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Projects Updates for collection: Student Sustainability Committee Funded Projects

  1. accounting update from Mike M.

    Associated Project(s): 

    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

  2. Workorder to paint the container lids

    Associated Project(s): 

    Work Request 163801 converted to Work Order 10329198

    Work Order: 10329198

    Building: 0206 - ILLINOIS SUSTAINABILITY TECHNOLOGY CNTR

    Room:

    Department Reference: SSC Quad Recycl

    Customer Description:

    Shop - Painting & Signs:

    Per conversations between Bart Bartels, David Middleton (Paint Shop Foreman), & Sean Cassidy (Sign Shop) - Sandblast and prep trash bin lids from Quad (40) and recently purchased trash bins (20); Add new vinyl lettering signs to prepared trash bin lids (Bart will work with you on the design and wording).

    Rough estimate provided to Bart - $3000 for sandblasting & painting; $1500 for new signage.

    Phases:

    Phase: 001 PAINTERS

    Phase: 002 SIGN SHOP

  3. Housing receives recycling bin from Max-R

    Associated Project(s): 

    Housing took advantage of the Free Bin Friday promotional event from Max-R, to design a uniquely branded outdoor recycling container. Although it is currently being displayed inside SDRP, it has generated a lot of conversation across campus. The day it arrived, multiple students expressed their approval of the bin and appreciation for an increased focus on recycling by the University.

    Bryan Johnson, Project Manager, PMP

     

  4. 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: 
  5. ISTC Water Audit webinar

    Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) Water Audit Webinar – Oct. 21 at 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. (web only)

    “Water Use and Conservation on Illinois College Campuses: The Ripple Effect”

    The Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN) and the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) are partnering to train college faculty and staff to conduct water audits on their campuses, increasing knowledge about water on college campuses, and furthering ISTC’s goal of reducing water consumption in Illinois by One Billion Gallons. To do so, IGEN and ISTC will implement a three-phase program. In the first phase of the program, IGEN will cohost a webinar with ISTC to educate interested colleges on the basics of water audits. The webinar will cover the following information:

    • Details of what a comprehensive water audit encompasses: the built environment, the campus landscaping, and the local topography/watershed;
    • Where to find specific information on water use on a college campus: what bills, what departments have information, what is metered, etc.;
    • Potential benefits of water audits: how to save money, water, and energy, and the environmental impacts; and
    • Overview of the next phases of the program and how to participate.

    Speakers will be: Megan Chery, Manager of Alliance for Water Efficiency; Aaron Dunbaugh, Director of Sustainability at Loyola University Chicago; and Michelle Maddaus, Founder and Civil Engineer with Maddaus Waste Management.

    Please register to attend the webinar at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/154690976. For additional information visit http://www.igencc.org/node/1115.

    In the second phase of the program, IGEN and ISTC will arrange regional training sessions at several Illinois community colleges to train stakeholders on how to conduct a comprehensive water audit on campus. In the third phase of the program, colleges will conduct water audits on their campuses and make recommendations that will reduce water consumption and apply for grants to implement the projects.

    ISTC is a division of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

  6. audit plan for Recycling for the Quad

    Associated Project(s): 

    Hi Ryan,

    Shantanu and I were discussing the waste audits on the quad.  If you agree, we would like the plan to go as follows:

    1.  On Tuesday morning we we like to place liners in the bins, just after they are emptied by your crew.  

    2.  On Wednesday morning we would like to pull each of the bags and take them to ISTC for weighing and auditing.  Your crew will not have to pick up the waste from the 45 bins on that day.  We will make sure the waste and recycling are taken to the Waste Transfer Station.

    3.  On Thursday your crew returns to empty the bins and we will again add liners shortly thereafter.

    4.  On Friday we will conduct the second audit so your crew will not have to make a pick up that day either.  Again we will take the material to ISTC and then drop it off at the Waste Transfer Station.  

