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Project Updates

  1. iCAP Forum

    Sustainability Day Event: An update on the Illinois Climate Action Plan

    It is time to evaluate — and update — the Illinois Climate Action Plan, our campus sustainability roadmap. The campus and local community is invited to join iSEE on Sustainability Day, Oct. 22, for an iCAP Forum from 1 to 4 p.m. in Illini Union Room 314B. You'll get updates on progress toward 2010 goals and hear about and discuss proposed revisions for the 2015 version. RSVP: http://bit.ly/1BIPn4K

    Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment • Sustainability at Illinois

  2. comments on draft from Olivia Webb

    Associated Project(s): 

    I'd like to add a strategy: to review purchasing policy to curtail unnecessary purchases in general. I would also like to note the previous iCAP strategies in this report: this is important when saying things like "several of the previous strategies are unlikely to be implemented at UIUC". 

    I also think that this sentence-

    On several measures of purchases and waste, UIUC has been performing worse than in the iCAP

    baseline year (2008) – such as more total waste and landfill, and lower weight of recycled commodities.

    should be changed to have better wording, like:

    Compared to the iCAP baseline year (2008), the University has been displaying poor performance on several measure related to purchasing and waste: the total amount of waste sent to the landfill has increased, and the amount of waste diverted to recycling has decreased.

    Finally, I feel that references to UIUC should be changed to "the University", not an acronym.

    If the exact wording will not be adopted in the new iCAP, the last two suggestions are somewhat irrelevant.

  3. draft recommendations

    Associated Project(s): 

    Dear Colleagues:

    I have tried to compile the information we discussed into the next draft of our report (attached).

    It would be good for us to try and agree on the content before I convert it into the requested format for out chapter.

    Do you think you could take a look at the draft and use "track changes" to make any edits.

    Please get the draft back to me by end of business on Wednesday so I can start working on the final version of both our report and the re-formatted version.

    Many thanks for your help and hard work

    Wojtek

  4. iWG follow up letter

    Dear Al,

    Attached please find a reply from the iCAP Working Group regarding the wind PPA process.

    By the way, thanks so much for your participation in iSEE's Roundtable this week...sorry we didn't get a chance to chat!

    Cheers,

    Ben

    --

    Professor Benjamin J. McCall

    Associate Director for Campus Sustainability Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus-sustainability@illinois.edu

     

  5. Minutes from September

    Associated Project(s): 

    Dear iCAP Working Group,

    First of all, I'd like to invite each of you to join us for the iCAP Forum from 1-4 pm on October 22 (Campus Sustainability Day), where the SWATeams will present their recommendations for the 2015 iCAP.  More details are appended below, along with a link to the RSVP form.  I hope you can join us!

    Second, I attach the minutes from our last meeting.  I apologize for the delay in getting these to you, but iSEE has been swamped in the past few weeks as we hosted both a Congress on sustainable agriculture and a roundtable on sustainability education.  Please let us know by October 15 if you have any corrections.

    Finally, I wanted to let you know that Morgan recommended separating the wind PPA process issue from the utilities master plan issue.  I took her advice, and sent the attached letter on the wind PPA process to Al Stratman today; I will follow up in ~10 days with a separate letter about the master plan.

    Thanks again for your service on the working group!

    Cheers,

    Ben
     

    Join us at iSEE’s iCAP Forum

    What has the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus done to reach its Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) goals? Where have we fallen short? What’s next?

    It’s time to update the iCAP, and we need input as we evaluate where we are — and where we want to be. The Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) invites you to attend a iCAP Forum from 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 22 — Sustainability Day — in Illini Union Room 314B. The event is an opportunity for the Sustainability Working Advisory Teams (SWATeams) to seek public input on their proposed 2015 revisions to the 2010 iCAP, and for iSEE to recognize sustainability leaders on campus through the Certified Green Office Program and the Energy Conservation Incentive Program.

    All faculty, staff, students and community members are invited to attend the forum and give valuable feedback to SWATeams. We need campuswide investment in the sustainability movement as we target ambitious goals here, including carbon neutrality by 2050. RSVP at http://bit.ly/1BIPn4K

    Attached Files: 
  6. Update from Ben McCall

    Associated Project(s): 

    Dear SWATeam Members,

    First, I want to formally invite each of you to attend the iCAP Forum from 1-4 on October 22.  Below I append more details, along with an RSVP link.

