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Projects Updates for collection: Student Sustainability Committee Funded Projects

  1. weekly update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all,

    I came back Tuesday just in time for Volunteer hours!  The Center is in good shape and the students are anxious to fix bikes.  There was a suspected gas leak that turned out to be a false alarm.  It was good practice.  It also alerted us to the fact that we don't have an emergency plan.  It was decided to get an emergency plan setup and registered with the emergency service departments.  We sold 3 bikes for $380, 2 build-a-bikes for $190, 7 student memberships for $175, 1 community membership for $40, and grossed $1328.00.  I also meet with the Active Transportation Search Committee and work on that item. 

    This week I plan on getting an emergency plan for the Center.  I will be doing more work with the search committee.  I plan on building more bikes, and continuing to organize the shop. 

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  2. weekly update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all,

    This past week was great.  We were closed for part of the week so I could go to a bicycle conference.  We were busy other wise.  The Center sold 2 bikes for $260, 2 build-a-bikes for $90, 1 membership for $25, and grossed $877.22.  I worked on preforming my duties as a member for the Active Transportation Coordinator search committee.  I also was able to build a couple of bikes. 

    This week I plan on continuing work with the search committee, cleaning the shop, and building bikes to make room in the back of the shop for my long term goal of a educational area.

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  3. weekly update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all,

    This past week was busy but good.  I was able to start our partnership with the school of education and orientate the EDU 201 students.  I registered quite a few bikes, and we had strong attendance at the Center.  We also lent a pair of bikes to the Krannert center for a performance, which is said to have been wonderful.  We sold 1 bike for $120, 12 student memberships for $300, and 3 community memberships for $120.  The Center grossed $1278.  I went to the BPAC meeting.  Nothing of note there, we just went over the MCORE plans.

    This coming week I will be training students from the EDU 201 class on how to help us at the Bike Project and Bike Center.  I will be preparing for my absence in October for Bike!Bike!.  I will also be training new employees, and making sure shop operations are up to standard.  With the busyness of fall, and trying to fill in for the not yet hired active trans coordinator a lot of things were not attended to as well as I would have liked. 

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  4. Bike parking added

    Associated Project(s): 
    FY12 SSC Bike Parking Upgrades

    BIKE RACK REPLACEMENTS: The replacement of 344 broken/unusable campus bike racks at the College of Education, Loomis Laboratory, Main Library, Mechanical Engineering Building, and Smith Memorial Hall was completed. Bike racks at David Kinley Hall and the Psychology Building will also be replaced in coordination with construction taking place at those locations. 

     

  5. weekly update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all,

    This past week was very busy.  We did lots of good stuff.  We successfully pulled off the LTN 2015.  We served quite a few people, and found a new person to work at the shop.  We sold one bike for $160, 2 build-a-bikes for $100, 6 memberships for $150, and grossed $10,078.57.  I made more shop fliers, and continued to setup the EDU 201 course.  Stacey and I have been following up on the cargo bike situation, and I met with Jeff Yockey about the Bike Summit.  No bike built.  We have been too busy.

    This week I will finalize hiring a new employee who will substitute when staff are now here/transition into staff.  We will be losing two staffers in December, and more in the spring.  I am working on getting the shop back into shape after the student rush, and organizing it a little better.  I will also be doing orientation for the EDU 201 course Wednesday night.

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  6. weekly update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    The past few weeks have been very busy.  I have not been able to write a weekly digest.  We have seen a massive increase in people coming in.  The shop has been operating at above capacity, but with some patience on the part of those coming in as well as some kind volunteers we have gotten by.  We have tabled at the International Student Check in, Quad Day, and the Paraprofessional Resource Fair.  We pulled about 80 bikes from the warehouse, donated quite a few bikes to Habitat for Humanity, and a couple to the YMCA.  I helped coordinate bike volunteers for Dump and Run and helped a little coordinating volunteers for Habitat for Humanity.  I helped the organizers of the Illinois Bike Summit find speakers for the Community Bike Shop portion of the Summit.  I helped create some new advocacy materials.

    This week I plan on reorganizing the Center to fix the chaos of the last few weeks, building bikes, printing more advocacy materials, and working on ordering bike parts.

