Sustainable food and dining is a popular topic on college and university campuses. Popular areas of focus include equipment upgrades in the kitchen, installation of campus or community gardens, and streamlining existing campus recycling operations, such as by converting campus vehicles to run on used vegetable oil from the dining hall. Research…

Developing return-oriented green revolving funds (GRFs) is a rapidly growing trend at colleges and universities. A green revolving fund (GRF) is a special account designated for investment in on-campus projects that improve energy efficiency or decrease material use. GRFs invest in a variety of cost-saving initiatives, resulting in significant…

With buildings consuming almost half (49 percent) of all energy used in the United States, and three quarters of all electricity, there is a compelling need for investment in energy efficiency upgrades. These energy saving improvements "represent a significant opportunity to save money, reduce climate impact and generate jobs," according…

The Green Loan Fund at Harvard University has been an active source of capital for energy efficiency and waste reduction projects for almost a decade. This case study examines the revolving fund's history from its inception as a pilot project in the 1990s to its regeneration in the early 2000s to its current operations today. The green revolving…

Boston University's (BU) Sustainability Revolving Loan Fund was created in 2008 through an allocation of $1 million from the university's administrative budget. The fund is administered by the Vice President of Operations. Potential projects are identified by the university's Director of Energy Administration and Operations along with the…

The University of Colorado at Boulder's student run Environmental Center leads the campus' sustainability efforts. The Center created the Energy and Climate Revolving Fund (ECRF) in 2007 to finance energy-efficiency upgrades. The ECRF functions as a source of funding for project loans and provides a method of financing projects that seeks to save…

In recent years, energy- and resource-reduction projects have compelled student leaders to create sustainability projects on campuses across the country. This paper examines the role that students play in green revolving funds, including identification, approval, and management. After speaking with numerous students on a variety of campuses, it is…

Western Michigan University has designed an innovative "Quasi-Revolving Fund" model that demonstrates the institution's full commitment to incorporating sustainability into campus operations. The Quasi-Revolving Fund recaptures money from cost-savings, similar to a typical green revolving fund, but it also sources capital from the…

The $3 million Live Green Revolving Loan Fund (LGRLF) at Iowa State University (ISU) was launched in 2008. The LGRLF is unique in its decentralized implementation structure which allows each department and building to reap the benefits of their own efficiency measures and gives individual departments the incentive to propose resource-saving…

Stanford University's Energy Retrofit Program was created in 1993 to target resource reduction and conservation focused projects on campus. Fahmida Ahmed, Associate Director of the Department of Sustainability and Energy Management, says that Stanford has been investing in sustainability and energy-efficiency since the late 1970s, longer than many…

Facing steep budget cuts and rising energy costs, many colleges are grappling with how to finance urgently needed, but capital intensive, energy efficiency upgrades on campus. One innovative approach, using return-oriented green revolving funds (GRFs), is a rapidly growing trend at colleges and universities. GRFs can invest in a variety of…