    5.  On Saturday everything returns to normal. 

    I hope that sounds OK with you.  If so, please let me know what time would be the best to add liners to the bins.

    Thanks,

    Bart

  7. SEDAC installs a Max-R recycling bin

    Associated Project(s): 

    Morning, all.

    Courtesy of Max-R (big name in recycling bins), we have a new, functional, clean, state-of-the-art rubbish/recycling station in the break room (photo attached). It will still be serviced by our same cleaning staff. As free time allows, I’ll update the signage. The cardboard bin is next to the pretty bin. Note the SEDAC logo and the “this is made from 1501 recycled milk jugs” image.

    Thanx to Lucas, Stevie, Carrie, Aaron and others for logistical and physical support in getting it sited.

    Cheers,
    Marcus

    Attached Files: 
  8. video about Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 

    Fellow waste warriors,

    UO does cool things when it comes to the material management system. They did one of the first campus waste audits back in the early 90s and have since grown into a power house in recycling and materials management. They have a new training video. Its 50mins long, and yes that is extremely excessive. But it is a great cheat sheet to evaluate our current state and where we could go.

    Shantanu Pai



    On Thursday, September 11, 2014 11:28:32 AM UTC-5, K2 wrote:

    Here is a training video that the students just finished here at the University of Oregon.  It’s close to an hour and will be shown to all new student employees with the UO Zero Waste Program.  It’s funny and poignant while being instructive.  Way to go students of the world…..working so hard for a better life…..it’s crazy to see how hard we all work saving resources.  This video is about you too…..and we say to all of you in zero waste land-THANKS for recycling!  Zero Waste is Higher Education….

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQHQJJzldbA&feature=youtu.be&a

     

  9. ISTC's helpful resources

    Associated Project(s): 

    Morgan, here’s the direct link to the resource I mentioned to you on the Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable (GLRPPR) web site. The GLRPPR site is pretty extensive, with many “sector resources,” so I’ll save you the trouble of navigating through them.

    P2 Measurement & Calculators Sector Resource: http://www.glrppr.org/contacts/gltopichub.cfm?sectorid=143

    I don’t know if you were specifically interested in water-related calculators, or if you were using that as a hypothetical example. In any event, there are a few water-related calculators within the list at the above URL. US EPA’s WaterSense program provides a calculator for residential savings, if you replace existing fixtures with WaterSense labelled items. Seehttp://www.epa.gov/watersense/our_water/start_saving.html#tabs-3. This could be a resource to provide students or staff who ask you about such calculators, but be mindful (as you should with any “canned” calculator) of the assumptions made regarding things like utility costs, average number of gallons of water used per year, etc. (http://www.epa.gov/watersense/our_water/how_works.html#assumptions). This particular tool wouldn’t be useful for campus buildings; the Alliance for Water Efficiency provides some guidelines for calculations on school and university campuses:http://www.allianceforwaterefficiency.org/Schools_and_Universities.aspx

    Dan Marsch mentioned resources for pre-rinse spray nozzles, which could be of interest in dining halls. Probably the best resource on best practices in this arena is the Food Service Technology Center (http://fishnick.com/). Their site includes a spray valve water cost calculator (http://fishnick.com/savewater/tools/watercalculator/) and a water leak cost calculator (http://fishnick.com/savewater/tools/leakcalculator/).

    Kishore mentioned the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. Their site is at http://www.aceee.org/. He also mentioned EERE, the US DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Their site is athttp://energy.gov/eere/office-energy-efficiency-renewable-energy.

    Hope this helps,

    Joy

    Joy Scrogum

    Emerging Technologies Resource Specialist

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

    Co-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

     

  10. note from Billion Dollar Green Challenge

    Hi Morgan and Mike,

    It was great to speak with you both today and learn more about the revolving loan fund at UIUC. Your green revolving fund would be well-fit for the Billion Dollar Green Challenge.