    I will see about creating a class schedule for the semester.

    From the Campus Outpost,

    James Roedl

  7. Chicago Radio News

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Farm 1.0

    A mention about the Solar Farm project (see submission below) will be read on Chicago radio (popular morning show) in September as a part of the university’s branding/marketing efforts.

    UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA - CHAMPAIGN

    Did you know the U of I is building a 20 acre Solar Farm on campus this year that will be one of the largest university solar arrays in the nation?   It will produce enough electricity yearly to power 700 typical U.S. homes.  Just another cool fact brought to you by the U of I.

  13. news mention

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Farm 1.0

    Nice Solar Farm reference in this article about Ohio University….

    “We can learn from and be inspired by these models. Meanwhile, other schools also developing significant solar energy projects, such as University of Maryland (2 MW), Rochester Institute of Technology (2 MW), Elon University (3 MW), University of Illinois (5.87 MW), and Pennsylvania State University (the class of 2015 is holding a solar-array design contest to determine its gift to PSU).”

    http://www.athensnews.com/opinion/readers_forum/ou-can-start-transition-to-green-energy-by-working-with/article_a18cc578-3086-11e5-9dfe-7f529356389c.html

  14. YMCA leaders meet with sustainability staff

    Associated Project(s): 
    Dump and Run

    Emily Cross and Mike Doyle from the University YMCA met with Ben McCall from iSEE, Nancy Holm from ISTC, and Morgan Johnston from F&S to describe the history and process of the YMCA Dump and Run.  The program has been around for approximately 15 years, and a couple years ago they expanded collections to include the campus residence halls.  There are many opportunities to grow the program, and thereby reduce the waste going to landfills, but the YMCA staff are currently at capacity for managing the program.

  15. vertical solar idea

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Energy on Campus

    The Architecture Review Committee (ARC) got an inquiry about the possiblity of mounting solar vertically on south-facing walls (without windows).  This could be a sheer flush-mounted solar PV array immediately against the wall.  The PVs would not produce as much energy as a roof-top array, but there could be fewer issues with rooftop penetrations, etc.  The ARC noted that there is not a specific policy about this idea yet, and they would willing to work with the idea on installation on a case by case, building by building basis, at least until there is a comprehensive policy in place.

    For a given capacity of PV modules, a vertical wall will harvest 78% of the energy that a flat roof would, and 67% of the energy that could be harvested at a 40 degree tilt. While this is not ideal, the costs may be lower and the maintenance and roof loading concerns would not pertain.  Two possible candidates are the south wall of NSRC (which has no windows in the "central" part) and the south facade of the Tryon Festival Theater in Krannert, which is actually somewhat tilted

  16. Jul 9 2015 Minutes

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    2015 Illinois Climate Action Plan (2015 iCAP)
    Offset Emissions from Plane Trips
    Wind Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)
    Appropriately Staff Sustainable Transportation Efforts
    Reduce Transportation Emissions
    Develop Scenarios for Converting the UI Fleet to Renewable Fuels
    Appropriately Staff Zero Waste Efforts
    Transportation SWATeam
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    Zero Waste SWATeam
    Utilities Master Plan for Energy Production and Distribution
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam
    Reduce Emissions from Energy Consumption
    Sustainability Council

    see file

    Several SWATeam recommendations were discussed.  Also, an update from the Sustainability Council was provided:

    "Review of Council Meeting/Status of iCAP Approval - The Sustainability Council meeting went very well with lots of good discussion. There were not too many serious objections to the iCAP. They would like to see financial information, such as cost-benefit analysis on projects. This information will be included in the study for accelerating our carbon neutrality date. The cover letter from the Chancellor affirming our commitment will include language about the current fiscal climate in Illinois. The Chancellor was keen to be able to reach carbon neutrality by 2035. Other concerns were in regard to the net zero space item and they suggested a space audit be included in the iCAP."

