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Project Updates for collection: Student Sustainability Committee Funded Projects

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  1. Archived - previous project description

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Farm 1.0

    Construction of a 5.87 megawatt (MW) Solar Farm on campus is under construction, after university and state officials approved power purchase and land lease agreements with Phoenix Solar South Farms, LLC.

    Once installed, the Solar Farm will be one of the largest on-site university arrays in the country, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency statistics, producing 7.86 million kilowatt-hours per year, or approximately two percent of the electrical demand for the Urbana campus in fiscal year 2015.

    Facilities & Services Executive Director Al Stratman said, “We are very pleased to see this long awaited agreement completed and signed, so the installation can begin. This unique and challenging project was only made possible through the dedication of many people working together and focused on achieving our renewable energy goals.”

    In 2008, the chancellor signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, pledging to be carbon neutral by 2050. As a part of this commitment, specific goals for energy conservation and renewable energy were outlined in the 2010 Illinois Climate Action Plan. The Solar Farm will contribute toward the renewable energy used on campus for at least twenty years.

    "The Solar Farm represents the success of numerous efforts, including those made by the many hard-working students committed to advancing renewable energy and environmental sustainability,” said Amy Liu, chair of the Student Sustainability Committee. “Its construction will be a historic project and a source of great pride for campus."

    --

    The 20.8 acre solar farm, to be located along the south side of Windsor Road between First Street and the railroad tracks, was first approved by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees in November 2012.

  3. ECBS SWATeam Meeting Minutes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Dashboard Project
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam
    Green Lab Program
    Fume Hood Shut the Sash Campaign
    Eco-Olympics

    At the ECBS SWATeam meeting this week, Sam Wilson, a grad student in Communication, presented his ongoing research efforts on fume hood behaviors, which will tie into the development of our Green Labs Initiative.  Big Picture Recommendation discussion continued as the team worked on making clear connections to iCAP 2015 in the document, which is set to be submitted by the end of next week.  The online Energy Dashboard has been updated, courtesy of Mike Marquissee.  Eco-Olympics results indicated competing buildlings across campus achieved up to a 10.6% reduction in energy usage (Lundgren Hall).  Grad student Anna Tanaglia presented the success of public speaking sections (CMN 101) that focused on campus sustainability; students seemed to enjoy these topics and some have expressed interest in getting more involved in campus sustainability efforts.  Claudia presented a social marketing campaign class project on student involvement in campus sustainability efforts, the findings of which may guide future campus engagement efforts.

    Attached Files: 

  5. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    C-U Bike to Work Day

    Hello all, this past week was slow, but that was good because it allowed for us to get ready for Bike to Work Day.  We sold 1 bike for $110, 1 build-a-bike for $50, 2 memberships for $50, and grossed $690.50.  We built a lot of bikes and got a lot of work done.

    This coming week we will participate in Bike to Work Day, host a special wheel building class and continue to build bikes.

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  9. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Earth Week
    Mechanics Classes at the Campus Bike Center

    Hello all, this past week was very busy.  We had a good number come in, but events were the big thing.  We sold 2 bikes for $280, 1 build-a-bike for $50, 11 student memberships for $275, 2 community membership for $80, and grossed $978.  I participated in the Bike Census.  It was very well organized by Lily, and went well.  The BikeFace organized Ride with the Chancellor was a success.  I hosted an open house at the center before the ride.  The Chancellor seemed to enjoy the ride.  She mentioned not knowing the Bike Center existed until I explained what this strange garage filled with bicycles was.  I'm thinking about sending her a post card inviting her back.  I did a deep clean of the shop in anticipation of the visit and it keeps getting cleaner and better.  I made a informational document about cargo bikes for FAA.  Lily helped with some great improvements to the document that made it more friendly to non-cycling readers.

    This week I am going to work on classes, building bikes, and find out our commitment to Bike To Work Day.  It's been hard getting everything out of the warehouse, but I'm hoping to get this done this week. 

    From the Campus Bike Center,
    James Roedl

  10. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Departmental Bike Sharing

    Hello all, This past week was good.  We saw better weather and as a result a huge bump in attendance.  The newly reorganized space has gotten lots of compliments.  We'll see if it works in the long run.  We sold 6 bikes for $740, 1 build-a-bike for $30, 5 memberships for $140, and grossed $1490.80.  Lots of cool things going on.  I took a bunch more bikes out of the warehouse, and am building them to sell/make space.  I setup the wheel building class for May.  Lily and I presented the cargo bike to FAA, and agreed to work on sustainable transportation solutions with them.  I got a lot of work done on the annual reports in anticipation of the end of the fiscal year.

