our iCAP goals.  I attach the template that should be used for these recommendations; completed templates can be submitted to me via email at any time.  Please bear in mind that formal SWATeam recommendations are public documents that will be posted on the iSEE website.

    Thanks again for all of your help in making our campus more sustainable!

    Cheers,

    Ben

  13. Biomass Consultation Group

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    Biomass use on Campus

    Dear Energy Enthusiasts,

    Thanks to all who attended the first Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) biomass meeting, we are off with a strong start. This week we we will have the second consultation group meeting to carry on discussion and orient goals toward improving sustainability on campus. 

    Dong Kook will present on the most recent publications from the research group of Praveen Kumar in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His topic for discussion will be Threshold Dynamics in Soil Carbon Storage for Bioenergy Crops. Click (here) to become familiar with their group's work.   

    We are gathering all interested persons to discuss the possibilities for a large-scale biomass facility that could eventually replace Abbott Power Plant. All ideas are welcome. Please pass this invitation on to anyone you think might be interested.

     

     

    Meeting details:

    Time: Tuesday, November 18 from 1:00pm-2:30pm

    Location: iSEE Conference room #358

                     National Soybean Research Center (directions here)

                     1101 W. Peabody Drive

                     Urbana, IL 61801

     

    Thanks and have a great weekend.

     

    Nathan Wells

  14. accounting update from Mike M.

    Associated Project(s): 
    Revolving Loan Fund (RLF)

    I have realigned the way we account for projects in AiM, so each RLF will need to have a specific  AiM account number that maps to a banner plant fund.  As soon as I can transfer the open work orders off of MY862-Revolving Loan Fund, I will inactivate that account number.

    So, each new RLF project will need a Banner Plant Account number (I obtain) and a new AiM account number (mee, too.) then I will let the PM know so he/she can set up work orders.  This way, it keeps project costs segregated.  Putting it all into one account like I did initially dumps all project costs into one AiM account making it hard to keep the expenditures separate.  - Mike

  15. State Electronics Challenge (SEC)

    Associated Project(s): 
    Address Electronic Waste (e-waste)

    Colleagues, I wanted to remind you of the upcoming webinar, Tuesday, November 18 from 2-3 pm providing an overview of the State Electronics Challenge (SEC). Register at https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/414238999. See the forwarded invitation below for further details.

    I’ve mentioned this free, voluntary program for public entities and non-profits at previous UI Sustainable Electronics Campus Consortium meetings, and the benefits of participation. If you’d like to learn more, I encourage you to attend the webinar, and in the meantime, visit http://www.stateelectronicschallenge.net/. ISTC is a SEC partner, as is Engineering IT Shared Services. Currently there are only seven organizations within IL taking advantage of this program. I’d love to see that number grow!

    The webinar will be archived and available for later viewing at www.glrppr.org if you are unable to attend.

    Best wishes,

    Joy

    Joy Scrogum

    Emerging Technologies Resource Specialist

    Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC; www.istc.illinois.edu)

    Coordinator, Sustainable Electronics Initiative (SEI; www.sustainelectronics.illinois.edu)

    Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable (GLRPPR; www.glrppr.org)

    ISTC is a Division of the Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    217-333-8948; 1 Hazelwood Drive, Champaign, IL 61820; MC-676

  16. F&S response to iWG request

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Utilities Master Plan for Energy Production and Distribution

    Hi Ben,

    Thanks for your letter from the iWG about the Utilities Master Plan (attached for reference). 

    F&S shares the iWG’s concerns with the slow pace of getting an acceptable draft product from AEI.  This has taken much longer than the original goal of completion; however, it is important to have an accurate and good quality report even if it takes longer than planned.  The scope of this study was developed in cooperation with the Office of Sustainability, and approved by FY12 Acting Director of the Office of Sustainability, Associate Chancellor Pradeep Khanna.  It is attached here for your records, as well as the executed contract.

    It has always been our intention to share the draft report with campus stakeholders, especially those participating in campus sustainability efforts.  Once we get an acceptable product, we will share it with the SWATeam and iWG for feedback.  At this time, we expect to have a draft ready to share later this month. 

    Thanks,

    Morgan

     

    Attached Files: 

  17. Teleconferencing information

    Associated Project(s): 
    Encourage Telecommuting

    From: Kyung, Grace H
    Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2014 3:34 AM
    Subject: Video Conferencing Info

    Attached is a description of what teleconferencing is, resources available and why people should are. Also, attached is a broken down excel graphs of current uses of teleconferencing. Below are questions I asked someone at CITES to help me understand the graphs.

    Let me know if you need anything else!

    ----

    1. I was wondering though where these numbers are coming from and if it’s for everyone at the university?

    These numbers come from the built-in reporting service that is part of Microsoft Lync Server. The numbers are inclusive of all Lync users on campus, but keep in mind that undergraduate students and graduate students without appointments do not get Lync accounts. So these numbers don’t include everyone on campus, but do include all faculty, staff, professional students (e.g. vet med, law), and graduate students with appointments. In addition there are about 1,700 “common area phones” which would include the phones in many conference rooms and the courtesy phones that you might see in the dorms. The latter devices are never used for conferencing.

    1. Are the total A/V conferences out of the total conferences or are they additional?

    There is a difference between the field called “Total Conferences” and “Total A/V Conferences”. Total A/V only counts conferences where either the audio (phone) or video components of the conference are used. Total Conferences includes the Total A/V conferences plus any other conferences where audio and video were not used. The conferences without A/V could include a chat window with multiple people, it could be screen or application sharing, or it could be using the whiteboard feature of Lync. Let me know if this doesn’t make sense. At the bottom of this pagethere are definitions of the fields that are used in the Excel spreadsheet.

    1. What does total unique conference organizers mean?

    A "unique” organizer is anyone who schedules at least one conference. For example, if Pilar Ackerman schedules one conference she counts as one unique organizer. If Ken Myer schedules 148 conferences he, too counts as one unique organizer.

    --

    Grace Kyung, MPH

    Sustainable Transportation Intern

    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

    Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment

    College of Fine and Applied Arts | Master of Urban Planning Candidate 2015

    Attached Files: 

  20. Student Sustainability Leaders - myActions Campus Interns

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Groups with Sustainability Focus

    http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=5a5fde07df8c393e84b11ff8e&id=464df81...

    We're very excited to be working with 1 intern from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. If you're interested in learning more about the program or connecting with the myActions intern on your campus, please let me know.

    Thank you for your consideration,
    Kristine Sturgeon
    President, myActions.org

    myActions on Campus | Learn more

Pages