You are here

All Project Updates

Search



Pages

  1. Water & Stormwater SWATeam Meeting Minutes 2/2/2017

    Review of pending recommendations: BIF Greywater, Increase Cooling Tower COC, Design Center Greywater Piping. Discussion on possible edits to the SWAT/iWG process. Student members will submit proposal to Student Sustainability Commision for apermanent meter to measure BIF greywater use. The Water SWATeam will meet every other week and will have a joint meeting with the Agriculture, Land Use, Food, and Sequestration (ALUFS) SWATeam this semester. 

  2. Campus invited to participate in Certified Green Office Program 3.0

    iSEE has launched the latest edition of the Certified Green Office Program, an initiative to help implement sustainable practices into the campus workplace. Your actions can reduce your office's environmental footprint, and help the campus save money and meet Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) objectives. The newest program offers more elective actions - and certification in just five easy steps.

    Tony Mancuso . Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)

  3. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 

    Hello! This past week we had 74 visitors. We grossed 1,068.50. We sold 4 bikes for $630, one build-a-bike for $40, and 8 memberships to the tune of $240.

    As the numbers bear out, bike sales are ticking up, which has been a pleasant surprise. I figured it would be real quiet here until March or April but there has been a steady stream of visitors and people interested in the space. This past week a TBP volunteer debuted a new spreadsheet  that already vastly improved the efficiency of processing shipping and receiving here at CBC, as well as clears up the vagaries surrounding POS transactions on unmarked merchandise—all very good things! It will be even nicer as the shop gets busier and busier.

    This week Leah starts staffing and the rest of the new hires are coming along with their hiring process. This week I plan to build an extra wheel storage rack and reconfigure the cone wrench station to make it safer and easier to use. I will continue to build bikes, organize, and prioritize accessible inventory and parts based on their usage and demand.

    Sincerely,

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager
  4. archived info - previous project description

    You have the power to help reduce the environmental impact of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) is proud to present the Certified Green Office Program, its first initiative to engage the University community in a campus-wide commitment to sustainability.

    We invite you and your office to make a pledge to reduce your use of resources and improve overall sustainability in the day-to-day practices of your office. Small actions make a big difference when many take those small actions. With your help, we can reduce the environmental impacts of this campus and strengthen its position as a national leader in sustainability.

    What does it mean to be a Certified Green Office?

    For the purposes of this program, any group – not just those labeled “office” – that occupies space in a campus building or is affiliated with the University may enroll to become a Certified Green Office. Some examples of those who may apply: administrative offices within departments; teams of researchers and graduate students; institutes; entire departments; or colleges.

    Offices can enroll in the Certified Green Office Program and begin taking action to reduce their environmental footprints. During Earth Week in April 2015, iSEE will hold an awards ceremony to recognize the accomplishments of our outstanding Certified Green Offices. These offices will also receive special attention on the iSEE website and social media outlets.

    Becoming an iSEE Certified Green Office requires only five basic commitments:

    • Appoint a team member to be your Sustainability Ambassador. This person will act as a liaison with the iSEE program team – and will lead implementation of the Certified Green Office Program for your group, track your progress toward program goals, and promote sustainable awareness throughout the office.

    • Adopt an office policy to request the use of the University of Illinois Car Pool office’s Sustainable Options and or smallest vehicle/s when office employees make car reservations for travel.

    • Adopt an office policy requiring a minimum of 30% recycled-content and FSC certified printer paper.

    • Identify, label and communicate the location of recycling stations (paper, bottles and cans) around the office/building and if needed request new bins by contacting Facilities & Services. Also, label bins with a printout of the acceptable materials list to ensure all recyclables make it into the appropriate containers.

    • Adopt an office policy of turning off/unplugging all unnecessary equipment – lights, computers, printers, etc. – when not in use.

    For more on enrollment, click here.

    If you have any further questions, please contact Nishant Makhijani, iSEE's Sustainability Engagement Specialist.

  5. ECBS SWATeam meeting minutes

    On the agenda at the ECBS SWATeam meeting:

    1) Associate Director for Campus Sustainability at iSEE replacement;

    2) Status of recommendation for Green Lab Coordinator;

    3) Discussion: How the SWATeam recommendation process working for us;

    4) FYI: Discussions are ongoing on campus about higher expectations for building standards;

    5) Illini Light Out” will transition to iSEE and dates for the rest of the year;

    6) Certified Green Office Program. How ECBS SWATeam can promote this;

    7) Status updates: 2017 Freezer Challenge and Eco-Olympics Planning.

     

  6. Low Mow Zones signage inquiry to SWATeam

    F&S Director of Sustainability, Morgan Johnston, asked the ALUFS SWATeam for their input regarding the forthcoming "Low Mow Zone" sign updates.  She said, "I would like to talk with you about the “No Mow Zones” on campus and our efforts to better name them as “Low Mow Zones.”  Brent and Ryan Welch are working on updating the locations in a map form and our F&S communicators (primarily Steve Breitwieser) are developing a message about the updated words and locations. 