    This week I will be making a short report of sustainable transportation options for FAA, cleaning up the shop, helping with the Bike Census, participating in Ride with the Chancellor, and continuing to work on the annual reports.

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  11. Sonified Sustainability Festival a great success

    Associated Project(s): 
    Advance Student Sustainability Outreach Efforts

    Good morning, team!

    The Sonified Sustainability Festival was this weekend, and had a pretty solid turnout (between 400-500 by my informal running headcount throughout the afternoon).  If you couple that with the turnout for the Gallery opening (~100) and the previous two concerts (a little over a 100 each time) you’re looking at around 750 for the project as a whole, without even counting all the other folks who pass through the gallery show before May 2nd. 

    On top of that, we got some solid coverage for SSC.  We were included in the programs and all the advertisements, and also got decent recognition in the local media.  Here’s the news roundup:

    Not bad considering we were up against Ebertfest and the spring football game.

    All My Best,

    Micah Kenfield

    Student Sustainability Committee Coordinator

  14. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Mechanics Classes at the Campus Bike Center

    Hello all, this past week we ramped up visitors slightly.  The weather really hurt attendance, which would have been much higher.  We still had people coming in and good attitudes abounded.  We sold 2 bikes for $300, 1 build-a-bike for $30, 2 memberships for $50, and grossed $1353.50.  We have been storing a lot of things we dont' need, and have lost a lot of space to idle items.  This week I realized how limiting this has been and how we need to change our work flow.  Also at the member meeting we discussed a front desk area with a host  and how many workspaces benefit from this.  Since we have a membership database promised to be coming soon I built a front desk area to capitalize on this. I reorganized the back and threw out a lot of useless junk.  The space is much more open now and we have more room to work and store useful items like tools and bikes.  We held a 3 speed hub class which was requested by at least 10 separate individuals, but no one attended.  I will be looking into a remedy.  I was able to update a good portion of the shops reports thanks to all the time freed up by Lily's hard work.  Lily and I continued our work on getting a sponsored donation site for the residents halls so normally abandoned bikes can be directly donated saving us all a lot of work and headaches.  We got a few bikes built, but were slow because of large donations and other projects. 

    This week I plan on continuing to update the shop's reports.  I will be working with Lily on presenting the cargo bike to FAA.  They had a change in leadership and some other set backs so we are restarting the relationship with a cool bike demo and presentation.  Lily's heading this up so I will be supporting her.  I will be trying to get some more bikes out of the warehouse and processed in anticipation of the spring cutting.  Lily is working with the residence halls on the donation event, and doing most of the planning work, but I may go to some of the meetings since I will be in charge of the implementation of the event.  I'm going to seek the assistance of Lily in ways to promote the Thursday afternoon classes.  I will also be sending out information on the wheel building class this week.

    From the Campus Bike Center,
    James Roedl

  15. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Departmental Bike Sharing

    Hello all, This past week was busy.  We lots of folks coming in to fix their bikes, but the weather made it weird some days we were empty others we had a 15 minute wait for repair stands.  We saw a lot of new faces, and made some new friends.  The shop sold 4 bikes for $630, 1 build-a-bike for $35, 5 student memberships for $125, 1 community membership for $40, and grossed $1517.  I talked to some of the people involved in the cargo bike loans, but was unable to get any progress yet.  I was unable to build a new desk welcome area, but did acquire a commercial hook wall for free!

    This week I will be working on meeting with people for the cargo bike program, and getting things ready for the residents hall donation program.  I will also build more bikes to sell.

    From the Campus Bike Center,
    James Roedl

  18. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Hello all, This past week was super chill.  We had a steady trickle of people come in and it was a good mood.  I was able to build some bikes and the stable is bust'n with rad steeds.  I was able to clean and organize the shop to an even greater level.  I am trying to make it more accessible to new comers.  I was able to catch up on some work which was nice.

    This week I plan on setting up some new fixtures in the shop and maybe building a sign in/register desk area so we can have a host greet people, sign them in, check them out, and register their bikes. 

    From the Campus Outpost,
    James Roedl

  19. ECBS SWATeam Meeting Minutes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam
    Energy Dashboard Project

    The SWATeam continued the discussion about its Big Picture Recommendation for energy conservation regarding the Campus Master Plan.  Students reported their findings on what undergraduates want to see on energy displays in campus buildings.  Smaller updates on fume hood efficiency efforts and Illini Lights Out followed.  Green Labs Initiative intern Natalie Pelekh attended this meeting to present her research on Green Labs programs at other schools and to discuss factors that need consideration before launching our own Green Labs program.

    Attached Files: 

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