    I have attached an information packet with all you need to know about The Challenge. If you want to sign-on to The Challenge, sign page 15. If UIUC has a $2 million revolving fund, it would cost $1,000 a year to be on The Challenge.

    I also attached the document with estimated lifespans for various energy efficiency equipment.

    I'll be in touch in early November to get you GRITS trial access, unless I hear from you sooner!

    Actually, Morgan, I see that you will be attending the Climate Leadership Summit hosted by Second Nature in Boston next month. Our office is actually down the hall from Second Nature. My boss, Mark Orlowski, will be at the Summit, and could always meet to answer questions. Also, if you want to meet up with me, I could meet by the conference as well. Just let me know if that would be helpful.

    Thanks,

    Shoshana

    --

    Shoshana Blank
    Senior Research Fellow &

    GRITS Project Lead

    Sustainable Endowments Institute
    A Special Project of
    Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors

    18 Tremont Street, Suite 930

    Boston, MA 02108

    Office: (617) 528-0334

    shoshana@greenbillion.org

  11. Archived iCAP page information

    Associated Project(s): 

    The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is pursuing development of a large-scale food waste composting facility on the University’s property, in order to compost food waste from University dining halls.  This interest is precipitated by the commitment made by the University in the 2010 Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP): “The University will commit to… a large‐scale food composting project by 2012.” The new facility will initially receive and process all acceptable pre- and post-consumer food waste from six dining halls on campus, as well as supplementary landscape waste as necessary carbon bulking material from Campus Grounds. In the future, if needed, the system may accept additional landscape waste from the city of Champaign as well as livestock bedding and other animal-related organic waste from the University’s Agricultural and Animal Sciences Departments. The finished product will provide rich compost material to agricultural projects on campus such as the Sustainable Student Farm, as well as to campus grounds and athletic fields.

    Background

    The University of Illinois is dedicated to composting across the board.  There are three main academic campuses at Urbana, Springfield, and Chicago and two medical campuses at Peoria and Rockford.  We are in communication with all of these sites about the future of composting at the University.  This is an exciting opportunity for the sustainability contacts to work together and support each other in a major sustainability initiative.  Additionally, the University Extension office has a long history of supporting sustainability and has numerous resources for composting operations that we can call upon as the project progresses. 

    In 2008, the Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, pledging to become carbon neutral by the year 2050.  As part of this commitment, the University published “Illinois: A Climate Action Plan (iCAP)” in May 2010, describing several projects related to various aspects of campus sustainability.  This document is available online at http://sustainability.illinois.edu/iCAP.html.  

    The Procurement and Waste aspects of campus sustainability are highlighted on page five of the iCAP.  It states “The University will commit to a Zero Waste campus policy by 2012, a large-scale food composting project by 2012, and target an increase in the University’s waste diversion rate to 75 percent by 2020.”  The specific project is listed on page 34 item 4 under Agricultural targets, as “Incorporate a large-scale food composting project by 2012.” 

    The composting project also has significant support from campus leadership represented by Associate Chancellor Pradeep Khanna, Facilities & Services as represented by Tracy Osby the Waste Management Coordinator and Jack Dempsey the Executive Director, and the students as represented by the Student Sustainability Committee.  The Office of Sustainability works closely with Facilities and Services to assist with the various projects in the Climate Action Plan, and will assist with project implementation and promotional information.

    Currently, approximately 1411 tons of food-waste is collected annually from the five major Dining Halls on campus.  Unfortunately, all of this waste is sent to the Clinton Landfill.  There was a small pilot composting project which diverted about five percent of this waste during the short pilot test phase, but it has not been in operation for the last year.  The proposed Large-Scale Food Waste Composting Facility will divert 100 percent of this food-waste and utilize Grounds department landscape waste to generate approximately 2,822 tons of high-quality compost annually.  The compost material will be used solely on University land, including the campus grounds, athletic fields, and the Sustainable Student Farm project.  Future expansion of composting operations could incorporate the animal waste at the Beef and Sheep Facility, which is directly south of the Compost Facility.   At that time, the finished product may be used on certain crop sciences lands.

