AASHE Releases Guide for Funding Campus Sustainability Projects
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 04.16.07
When it comes to implementing major sustainability projects on campus, colleges and universities encounter one of the same dilemmas as individuals and families: how to pay the often substantial upfront costs. Sure, renewable power technologies, energy-efficient transportation and campus conservation programs will pay for themselves over the long run, but administrators may still balk at the initial outlay required. Last week, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education published its how-to guide, Creating a Campus Sustainability Revolving Loan Fund: A Guide for Students, in order to show student leaders a powerful means of overcoming the funding challenge.
The guide, written by two sophomores at Macalester College, draws on their experience creating a revolving loan fund. According to AASHE's press release,
The high initial cost of many sustainability projects can often deter campuses from implementing them, despite the fact that such projects often have long-term cost savings. A revolving loan fund helps overcome this challenge by providing zero or low interest loans to fund money-saving sustainability projects. A portion of the savings generated from these projects is then reinvested into the fund until the loan has been paid off. The guide provides step-by-step directions for establishing such a fund,...The 22-page guide lays out the process used by these students in creating Macalester's Clean Energy Revolving Fund (CERF); AASHE Associate Director Julian Dautremont-Smith contributed a section highlighting the handful of revolving loan programs in existence at Harvard, the University of Michigan, Connecticut College, and other campuses."We wanted to ensure that, in addition to helping finance sustainability projects on campus, the fund would educate and empower students, said Timothy Den Herder-Thomas, one of the authors. "Our guide is specifically targeted to help students at other campuses establish revolving loan funds that include substantial student involvement."
Though the term in never used in the guide, the authors and AASHE demonstrate how students can take advantage of the concept of "negawatts" to fund sustainability projects. With this knowledge, students can make a practical case for campus greening in a language that cost-conscious administrators and boards of directors can appreciate. We think that's a lesson worth teaching! ::Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education
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Institutions such as colleges and universities should be some of the most attuned to long term payback benefits.
If they expect to remain in operation, they should be taking a long-term view. Unlike corporations, which may relocate or be acquired by a larger company, a university is an institution that is going to remain in its location and continue to own and operate the buildings it has.
It's a sad state of affairs that such short-sightedness can even exist on campus like this, let alone that it needs to be addressed in this manner.
As one of the co-authors of the Clean Energy Revolving Fund, we found that using the right language made Business Administrators and Business Officers into some of our strongest supporters for sustainabiliy. It's true that Universities are in it for the long haul, but many of the projects and methods we explored would be valuable for businesses and property managers.
But at least Institutions of Higher Education, with the leadership of countless students and campaigns like the Campus Climate Challenge are taking leadership on the issue. When will we see the rest of society step up?
Check Out Dispatches from the Youth Climate Movement at It's Getting Hot in Here