The Campus Bicycle Shop is changing its name! The word "shop" simply didn't reflect the educational and mode-shift mission of this fantastic bicycling resource. The new name is Campus Bike Center, and we appreciate your support spreading awareness of this change.
Please find attached the pricing documents for the Temple Buell Hall Lighting Controls project. I have included the items discussed at the 95% review and I think we are ready to proceed.
Gary Schweighart and I will schedule a meeting soon to determine pricing, project execution and schedule. We are aware of the 5/30 date to spend funds and will do our best to accommodate.
If you have trouble with the PDF files, or would like hard copies printed, please let me know.
Best regards,
-Eva
Marika and Amy,
We would like to schedule a meeting with you to review a proposed project under the Illini Union/Student Sustainability revolving fund. Please share your availability for the next two weeks so that we can identify a time for the key stakeholders to meet for one hour.
As you may already know, the IU/SSC revolving fund already has $400,000 of contributions from the past 2 fiscal years, with the Illini Union and SSC contributing $100K per year to the fund. Another combined installment of $200K is due at the end of this fiscal year.
The proposed project we would like to review with you adds digital demand control to all of the food service hoods in the lower level food court and exhaust fans in the lower level of the Illini Union. This will lower our loss of conditioned air from the building significantly as well as our associated utilities. The calculated payback is 2.2 years.
Illini Union, working with Facilities & Services, has already completed a feasibility study and HVAC report for the Illini Union lower level hoods and exhaust fans with SSC concurrence. We propose proceeding with design on the project before the end of the fiscal year. Our intent would be to be in construction for Summer 2015, likely in a phased manner. This would require two sets of funding commitments, but is necessary to execute the project.
Please find the feasibility report attached for reference and do not hesitate to contact me regarding the project or meeting schedule.
Best regards,
David C. Guth
Assistant Director for Facilities
The Illini Union
Launch of GRITS 1.0
On Earth Day, the Sustainable Endowments Institute will be launching the Green Revolving Investment Tracking System (GRITS) 1.0, a tool that streamlines tracking and calculation of project-level energy, financial and carbon data for sustainability and efficiency investments. On April 17, we will host a special webinar to provide a preview of GRITS 1.0 and the GRITS Affiliates program before its public launch (April 22). For information on the webinar and the GRITS Affiliates program, please see below for more details and how to register.
What is GRITS?
GRITS 1.0 is an online tool that offers a bridge between management and performance reporting by creating a space for institutions to track, analyze and share data on specific projects or groups of projects--well beyond the capabilities of spreadsheets. GRITS provides an accessible platform to better manage financial and environmental project performance.
What can you do with GRITS?
The improvements offered in GRITS 1.0 are the culmination of more than two years of development and collaboration with participants in the Billion Dollar Green Challenge.
Interested in a tour? Email GRITS@GreenBillion.org to see first-hand the improved GRITS tool.
Special Preview Webinar of GRITS 1.0 on April 17
In partnership with the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), the Sustainable Endowments Institute will host a webinar to provide a special preview of GRITS 1.0 and the GRITS Affiliates program before its public launch on April 22. Many institutions in the United States and Canada have requested access to the GRITS web-based platform to better track project-level energy, financial, and carbon data, and we are excited to offer access to GRITS to all institutions.
The webinar will take place on Thursday, April 17 at 2:00 PM EDT. Please RSVP for this free webinar at gritswebinar.eventbrite.com.
Introducing GRITS Affiliates
What is GRITS Affiliates?
GRITS Affiliates is SEI's new program that opens access to GRITS 1.0 to all institutions and organizations.
Offering GRITS 1.0 to a wider community will build on the important work that is already being undertaken, strengthen best practices in the field, and help more institutions realize vital environmental and financial benefits. Members of the Billion Dollar Green Challenge will still have the advantage of a more cost-effective program for using GRITS. Challenge members will also benefit from new project-specific and fund-specific data provided by GRITS Affiliates that will help further expand the Project Library.
GRITS Affiliates will be available to schools and organizations outside The Challenge by subscription.
Interested in GRITS Affiliates? Sign up for free trial access by emailing GRITS@GreenBillion.org.
This Feasibility study considers the potential placement of a Photovoltaic array on the roof of Krannert Center for the Performing Arts (KCPA). The Study was conducted in two phases, the reports of which are included herein. A construction budget of five hundred eighty-five thousand dollars ($585,000), excluding contingencies, was proposed by the Student Sustainability Committee.