    As part of this effort, we are also going to be updating the signs, and I am hoping to get your help with taking a look at the specific sign locations (once we have the updated map).  We need a volunteer to visit each Low Mow Zone and note the

    • How many signs do we have in the existing locations?
    • Do any of them need to be moved for better visibility?
    • Do any of them need to have taller sign posts?
    • Where should signs be placed in the new zones?"

    The SWATeam chair, Brent Lewis, indicated she would be included in the first spring semester meeting.

  7. Discussion at Transportation Building about ECIP funds

    Morgan Johnston and Shawna Grady met to discuss the potential uses for the Transportation Building's ECIP funding award ($10,000).  Options included additional recycling bins, LED lamps, power strips, battery recycling containers, and potentially a waste characterization study for the building (if available through ISTC).

  8. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 

    Hello, we had 65 visitors last week. We grossed $1,135, sold 8 memberships for $240 and 3 bikes for $475. We had a steady number of volunteers. I think we are a destination for those seeking community-service hours on campus, which has the positive effect of a sustained  volunteer—a week or sometimes more—and in turn less training is required, and more work is done more efficiently. It’s a win-win.

    Last week I interviewed 5 student workers, installed new signage on two of the three new fix-it stations, updated iCAP numbers (thanks, Lily!), and built bikes/organized.

    This week I will continue to build bikes, talk to the Bike Project about funding some projects that will increase the efficacy, functionality and safety of the Campus Bike Center. I will also finalize the hiring of student workers for this semester. And of course, build more bikes for the spring.

    Sincerely,

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager
  9. EGEN SWATeam Meeting (1.20.17)

    The EGEN SWATeam held their first meeting for the Spring 2017 semester. Topics covered include:

    • Review draft recommendations for 1) on-campus solar and 2) petascale offsets
    • An update from Morgan Johnston on the Associate Director of Campus Sustainability position
    • Updating iCAP portal project pages for EGEN objectives
    • Clean Energy PPA
    • Potential for future solar farm
    • Asking for feedback from EGEN team members regarding recommendation proces
  10. Water001 BIF Greywater Meter recommendation - Assessment with comments

    The iCAP Working Group (iWG) met on December 20, 2016, to discuss and start the assessment of SWATeam recommendation, Water001 BIF Greywater Meter. The iWG's official comment on the recommendation was:

    "A permanent real-time water meter should be installed on the greywater piping system in BIF, and the collected data should be made available in the Energy Billing System and through an online dashboard."

    See attached the iWG assessment of Water001 BIF Greywater Meter complete with official comments from all the iWG members.

    See SWATeam recommendation Water001 BIF Greywater Meter here.

  11. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 

    All, surprise! When the semester nears, students return! We had 26 visitors in last week. Grossed $388.75. Sold one membership ($30) and one bike ($225). One member was achingly close to finishing his Build-a-Bike but alas, it was not meant to be.

    This past week I interviewed a student for staff help here at CBC. I also spoke with another student and set up an interview for him this week. On Tuesday and Wednesday a TBP volunteer came by and we reconstructed the tire rack storage shelf to accommodate more tires as well as make them more accessible. It will greatly help the effectiveness and ease by which members can utilize the space—especially once it gets hectic and busy.

     

    This week I will be interviewing more potential student staffers, ironing out the schedule for the staff semester, prepping for the incumbent staffers to return, and of course the general clean, organize, and building of bikes.

     

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager
  12. Correction to system generation capacity

    Associated Project(s): 

    The Solar Farm system capacity is 4.68 MWac and 5.87 MWdc. Original materials produced before 2017 generally referred to the capacity as 5.87 MW, which does not match the industry standard of using the AC generation capacity.  The correct figure to use is 4.68 MW, when sharing information about the Solar Farm on the UIUC South Farms.

  13. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 

    All, predictably slow first week back at the Campus Bike Center. Hope everyone had a nice holiday! We totaled 10 visitors for last week. Grossed $63 for the week. Didn’t sell any bikes or even have anyone in working on a build-a-bike.

     

    Lily and I picked out three bikes for the Departmental Bike Share. The last of the new fix-it station pumps were installed. John, a Bike Project volunteer, came by to lend his architectural expertise in redesigning the bike tire storage space to be a little more efficient. I did a general inventory of wheels and was able to pull a bunch out for scrapping and reorganized the ones I am going to keep. I also found a dozen or so bikes that were beyond repair and needed to be stripped for parts.

     

    This week I will continue to parse out bikes and parts that are not salvageable which will in turn make the space a lot more useful and navigable for everyone. On Thursday I will be interviewing a student worker for the upcoming semester. I will install the new signage for the fix-it pumps this week as well.

    Sincerely,

     

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

Pages