    Attached Files: 

  17. IBI student leaders meet with iSEE representatives

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illinois Biodiesel Initiative (IBI)

    Adam Dornford, Rahul Gogia, and Tarsis Sousa met with Professor Ben McCall, Professor Madhu Khanna, and Morgan Johnston at iSEE.  The discussion revolved around the faculty advisor needs for the group.  Madhu Khanna will be the faculty advisor of record, and Ben McCall will continue to participate with the program.  There may be a graduate student in analytical chemistry who could assist with the chemical aspects of the program.

    Issues reviewed at this meeting included:

    • numbers of students anticipated to participate once IBI is running again - at the height of the IBI program in the past, there were nearly 100 students involved - need to recruit some new students - partnering with I-energy - would be good to have hands-on work for getting students interested
    • equipment selection for the new program - they will start with using the existing 50 gallon plug-n-play items BioPro 190 have two of them in the basement of ABL
    • soap program - for Dining Services pre-wash of dishes
    • consider tracking utility costs for the overall program - with a Life-cycle Cost Accounting (LCA), and associated GHG emission reductions
    • potential bench space options AESB, RAL?
    • what information does IBRL need in order to fully support IBI being included in their facility? feasibility analysis.  

    Emails from each group - Dining, Car Pool, Energy Farm, SSC - to document what you will do...  prepare a mini proposal (with short term and long term plans) and send to this group - include:

    • organizational structure - who is doing what, including faculty advisors and all students, management plan - how many students are going to be in and out of the facility
    • phases for process - over a 3 year plan, to show continuity
    • business plan for operations - how will you do it
    • financial program - costs to operate and anticipated revenue

  18. IBI key student leaders gearing up for the fall

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illinois Biodiesel Initiative (IBI)

    IBI representatives, Adam Dornford and Rahul Gogia, are meeting with campus stakeholders to get ready for the fall semester.  Discussion topics include:

    • temporary storage space (move from ISTC)
    • long term lab space
    • funding for new equipment (some funding is allocated already by the SSC)
    • faculty advisor options
    • end users on campus for the biodiesel that will be produced
    • supply of waste food oil from Housing
    • benefits to students, and ways to reach out to get new student members across disciplinary lines
    • business case to IBRL for a continuous operation at their new facility

  19. Award Letter - Anaerobic Digester Pilot

    Associated Project(s): 
    Explore Options for 100 Percent Clean Campus Energy
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    Food waste is the second largest category of municipal solid waste (MSW) sent to landfills in the United States, accounting for approximately 18% of the waste stream. Agricultural and garden wastes comprising of wood and yard trimmings come next in the list, accounting for approximately 15% of the waste stream. At the U of I campus as well, about 100-120 gallons of food waste is generated from one dining hall unit per week. That is roughly 0.5 cubic yards/week currently.
    Anaerobic digestion occurs naturally, in the absence of oxygen, as bacteria break down organic materials and produce biogas. The process reduces the amount of material and produces biogas, which can be used as an energy source. This technology is commonly used throughout the United States to break down sewage sludge at wastewater treatment facilities. In the past few years, there has been a movement to start adding food waste to anaerobic digesters already in place at wastewater treatment facilities.
    This proposal provides setup costs for a pilot test of an anaerobic digestion process to determine if a full-scale digester prototype is feasible.

    Attached Files: 

  20. Arboretum Native Plantings Award Letter

    Associated Project(s): 
    Native Plants at Arboretum
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    The University of Illinois Arboretum has historically showcased formal displays of annual ornamental plants and selected trees. There is increased interest in developing plots and displays of native plants, especially those that are beneficial to pollinators. This project will introduce a variety of such native plants into several settings at the Arboretum. The Arboretum intends to use the plantings as an outdoor laboratory that will be used for formal and informal education about the role of native plants in provision of ecosystem services such as pollination adn improving soil quality. The experience gained will lay the ground work for future expansion of the concept including large plantings within selected locations and patches of clearly labeled plants that will allow visitors to learn their names and characteristics.
    The plantings will also provide physical examples of how small plantings can be used in personal and commercial landscapes. The use of perennial native plants will help the Arboretum assess the potential to save money and other resources by using more plants that do not have to be repurchased and replanted annually. The native plants along with improved habitat conditions will support a large number of local pollinators and other insect and bird species that are increasingly threatened by loss of habitat, and provide an instructional resource for university classes and local schools.

    Attached Files: 

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