From: Prasad, Sarthak

To: DeLorenzo, Stacey; White, Morgan

Recipients: sdeloren at illinois.edu; mbwhite at illinois.edu

Hi Stacey and Morgan,

I was just looking at the Improve Reporting and Metrics for Bicycles project, and I saw a project update from 2013 by Amelia Neptune “Draft Bicycle Crash Reporting Form Created”. Does either of you remember if this form was actually made public or if there was any progress made on it?

I think this is a very neat way to report a bicycle crash and could be very important. Please let me know if there is a final form. If not, I would like to revisit this effort.

Thank you,
Sarthak  

Sarthak Prasad

Sustainable Transportation Assistant

Facilities & Services

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Phone: 217-300-9575

Email: sprasad9 at illinois.edu

The campus is in the process of retrofitting older T12 fluorescent lighting fixtures by replacing them with more energy-efficient T8 (or T5) fixtures and electronic ballasts. The lighting retrofit proposed in the SAIC report would reduce campus energy consumption by ~1.6 percent; a very small amount of this is due to the use of occupancy sensors and day lighting controls. Extending this retrofit to smaller campus buildings, replacing other lighting fixtures (besides T-12s), and a wide deployment of both occupancy and daylight sensors (which can reduce lighting use by 20 percent to 80 percent depending on location) should be able to provide significantly more energy savings than predicted in the SAIC report. The campus target for energy savings from lighting is 2 percent.

The Annual Meeting for Big Ten & Friends (BTAF) will be held on July 22, 2021. Inviting all members, this meeting will discuss the following, as outlined in a message from Lydia Vandenbergh, the Associate Director of Employee Engagement and Education at Penn State University (See the attached file to view the agenda:)

Greetings Big 10 and Friends Members,  

I hope you all have been able to take some time off after such a chaotic and challenging year. It is times such as these that we need to come together and support each other, sharing best practices and brainstorming solutions to barriers. Thanks to all who completed the pre-meeting survey in June to help us plan our July 22nd annual meeting, from 9am to noon EST, that will pursue those two goals, concentrating on several topics that the respondents highlighted:  

• Staff training (GOCP)  
• DEIJ connections with sustainability 
• Student co-curricular engagement 
• Engaging communities 
• Connecting health with sustainability 
• Sustainability curriculum pedagogy 

Please register for the Annual Meeting by July 21st. We recognize there may be some who cannot attend, and we encourage you to designate an alternative representative if possible. We will record the session and send out the recording and abbreviated notes to all on this list.   

One of our first items for discussion will be BTAF leadership, specifically whether we should have term limits for co-chairs, to encourage rotating the responsibilities among the BTAF universities. Lydia will be stepping down next summer as co-chair and Amy is willing to step down this August to enable the staggered transition of co-chairs. Please consider volunteering for this role. It does not require a significant amount of time and involves acting as coordinators for our network, specifically:  

• Scheduling periodic meetings 
• Creating agendas, invitations, etc.  
• Facilitating affinity groups: launching, defining scope, finding co-chairs, advertise to the group 
• Coordinating body with AASHE 
• AASHE webinar planning assistance, if needed 
• Maintain Share-Drive on Google – meeting minutes, contacts, files.  

We will keep the nomination form open until July 21st and hope that someone will join the fun of supporting the Big Ten and Friends group.  Also, if anyone has any changes for the BTAF membership list, you can find it on our Google Drive.  

We have scheduled the meeting for three hours and based on your responses, are changing the format this year to emphasize brainstorming sessions on the above topics, rather than updates from each campus. All participants will be able to self-select one of three brainstorming sessions in two rounds and we hope that each group can select a note taker who will report-out for the group.  The full agenda is attached.
 

At the end, we will have time to explore other topics that members highlight.  

Looking forward to connecting with you all and learning from your experiences. 

Lydia and Amy  

Warren Lavey and Morgan White provided background information and helpful tips for joining the EPA SmartWay program as a university, with representatives from Boston University. 

Morgan, Ryan, and Brent met in a conference room to review exact bin locations.  They got through page A.

Solar Farm 2.0 was mentioned in the Inovateus Solar Quarterly Newsletter, which was released on July 1, 2021. The feature reads as the following:

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Announces Final Stage of Ultra-Sustainable Solar Farm 2.0 Project

The Project Makes the U of I the Third-Largest Producer of Onsite Clean Power Among U.S. Universities

CHAMPAIGN, IL – May 13, 2021 – Today, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Facilities & Services (F&S) announces the final stage of completion for Solar Farm 2.0, totaling 12.3 megawatts (DC), with the planting phase of the farm’s pollinator habitat commencing this month. The project is the second solar farm constructed at the U of I and achieves clean energy sustainability goals outlined in the university’s Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP), nearly four years ahead of schedule. Clean energy production will now support approximately 12 percent of the school’s annual electricity demand. The planting of the project’s native pollinator habitat bookmarks the solar farm’s unique array of state-of-the-art technological and sustainable features.

