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Projects Updates for collection: Living Lab Facilities / Programs

  1. 2015 Campus Tree Advisory Committee charge letter

    Associated Project(s): 
    Tree Campus USA

    From: Johnston, Morgan B
    Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2015 3:18 PM
    To: Welch, Ryan B; Johnston, Morgan B; Lewis, Brent Christopher; McSweeney, Kevin; Kling, Gary J; Lage, Stephanie M; Brunk, Mike
    Subject: Campus Tree Advisory Committee

    Hello,

    I am writing to formally ask for your participation in the new Campus Tree Advisory Committee for calendar year 2015.  Superintendent of Grounds Ryan Welch and I will co-chair this committee, under the purview of Facilities and Services Executive Director Al Stratman.  Our goal is to achieve the Tree Campus USA designation from the Arbor Day Foundation by the end of this calendar year.  To that end, we would like your advice for the following items, as listed in the attached charge letter.

    1. Assist with Tree Campus USA application by December 31, 2015.
    2. Recommend policies for the maintenance, removal, planting, and landscaping of trees. 
    3. Recommend a tree protection plan process for construction and trenching. 
    4. Recommend a policy for enforcement, penalties, and appeals related to tree damage.
    5. Develop a communication strategy to help make the campus community and contractors aware of policies, procedures, and goals of Tree Campus.
    6. Plan an Arbor Day observance event for Arbor Day (last Friday in April).
    7. Review annual expenditures related to tree maintenance.

    We expect to meet for one hour approximately once per month, except during the summer months.  The first meeting will be set for early February.  Please let me know if there is someone who manages your calendar for you, and I will work with them to schedule the first meeting.

    Thanks in advance for your help with this process!  I look forward to meeting with you next month.

    Sincerely,

    Morgan

    Attached Files: 

  3. Solar Farm Agreements Signed

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Farm 1.0

    CHAMPAIGN, IL (January 20, 2015) –  Construction of a 5.87 megawatt (MW) Solar Farm on campus will begin in Spring 2015 after university and state officials approved power purchase and land lease agreements with Phoenix Solar South Farms, LLC.

    See the attached release, fact sheet, and poster for more details.

    Attached Files: 

  4. Previous iCAP Portal overview

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Farm 1.0

    To increase the use of renewable energy sources for campus electrical needs and meet the commitments set by the 2010 Climate Action Plan, the University of Illinois issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a firm to design, build, operate, and maintain (DBOM) a Solar Farm at the Urbana campus with a corresponding Power Purchase Agreement.  The Solar Farm will be connected directly to the University’s electrical distribution system in parallel with the electrical service provided by the local utility.

    The University provides electricity, chilled water, and steam service to more than 50,000 people (faculty, staff and students) who work, learn, and/or live on the campus.  The electricity generated from campus is delivered to the campus via the University’s owned and operated distribution system.  Although the University’s grid is connected to the local utility transmission and distribution system, which receives transmission services from the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO), the University will use all of the electricity generated from the solar farm project.

    Background

    The University is seeking a proposal to lease 21 acres of land in the South Farms area, for the installation and operation of a Solar Farm.  The University will lease the land to the selected Proposer for $1.00 per year and establish a Power Purchase Agreement for the renewable energy.  The Proposer will be responsible for design, construction, permitting, transportation needs, operation, and maintenance of the Solar Farm, as well as connection to the University’s electrical grid.

     

  5. update meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Tree Campus USA

    Morgan Johnston and Ryan Welch met to review next steps for the Tree Campus USA designation.  The charge letter is scheduled to go to committee members at the end of this month, with a first meeting to get scheduled in February.

  7. Update from Ben McCall

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation SWATeam
    Parking Master Plan
    F&S Sustainable Fleet Plan
    Install Public Use Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations
    Support the CUMTD Bus System

    Dear Transportation SWATeam,  [Sorry for the barrage of emails...this is the last one for this morning!]

    I met with Michelle Wahl from Parking late last week, and she had some very useful comments on the iCAP draft that I thought I should share with you:

    1) She mentioned that in years past, she used to receive "idling reports" on her vehicles, which must have been equipped with some sort of system that tracked when the vehicles were idling.  This raised the question of whether such technology could be deployed widely on our fleet, rather than focusing only on "class 6 and above trucks" (neither of us knew exactly what that means).