  12. Project Report

    Associated Project(s): 

    Completed Project Scope and Costs:

    1. Pressure Reducing Valve stations (PRV):
      1. Utilities and Energy Services completed the installation of the PRVs, as described above, on April 27, 2013.  F&S replaced steam PRVs (pressure regulating valves) and associated isolation valves serving HVAC equipment at UIUC Library, to reduce and stabilize steam pressure to all control valves to improve comfort and reduce steam consumption. The total cost was $117,009.
    2. Steam Traps:
      1. The F&S Building Maintenance division replaced a total of 710 steam traps in the Main Library.  The total cost was $249,441.00, and this work was completed in July 2013.
    3. Control Valves:
      1. Utilities and Energy Services determined that this portion of the project should not be implemented at this time.
  13. Prairie on TV

    Sandy Mason interviewed myself and Jessica Mondello this morning at the Florida—Orchard prairie.  I think it went well.  As usual there was an awkward moment or two as we groped for words.  It should air on the farm segments at 5:40 am tomorrow Aug 7, and another version next Tuesday.  It will likely also show up on Illinois Home page .net

    All the paths now have a thin layer of wood chips to prevent erosion.

    ~John Marlin

  14. resource about using wood for energy

    Associated Project(s): 

    There are some environmental advocates who oppose using wood chips for energy. 

    This YouTube video includes the following description: "Forests are also one of our best defenses against global warming, absorbing vast amounts of carbon pollution out of the air. But power companies are increasingly proposing to burn whole trees for energy. Trees are not a "carbon neutral" fuel source. Just like coal, when trees are burned in power plants, the carbon they have accumulated over long periods of time is released into the atmosphere. Unlike coal, however, trees will continue to absorb carbon if left alone. So burning forests for energy not only emits a lot of carbon, but also degrades our carbon sinks. This video shows what happens to the balance of carbon between and forest and the atmosphere when we burn forests to produce energy instead of leaving them standing to continue to absorb and store carbon. Burning forests for electricity is dirty and destructive!" 

    It is shared by the Natural Resources Defence Council.

  15. update from Shantanu

    Associated Project(s): 

    Housing has been piloting the glove recycling program for about four weeks now.  LAR, PRI, and MRL are all considering implementing the program.  Kimberly-Clarke Professionals (KCP) is interested in potentially supporting an intern to help expand the program.

    If everyone on campus recycled their KCP gloves it would be about 20 tons of landfill reduced.

  16. Joyce Mast coordinating RFP for the rooftop solar installation

    Associated Project(s): 

    Joyce Mast is coordinating a Request for Purchase to buy and install the solar panels that will go on top of the ECE Building.  The building already has the structural supports for the panels, so the purchase will include the racks, PV panels, and inverters.  Joyce is working with ECE's administrative office, the Purchasing Department, and F&S Capital Programs to facilitate this RFP.

  17. RLF project selection committee meeting delayed

    Associated Project(s): 

    Dear Revolving Loan Fund Selection Committee,

    For two reasons, we will be rescheduling the Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) project review meeting.  First, the funding available to allocate from the RLF has significantly increased with the roll-over to FY15.  We now have an additional million dollars to allocate, with a total of approximately $2.3M.  Therefore, additional potential projects need to be identified before the selection takes place.  Second, the AFMFA selection committee is being called this fall, for the first time in a few years.  The founding agreement for the RLF (attached for your reference) intended the project selection to occur with the AFMFA project selection process.  Therefore, this meeting will be arranged in conjunction with the fall AFMFA committee meeting. 

    The AFMFA committee meeting will be arranged by Doris Reeser, and I will remain in contact to answer questions about the RLF.

    Thank you,

    Morgan

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