The site’s 54 acres will serve as a major demonstration and research location for pollinator-friendly solar arrays. The University of Illinois Solar Farm 2.0 project exceeded the required 85 minimum points established by the State of Illinois’ Pollinator Friendly Solar Site Act. With 134 points achieved on the pollinator scorecard, including the adjacent landscape buffer, the solar array officially “Provides Exceptional Habitat.” The custom seed mix designed by Natural Resource Services, with more than 21 different plant types that are native to the area, will make the land between and around the panels more resilient and create a natural habitat for a variety of local and migratory birds and beneficial insects. In total, the site will contain more than 6.5 million flowering plants and native grasses.
Solar Farm 2.0 was developed by national solar energy firm Sol Systems, which built the farm with innovative features such as bifacial solar panels, single-axis trackers, pollinator habitat, and zero waste construction practices. This project is among the most technologically advanced and sustainable solar projects in the U.S. Through the firm’s development wing, Sol Customer Solutions, a joint venture between Sol Systems and Capital Dynamics, Capital Dynamics will serve as owners of the project with Sol Systems managing the asset throughout the 20-year term of the agreement.

F&S Executive Director Dr. Mohamed Attalla said, “In only four months, Solar Farm 2.0 has already become an integral part of the university’s energy enterprise. There are days when the array is meeting almost 30 percent of the university’s electrical demand for that day. It has been extraordinary to watch this site’s renewable energy make an immediate impact to support learning and discovery across campus.”

Since the array was energized on January 29, 2021, the installation has produced over 4,000 megawatt hours (MWh). On May 1, Solar Farm 2.0 provided its largest output of 102 MWh in a single day, enough to offset the consumption of more than 8,000 gallons of gasoline. This installation puts the university at the top of the list for onsite clean energy production, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In combination with other solar installations on campus, the Urbana campus is now generating approximately 27,000 MWh/year, ranking UIUC third amongst U.S. universities in onsite clean power production.

The University will purchase all energy produced by the array under a power purchase agreement (PPA) at a fixed price over a 20-year term. In addition to the long-term fixed rate, which hedges UIUC against future utility price uncertainty, the PPA allows the university to go solar with no upfront costs, providing an expected $300,000 in savings in the first year alone.

“The use of innovative technology and land-use practices and strong, ongoing partnership between Sol Systems and the University of Illinois is what makes this project so remarkable,” said William Graves, Director of Originations at Sol Systems. “Solar Farm 2.0 is a marquee project not only for the university but also for the state of Illinois.”

Sol Systems partnered with South Bend, Indiana-based Inovateus Solar, which constructed the solar arrays. Inovateus used reduced-waste construction practices that prevented as much as 45 tons of materials from reaching landfills. Specifically, Inovateus worked with F&S Waste Management to recycle nearly 94 percent of the project’s construction packaging, plastics, wood pallets, and other refuse.
“Inovateus Solar is truly excited to have partnered with Sol Systems and contributed our best practices for sustainable solar construction. We believe this solar farm will be the new role model for ultra-sustainable solar development,” said T.J. Kanczuzewski, CEO of Inovateus Solar. “We’re also proud to have assisted U of I in meeting an important sustainability goal for the campus. Helping to preserve the environment for current and future students and faculty directly reflects our company mission of ‘building a brilliant tomorrow.’’’

Academic collaboration is a major theme emphasized in the F&S Strategic Plan because using the campus as a living learning laboratory for students and researchers is essential to the success of the university. Sol Systems and Inovateus worked with students in the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment’s campuswide sustainability minor to assess the carbon footprint of Solar Farm 2.0 from sourcing to installation. Sol Systems will use the reports, produced by the student groups as part of their Sustainability, Energy and Environment Fellows Program capstone, to assess potential sustainability improvements to all future projects.

The University hopes to offer onsite tours this fall, along with a celebratory ribbon-cutting for the project.

Read the article on the Inovateus Solar website!

In April 2017 three faculty members received $14,522 from the University Research Board to conduct preliminary investigations surrounding crop residue as a building material at both small and large scale. The results of those initial investigations proved very positive. This project primarily strives to turn corn stalks into a building project. Students will support Dr. Mark Taylor throughout the project, giving students research and professional development opportunities. The Student Sustainability Committee provided $47,000 in December 2017 to support the design and construction of a small mobile field station using agricultural waste. Upon completion, researchers and students will have a better understanding on how agricultural waste materials perform as a building material that can get used at a larger scale. Moreover, the campus will have a mobile field station that uses corn stock insulation.