On February 26, 2014 over 100 volunteers collaborated in a competition at a U of I basketball game to divert as much waste as possible from landfill. Isolated waste bins were changed into recycling stations with new signs for landfill and recycling. Fans were educated by volunteers about which bin to use. After the game, participants collected and recycled as much as possible. Landfilled and recycled materials were weighed and recorded to indicate a diversion rate of 31.5%.
On March 18, 2014 was the first E-cyclemania event as part of Recyclemania at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. 57 volunteers from numerous student organizations collaborated with Champaign County Bikes. E-waste was picked up by bike from several building drop-offs points that included Nugent Hall, Daniels Hall, Sherman Hall, The Cohen Center, Orchard Downs, The Bike Shop, and Bousfield Hall. That material was transported on bike trailers to collection sites located at Allen Hall, Ikenberry Commons, and the ISTC Building in the research park. The event managed to fill two 26 ft. box trucks with electronics for recycling. The weight of that material will be recorded in the national RecycleMania database.
This Feasibility study considers the potential placement of a Photovoltaic array on the roof of Krannert Center for the Performing Arts (KCPA). The Study was conducted in two phases, the reports of which are included herein. A construction budget of five hundred eighty-five thousand dollars ($585,000), excluding contingencies, was proposed by the Student Sustainability Committee.
Based on shadow studies, it was determined that placement of a photovoltaic array on the roof of the Great Hall would maximize the potential power gain, as compared to other locations at KCPA. However, structural analyses have shown that the roof structure would require strengthening prior to the application of any new load. Additionally, based on its age, it is recommended that the roofing be replaced prior to the installation of a photovoltaic array. Access to the roof is cumbersome, and is also in need of improvement. The opinion of probable construction cost for this associated work exceeds the five hundred eighty-five thousand dollar ($585,000) construction budget. Without considering these associated projects in the payback analysis, the complexities of constructing a PV array on the roof structure diminish the economical effectiveness of a roof mounted PV array as compared to a ground-mounted system, assuming the ready
availability of real estate.
Based on these findings, it is the recommendation of Hanson Professional Services Inc. (Hanson) that a photovoltaic array not be placed on the roof of the Great Hall at KCPA, and that consideration be given instead to directing the available funds to a location that is more readily suited to its construction.
From: Johnston, Morgan B
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2014 10:54 AM
To: 'Amy Liu'
Cc: Burris, Marques Javyn; Bartels, Bart A; Kinley, Kathryn R
Subject: RE: Tap That Signage
Hi Amy,
I think you should ask Marques or Katie for the current account balance for this project (water fountain retrofit). The CFOP is 1-303692-815100-815184-815RET. Then, you need to get a vote from the SSC committee to approve the change in scope to reflect the # of glass fillers installed, and give you permission to spend the remaining money on signs.
Once you have SSC permission, then we will talk to the individual facility managers for the buildings, to get their approval of any signage. At the libraries, for instance, you may be able to put a flyer on their bulletin boards, but not at the actual fountains.
Thanks!
Morgan
The University of Wisconsin in Madison has a program to reduce polystyrene waste. They reached out to Ben McCall to get a letter of support. Meanwhile, Bart Bartels, Seth Rients, and Shantanu Pai suggested we could start a similar program now, rather than wait to know if Wisconsin's funding comes through. Ben suggested the following questions to consider as a starting point.
The rennovation of the State Farm Center (previously known as the Assembly Hall) will seek LEED Gold certification. One item that this includes is the prerequisite that the building have indoor recycling bins placed throughout the facility. This will be a nice follow up to the first Zero Waste Game Day event our campus held in Spring 2014.
The greenhouse is built, the bin is constructed, bedding logistics are in place, and food waste collection should begin the week after spring break. Ramp up to about 150-200 lbs of food waste processing per week should be complete in about 4-5 months. For this bin and the way it fits into the SSF management plan, we’d never process more than 250-300# of actual food waste a week. This would make for a max range of 7,000-14,000 lbs of food waste processed per year (47 weeks, we wouldn’t collect waste during Christmas and Spring Break).
If there is any confusion about this PILOT vermicomposting project I’d like to clarify it here, because I have gotten a few requests from outside sources about taking in outside food waste (word spreads quickly). This particular unit is only meant as a pilot demonstration to prove this can be done on a larger (potential campus wide) scale. This 5x16 unit we have is an example of one part of what could be a much larger facility. However, if this is successful I would like to see that facility be something that the SSF does not manage, and ideally in another specifically built piece of infrastructure to house a larger scale process. The greenhouse also serves as our transplant production house. Between the existing unit and managing the transplant production system, the SSF has more than it can already incorporate into its existing management.
That being said, once the system is up and running, we’d love to showcase this to any number of relevant parties and incorporate the data into any Zero Waste policy the campus has. As well as any other sustainability metrics the campus tracks.