    Second, I wanted to remind you that your team's recommendations for the 2015 iCAP should be presented by one (or more) of you during this Forum.  Please let me know who will be presenting for your team.

    Finally, please remember that the iCAP Working Group (iWG) requests your recommendations in written form by the end of October, using the format of the example chapter attached to this message.  The iWG will then synthesize the recommendations from all of the teams, along with the public input from the iCAP Forum, into a draft of the 2015 iCAP.  I expect we'll be sharing that draft with you all as soon as it's available to solicit your feedback.

    Thanks again for all of your help as we plan for a more sustainable campus!

    Cheers,

    Ben
     

    Attached Files: 
  7. Step 1 Proposal Received

    Japan House and the University of Illinois Arboretum request funding to provide bike racks. Although the Arboretum and Japan House are administered separately (Japan House through the College of Fine and Applied Arts, and the Arboretum through ACES, Japan House sits within the Arboretum and the two units often collaborate on projects.    There are currently no available bike racks in the 57-acre Arboretum and Japan House grounds. Japan House is the site of University classes and the Arboretum is frequently used as a resource for classes from units such as Landscape Architecture,  Crops Sciences, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and others. In addition, the Arboretum and the Japan House Gardens are a major recreational resource for Illinois students, faculty and staff, and yet currently, there is no bike parking or encouragement for students, faculty and staff to bike to reach these grounds. Currently, bikers are forced to lock bikes to benches, lampposts, trees, and other structures inappropriate for this use and sometimes permanently damaging to the trees or structures. The Japan House offices are located at the site and students routinely ask where they should lock up their bikes.   Funding is requested for the installation of two six-loop bike racks mounted on sufficient permeable pavement for easy access and grounds maintenance and relating biking policy signage.  

    Attached Files: 
  8. Decentralized billing note

    Associated Project(s): 

    During the development of the 2015 iCAP, the iCAP Working Group discussed a semi-final draft of the document. At that time Nancy Obrian noted that decentralized billing for UIUC had been tried by Larry Faulkner 20 years ago. 

  9. Note on iCAP 2015 objective 3.1

    Objective 3.1 is for the SWATeam to lead an exploration of options for 100% clean energy and submit recommendations. F&S staff workload is too high to handle the exploration of options, so F&S will provide data and provide comments. Ben McCall and Scott Willenbrock will develop a plan for how to achieve carbon neutrality. They will make a document with potential options, pros, cons, and costs. 

  10. funding opportunity

    Associated Project(s): 

    From: Lage, Stephanie M [mailto:spauldng@illinois.edu]
    Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2014 1:54 PM
    To: swat-water@dib.illinois.edu
    Subject: FW: Illinois Water Resources Small Grant RFP

    FYI

    From: lmorrisn@illinois.edu [mailto:lmorrisn@illinois.edu]
    Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2014 1:47 PM
    To: Lage, Stephanie M
    Subject: Illinois Water Resources Small Grant RFP

    Mark your calendar: 

    The Illlinois Water Resources Center (IWRC) wants your proposals!

    Due: Friday, October 31, 2014

    IWRC requests proposals to fund promising graduate and undergraduate student research projects addressing Illinois water resources. We are particularly interested in projects that seek solutions for or provide novel identification of pressing water concerns in Illinois. PI's can request up to $10,000. Project duration is March 1, 2015-February 28, 2016.

    For more information visit: http://web.extension.illinois.edu/iwrc/pdf/2015%20RFP.pdf

    Questions:

    Lisa Merrifield
    lmorrisn@illinois.edu
    217-333-0045

     

  11. Enviropure emissions information

    Good afternoon,

    Yesterday afternoon, the question of how much carbon dioxide does an Enviropure unit produce was asked.  I’ve copied the information below from their website:

    “According to the EPA and USCC, carbon dioxide emissions generated from the aerobic decomposition of food waste by systems such as the EnviroPure systems are considered to be “biogenic”. This means that our EnviroPure Systems and the carbon it returns to the environment are part of the natural carbon cycle and so it does not contribute to greenhouse gases and global warming.”

    Please let me know if anyone has any further questions about the Enviropure units.  Also, please forward this information to other members of the swat team I may be missing.

    Thank you,

    Carol

    Carol H. Strohbeck

    Assistant Director of Dining Services, Equipment & Facilities

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