Green Campus Financing Advances

It was a watershed moment for campus and other sustainability enthusiasts because it illustrated just how far college and university leaders have come since financing tools were limited, when simple payback was the primary measure of the value of campus sustainability projects, and when savings from energy efficiency and conservation projects were generally lost to campuses’ or organizations’ general fund.

Addressing Disincentives to Conservation on Campus

Green revolving loan funds will help correct some of the unnecessary financial disincentives to conserve natural resources, it is expected, while adding a relatively new approach to the financial toolkit. So far, results are promising.
Last year, SEI released the report, Greening the Bottom Line, illustrating how 52 colleges and universities of all types and sizes all across the US are revolving savings from energy efficiency and other green campus efforts back into funds that finance additional conservation initiatives. Green revolving loan funds (GRFs) replenish through savings that are captured and reinvested in additional conservation programs.

Large Financial Returns for Going Green on Campus

Agnes Scott College President Kiss Presents Luncheon Keynote

SEI also found that students, administrators and facilities were about equally likely to serve as the initial promoters and champions of the existing GRFs and that both student fees (generated through referenda in which students vote generate a few dollars per term to campus sustainability activities) and administrative funding played leading roles in starting many of the funds.

“Billion Dollar Challenge” Spurs Progress

Mark Orlowski, founder and Executive Director of SEI, shared with summit attendees that “thirty-five higher education institutions have so far collectively pledged $83 million to their green revolving funds as part of the “Billion Dollar Green Challenge,” a new campaign SEI launched at the AASHE conference in October 2011.”

Among them is Agnes Scott College (my alma mater), which has committed to securing $1 million for its green fund. During her keynote presentation, Agnes Scott College President, Elizabeth Kiss, shared how support from SEI with implementation of a green revolving loan could help colleges advance sustainability objectives, particularly through help from consultation, case studies and tracking software.

GRITS Offers Assistance

SEI representatives demonstrated the new Green Revolving Investment Tracking System (GRITS), which is designed to help manage the many projects involved in green revolving fund, and will be made available to campus members of the “Billion Dollar Challenge.” Background on this campaign, case studies on successful green revolving funds at nine colleges and universities, an implementation guide and an investment primer are available on SEI’s website.

Harvard's Sustainability Director, Heather Henriksen, Describes Green Returns

Additional Articles about Green Campus Financing Tools:

New Financing Tools Help Push for Green Campuses (review of Financing Sustainability on Campus by the National Association of College and University Business Officers, NACUBO)

Reflections on the Financing the Future of Energy Efficiency Summit by sustainability leader, Mitchell Thomashow

Harvard Leads Green Challenge with $12 Million, by Alyza J. Sebenius, quotes Harvard Sustainability Director, Heather Henriksen

(NWF’s Campus Ecology Program proudly joins more than one  dozen organizations in co-sponsoring the Greening the Bottom Line report and in serving on the invitation committee for the Financing the Future of Energy Efficiency Summit. Our work is made possible through generous donations from NWF members, The Kendeda Fund, Bank of America Charitable Foundation, NASA and private donors. NWF’s Campus Ecology Program empowers student leaders to advance sustainability across the higher education curriculum, operations, and wider community.)

Luzelma Canales, Interim Associate Dean Community Engagement & Workforce Development, South Texas College and Praween Dayananda of the NWF Campus Ecology team

“People underestimate deep south Texas,” explained Luzelma G. Canales, one of the key leaders of the summit, and interim Associate Dean of Community Engagement & Workforce Development at South Texas College. “[They] assume that we are not doing things that are newsworthy or noteworthy, but actually we are involved with some really cutting-edge initiatives, and we have a lot to offer.”

Anson Green, Director of the Mission Verde Center and member of the San Antonio Mayor’s Green Jobs Task Force, said that one of the ways to solve this issue is to focus on the companies that are already in the local area, rather than courting outside “green” companies.  Texas HVAC, electric, and home building companies have jobs that are not exportable, and though they may not be specifically “green” yet, these are industries rapidly changing, with environmental concerns and energy efficiency mandates driving much of that change. They need trained workers who understand new green technologies to replace retiring tradesmen and infuse these industries with the knowledge and skills to keep them competitive in the evolving marketplace.

The catch is that training workers for jobs that don’t exist yet can be risky. For example, consider the dilemma of training students to work in wind power technologies when there are few companies building turbines in the area. On the one hand, colleges have the opportunity to help introduce green technologies to employers in the form of a workforce familiar with the technologies required. On the other hand, the demand for workers with those skills is not high yet — in large part because consumer demand is low, because companies aren’t offering the products, because they don’t have any workers who know how to implement them. It can feel like a Catch-22 for everyone involved.

“The bottom line,” said Anson, “is the skilled workforce.  If we don’t provide the skills, companies don’t locate here; if they don’t locate here, it is hard for us to provide the training.” The key is building relationships with potential employers so that they learn the benefits of adopting new green technolgies.

Companies will only go where they see the training happening or the pipeline created.  Already several of the colleges report recieving regular inquiries from Mexican small business investors who want to invest in green business in Texas. There is also a lot of potential for opportunities with  the millitary in the region. Community colleges, then, must continue along a two-pronged approach: training students for the jobs that they want to see come to the area, and engaging the existing employers to provide opportunities to showcase the skills that will bring the jobs home.

(article based on notes taken by Julian Keniry reporting live from the “Preparing the Texas Workforce for the New Green Economy” Summit.)

Praween Dayananda, NWF, and Anson Green, Director, Mission Verde Center/Mayor's Green Jobs Task Force, San Antonio

Yesterday was a big day for Campus Ecology; the “Preparing the Texas Workforce for the New Green Economy” Summit in San Antonio, Texas was a huge success. It was the first in a series of regional summits put on by the Greenforce Initiatve that NWF and Jobs for the Future (JFF) have jointly created to help spur green jobs education, innovation and training at community colleges in select regions across the country.

South Texas College hosted the event, designed to identify economic development opportunities and build relationships between employers, campuses, and lower-skilled adults. Nearly 70 key workforce leaders represented about 20 organizations, including campuses, employers, workforce development agencies and other groups from throughout the South Texas region.  Partner colleges in attendance included Palo Alto College, Lone Star College-CyFair, St. Phillip College- Alamo Colleges, and Texas State Technical College.

“It was great seeing all the enthusiasm about this work across the southern Texas region,” said Gloria Mwase,  Program Director at Jobs for the Future.  ”The colleges noted especially over and over how valuable it was to hear from and learn from each other.  And it was really exciting to see the assets that are in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and how they are engaged in helping lower-skilled adults succeed.”

The mood of the summit was very optimistic: employers spoke passionately about the opportunities they are seeing to grow business by greening their industries and creating greener jobs.  In addition to discussing the current skills needed by green employers, there was also much discussion of the future of green jobs in the region – especially regarding the opportunities arising in solar and wind power.

On the education side of the question, college leaders shared their strategies for greening their campuses and building hands-on training opportunities for students. They also spoke of the hurdles they face when implementing various programs and attempting to create apprenticeships for students – problems that the Greenforce Initiative is striving to help alleviate.

 “It was amazing to see how much each of these schools is actually doing in the sustainability and green jobs areas,” said Lisa Madry, Campus Ecology’s Campus Field Director “A lot is happening that I’m not sure was ever put all in one place before.”

(article based on notes taken by Julian Keniry, reporting live from the “Preparing the Texas Workforce for the New Green Economy” Summit)