See Daily Illini article about the e-waste event.
On March 18th from 2pm to 6pm the Urbana-Champaign Campus will host an e-waste collection event as part of Recyclemania, a national competition to minimize waste and reduce the amount of material going to landfill. On that date there will be three collection sites including the Allen Hall turn-around, Ikenberry Commons at Euclid Avenue, and a vehicle drop-off behind the ISTC Building in the research park. Personal electronics will be accepted free of charge including anything that has a plug or runs on batteries. However the event can’t accept university owned inventory.
In an effort to reduce traffic congestion that is sometimes created by such an event, volunteers will help pick material using bicycles and carts (E-cyclers). Buildings participating in the event can begin collecting e-waste on the morning of March 18th. The E-cyclers will pick up that material and transport it to one of the collection sites. E-waste that is too heavy to transport by cart should be delivered to the ISTC vehicle drop-off.
All e-waste collected will be recycled by a vendor that is R2 and E-steward certified. Weight of the material collected will be reported as part of the national Recyclemania competition. Additional information can be found here.
View the facebook page here.
If you have questions about the event or would like to volunteer, please contact Bart Bartels atbbartel@illinois.edu or 217-244-7572.
Collin has been involved in this project from the very beginning, so he should be involved in any further discussions on this project. I really want to ensure proper code compliance on this since it was not originally built nor inspected to verify adherence to the International Residential Code or the NEC. We are trying to renovate it to be considered to be a code-compliant single family residence. - Craig Grant
Craig H. Benson, the Director of Sustainability Research & Education, at University of Wisconsin-Madison, www.sustainability.wisc.edu contacted iSEE about potentially partnering on an EPS recycling program.
E-waste will be collected from 2-6 p.m. March 18 (Tuesday) as part of Recyclemania, a national competition to minimize waste and reduce the amount of material going to landfill. Three collection sites will be available: the Allen Hall circle drive, Ikenberry Commons at Euclid Avenue and the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center.
Wednesday night marked the first ever involvement with RecycleMania on this campus, and our Illini basketball team were not the only winners that evening. The event at the Illini-Nebraska basketball game was successful for all involved. Over 100 student volunteers partnered with various campus organizations and departments to raise awareness about reducing our environmental impact, and to help divert recyclable materials from landfills. Our first attempt, encouraged by the competitive atmosphere of the game, enabled us to divert 31.5% of the waste from landfills.
By weighing all of the event’s trash and recycling, a baseline data point was established and areas for improvement were identified. While Illinois' ranking in the national RecycleMania competition won't be known until after March 30, the impact made on the community left many participants feeling like they made a difference and that our Basketball team were not the only winners that evening.
If you have any questions contact Bart Bartels at bbartel@illinois.edu.
From: Ben McCall
Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2014 6:18 PM
To: Sealine, Alma R
Cc: Wolz, Kevin James; Lovell, Sarah Taylor; Ricci, Marcus Enrico; Nell, Marika Ruth; Tousignant, Teresa Marie Giardina; Johnston, Morgan B; Lage, Stephanie M
Subject: Re: Orchard Downs Multifunctional Landscape - Repackaged
Alma,
Can you make arrangements for this reimbursement?
Thanks,
Ben
On 02/25/2014 01:31 PM, Kevin Wolz wrote:
Ben,
Sorry for the slow response. We appreciate your thorough and firm response. Our group will desist pursuing any project at Orchard Downs.
We appreciate Ed's willingness to reimburse sunk costs. Total sunk costs (the amount of our grant that we spent under the assumption that everything was a go) for the project are $7,650.10. This amount can be reimbursed to the following CFOP:
1-303692-802050-802502-802ORC
Thanks,
Kevin & the OD Team
On Tue, Feb 18, 2014 at 5:01 PM, Ben McCall wrote:
Hi Kevin,
I'm afraid I do not have good news for you. Ed seems to be firm in his position that this site is not acceptable because it may be needed for another purpose in the future, and the administration does not want to be "the bad guy" tearing out something that people have grown to love. He remains open to consideration of other sites, but I understand that neither you nor the other involved parties are interested in pursuing other sites. Ed did agree to reimburse any sunk costs.
You certainly have the prerogative to escalate this issue to higher levels of the administration, but my hunch is that such an effort is not likely to succeed.
I wish I had better news for you, and I am really sad to see this project evaporate. One lesson I think we can learn from this experience is the importance of establishing a more thorough process for getting campus approval for SSC projects before they are funded. I intend to discuss this with the SSC leadership and see how the Institute can be of service in preventing this sort of terrible situation from recurring.
Cheers,
Ben