    2) She was concerned about the financial aspects of providing additional opportunities for people to purchase less than full-time parking privileges in lots with wait lists...this is probably something that deserves further discussion.  If Parking allows someone to drop their full-time parking pass for a particular lot and instead purchase less than full-time for the same spot, their revenue will decrease.  This is concerning because Parking is legally required to be self-supporting -- they cannot receive any subsidy from campus, nor can they make a profit.

    3) She recommended adding a recommendation that parking rates be increased to provide a dis-incentive for single-occupancy vehicle use. 

    This would also be essential if the number of parking permits sold were to decrease, as Parking's costs are essentially fixed. Raising rates would be a challenge because they are subject to collective bargaining, but it has been successfully done on other campuses (including UIC). 

    Having an explicit call for this in the iCAP might help provide ammunition for such efforts.

    4) She recommended some investigation of the subsidy that Parking currently provides to MTD.  At present, Parking pays over $500K per year for this, ostensibly to support the buses that run to the "shuttle lot" (E-14, I think).  But this amount greatly exceeds the total revenue that Parking receives from selling permits in the shuttle lot.  She thought it was worth making sure that the amount Parking is contributing towards the MTD is the appropriate amount, because any funds that could be "saved" there could be directed towards other sustainability-related initiatives within Parking.

    5) She pointed out that there are now 18 "Level 1" charging stations for electric vehicles on campus, and Parking has plans to install some "Level 2" charging stations in 2015.  She thought it might be worth showcasing this work on page 29 of the current draft, and I am inclined to agree.

    Cheers,

    Ben

  8. Update from Ben McCall

    Associated Project(s): 
    Biomass Boiler at the Energy Farm

    Dear Tim,

    Some bad news to report.  The Revolving Loan Fund committee elected to defer consideration of the funding for the biomass boiler, because they were concerned that the operational and maintenance issues were not yet worked out.  This is not as bad of news as I first thought, because the RLF process is going to be revamped in the spring to be more of a "rolling deadline" process, so we should be able to go back to them sometime in the spring and get a quick response.

    Given the delay in RLF funding, it seems to make sense to delay our proposal to ICECF until July.  Another important consideration here is that the North Campus Parking Deck Solar project is evidently going to apply to ICECF in January, and there is at least some concern about submitting two proposals from campus in the same round.  Yet another consideration is that upon reviewing the ICECF form, we noticed that they are looking for a well-developed educational plan...and we have not really spent any time working on that.

    So I'm afraid we are in a bit of limbo here, until we get the O&M issues resolved and the MOU with F&S finalized. Hopefully we can tackle that in January, so that we're ready to go back to RLF as soon as their process re-opens.

    At least we've finally made great headway on the engineering work, and will have some real budgetary numbers to work with soon...!

    Cheers,

    Ben

     

  10. 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

  13. FY14 ECIP Winners Announced

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

    CHAMPAIGN, IL (October 22, 2014) – Eight facilities on the Urbana campus will win funding for facility improvements as recipients of the 2014 Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP) awards on Wednesday, October 22 at 3:00 p.m. in Illini Union 314B as a part of the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) Forum.

    Last year, the ECIP awarded more than $250K in pre-approved energy conservation projects.

    The list of FY14 winning facilities is attached.

    Attached Files: 

  14. RainWorks Challenge

    Associated Project(s): 
    Green Infrastructure
    Boneyard Creek Management
    EPA RainWorks Challenge

    Tawab Hlimi is serving as faculty advisor for the 2014 EPA Campus Rainworks Challenge. The team is composed of graduate students from Landscape Architecture, Architecture, Civil Engineering, Environmental Economics, and Ecology. They have begun a green stormwater infrastructure study for the UIUC campus and have selected the channelized extent of Boneyard Creek as site for a demonstration project.

  16. Enviropure emissions information

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

    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

  17. Sustainability Ambassadors - September meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Certified Green Office Program (CGOP)

    Hi All,

    Thank you so much for taking out the time to come to the Certified Green Office meeting this morning. It was yet another high energy meeting and we hope that you got a chance to learn something new today. Thank you for your commitment to sustainability.

    As promised the presentation is uploaded on our website, you can find it on this webpage under resources. Also please mark your calendars for the iCAP Forum (Oct. 22, 2014) and nominate yourself to be a part of the SWATeam Consulting groups. More information about consulting groups here.

    We will see you all on Tuesday, November 4th, 10am - 11am in Room 314B Illini Union. Sorry about the confusion about the day earlier this morning.

    If you have any questions, please let me know.

    Thanks,

    Nishant Makhijani 

    -------

    18 people attended.
     

    Attached Files: 

  18. Meeting #2 coming up

    Associated Project(s): 
    Certified Green Office Program (CGOP)

    Hello Sustainability Ambassadors,

    This is a friendly reminder that the second Certified Green Office Meeting is tomorrow Sept. 25, 10am-11am in Room 210 Illini Union. We will be talking about techniques to achieve extra credits within the waste reduction and promoting sustainability in meetings and events categories. Please RSVP here. We will also be serving light refreshments and coffee. 

    Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. 

    Thanks,

    Nishant Makhijani

  19. Sustainability Ambassadors - August meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Certified Green Office Program (CGOP)

    Hello,

    Thank you so much for taking out time from your busy schedules to attend the Monthly Certified Green Office Program Meeting last week. I am reaching out to you to let you know that the presentation is available online under Certified Green Office Resources and can be accessed using this link: http://sustainability.illinois.edu/CertifiedGreenOfficeEnroll.html. 

    Our next meeting will be Sept. 25, 10-11am in Room 210, Illini Union and you can RSVP for the meeting here. Please spread the word about the program with your peers and encourage them to enroll for the program. 

    One of the program participants pointed out to me that the application (excel file) didn't affectively calculate the number of points because the cells weren't referred right in my formula. I am sorry for inconvenience, it has been fixed now and you use the attached application form instead. It is updated on our website as well. Please use the new file instead of the previous one, the only thing we changed is the formula in Cell B61. 

    In other news, the iSEE Congress registration deadline is Sept. 5, 2014 and you can register here. And iSEE is looking for self nominations for the Sustainability Working Advisory Teams Consultations Groups to help with rewriting the Illinois Climate Action Plan and you can read more about the opportunity here. Feel free to follow us on Twitter (@sustainILLINOIS) and facebook (https://www.facebook.com/iSEEatUofI) to stay updated about our events and programs. Feel free to tweet at us to share more information about your sustainability orientated events! 

    Thank you so much for committing to making the campus community greener. I am really excited to work with all of you in the months to come. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. 

    Regards,

    Nishant Makhijani

    Attached Files: 

  20. Enrollment information

    Associated Project(s): 
    Certified Green Office Program (CGOP)

    Enrollment in the Certified Green Office Program will be open throughout the Fall 2014 semester. Don’t get caught enrolling at the last minute, though. The deadline to complete the five required sustainability commitments is December 15, 2014. We recommend that you and your office get started as soon as possible to leave extra time for additional commitments (see more below!). Office leaders must identify a Sustainability Ambassador before enrolling in the program.

    ENROLL HERE!

    After enrolling for the program, you can use this application to track your progress and send the completed form by December 15, 2014 to sustainability@illinois.edu. Once you complete the required commitments and email us the application (Excel spreadsheet), the iSEE team will review the applications from March to April 2015 and notify the award winners by April 10, 2015. The certificates will be presented during Earth Week 2015. The participants will also be mentioned on the iSEE website and publicized through our social media outlets.

    Nervous about getting things done? Don’t be! The iSEE team will be in regular communication with your office Sustainability Ambassador to answer questions and assist with implementation. We will regularly update our website with resources to help you implement sustainability commitments. In addition, we will hold four meetings throughout the semester to share best practices and discuss any challenges offices may face. Each meeting will center on a different commitment theme and give you ideas about how you can implement green practices:

    • August 28, 2014 – Introduction: Completing the five basic commitments (University YMCA, Latzer Hall) — RSVP HERE!

    • September 25, 2014 – Topic TBA (Illini Union, Room 210) — RSVP HERE!

    • November 4, 2014 – Topic TBA (Illini Union, Room 314B) — RSVP HERE!

    • December 4, 2014 – Topic TBA (Illini Union, Room 314B) — RSVP HERE!

    All meetings will be held between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.

    Can’t make these meetings? The presentations will be posted on the iSEE website.

    Go the extra mile!

    Offices are encouraged to make additional commitments and perform additional acts to become a Bronze-, Silver-, or Gold-level Certified Green Office. Offices can choose from 17 additional commitments. The implementation deadline for these additional action items is March 15, 2015. To become a:

    • Bronze Certified Green Office – make 40% or more (at least 7) of the total additional commitments.

    • Silver Certified Green Office – make 60% or more (at least 11) of the total additional commitments.

    • Gold Certified Green Office – make 80% or more (at least 14) of the total additional commitments.

    The additional commitments can be found here.

    Resources

    The Certified Green Office Program application

    Promotional information and presentations coming soon!

    If you have any further questions, please contact Nishant Makhijani, iSEE's Student Intern for Campus Sustainability.

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