U Western Sydney Debuts Sustainability Fund
The University of Western Sydney (Australia) recently launched its Sustainable Rolling Fund (SURF) program. Modeled on the Harvard Green Campus Loan fund, the program provides upfront financing to staff and students for sustainability projects that reduce environmental impacts and have quantifiable returns. By encouraging investment in energy and water-efficient installations, waste reduction, renewable energy and sustainable transportation, the program aims to foster sustainable design and environmental initiatives within the campus community.
Coppin State U Receives Grant for Solar Project
Coppin State University (MD) has been awarded a $500,000 grant to fund the installation of solar arrays on eight campus buildings. The Sunburst Project is a stimulus-funded grant through the Maryland Energy Administration. The solar installations are expected to provide three to five percent of the university’s total annual consumption, and will reduce annual electrical costs by $10,000 to $15,000.
U Toledo Awarded Grant for Algae Biofuels Research Facility
The University of Toledo (OH) was recently awarded almost $3 million through the Ohio Third Frontier Wright Projects Program to build a research and development facility for algae biofuels. The facility will include open ponds, greenhouse ponds and enclosed photobioreactors to test the efficiency of a variety of growth systems. The facility will also include a pilot-scale “downstream processing” system where the algae materials can be converted to fuel. The university plans to focus on Lake Erie algae that are adapted to local environmental conditions.
Western New England College Awarded Clean Energy Grant
Western New England College (MA) is one of five grant recipients from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center to purchase demonstration and training equipment to prepare students for clean energy jobs. The college will install a demonstration wood pellet burning system that will incorporate testing equipment for measuring system efficiency, emissions and the effects of pellet material selection on system performance. The equipment will also support new courses in bioenergy.
Austin CC Receives Grant for Alternative Fuel Training
Austin Community College (TX) has received a $98,860 grant for alternative fuel training. Lessons on hybrids and other green cars that are fueled by propane, natural gas and biodiesel are currently being worked into a two-year certification program. The grant will help double the school’s hybrid training fleet. With the new equipment, the college plans to offer its first fully-devoted alternative fuel class this fall.
Durham Tech CC Earns Grant for Sustainability Tech Certificate
Durham Technical Community College (NC) has received a $249,000 grant from Duke Energy to launch a sustainability technologies certificate program in the fall. The program will certify electricians to install solar energy structures. Students will study residential solar energy configuration with a recently-installed, 150-square-foot solar array. The college aims to offer a renewable energy diploma and sustainability technologies associate’s degree in the future.
West Texas A&M Awarded Renewable Energy Grant
West Texas A&M University’s Alternative Energy Institute has received a $497,350 grant from the State Energy Conservation Office for the installation of two renewable energy systems. The grant will help reduce energy consumption at the university with the $622,000 installation of a 48-kilowatt photovoltaic system and 50-kilowatt wind system for the feed mill. Monitoring of both systems will be available for the public through seminars and display areas.
Pennsylvania State U Receives Grant to Install Wind Turbine
Pennsylvania State University has received a $96,425 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to install a 10-kilowatt wind turbine. A portion of the grant money will go toward the development of a two-year renewable energy major, to debut this fall. The program will introduce students to the installation, troubleshooting and maintenance of photovoltaic, wind turbine and solar thermal systems.
U California Riverside Students Vote for Green Tax
Students at the University of California, Riverside have passed a green fee referendum. After campaigning in favor of the green tax, students will now pay $2.50 per quarter for four years. Part of the proceeds will go toward the installation of solar panels to boost renewable energy on campus. The university plans to install solar panels atop the student union structure in the next few years.
Rochester Inst of Tech Awarded $1 Mil for Sustainability Center
The Rochester Institute of Technology (NY) has received a $1 million disbursement from Eastman Kodak Company's Rochester economic development fund in support of the Golisano Institute for Sustainability. The funding supports a lab for collaborative research, as well as scholarship, equipment and operations at the sustainability institute.
U Mass Dartmouth Awarded $1 Million Energy Conservation Grant
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth will open a sustainability resource and training center with a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The first project will teach more than 100 unemployed and underemployed Boston-based citizens how to weatherize homes for maximum energy conservation. The university plans to renovate the fourth floor of a 110-year-old mill for the center, which will include multi-disciplinary learning and laboratory spaces to facilitate sustainability research and education.
U San Diego Kicks Off AMSOLAR Campus Installation Plan
The University of San Diego (CA) will install a 1.23-megawatt solar energy system as the debut project of Solano Beach, Calif.-based AMSOLAR's plan to build 20 megawatts of solar installations on school campuses. The $100 million project will be financed by GCL Solar Energy, a San Francisco-based subsidiary of silicon chip producer GCL-Poly Energy Holdings.
U Washington Approves Increase of Sustainability Fund
The University of Washington has approved a student-pushed sustainability fund increase. After 5,511 student signatures of support, the university’s Board of Regents approved to raise the quarterly fee from $113 to $117 per student. The university will now secure $339, 805 for the Campus Sustainability Fund.
25 Higher Ed Institutions Receive Green Building Fellowships
Second Nature has awarded 25 under-resourced institutions the 2010 Kresge Fellowship based on their level of need and institutional awareness of sustainable practices. Through the fellowship awards, institutions are provided with educational and networking opportunities to develop their green building and institutional sustainability competence.
Dickinson College Announces Sustainable Investments Initiative
Dickinson College (PA) has announced that it will invest one percent of its pooled endowment in the Sustainable Investments Initiative and will seek additional gifts to match its pledge. This co-mingled fiscal vehicle seeks investments that generate long-term social, environmental and economic power. Structured to make investments in both public and private equity around the world, the initiative's focus on socially responsible investments prepares for the scenario of sustainability becoming a primary global economic driver.
Waubonsee Community College to Expand Green Programs
Waubonsee Community College (IL) has received a $120,000 grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation to expand its green program offerings. The college will add a photovoltaic training laboratory and a geothermal heating/cooling system. The grant will also help create two photovoltaic career certificates.
Furman U Awarded $1 Million Sustainability Grant
Furman University (SC) has been awarded a $1 million grant to support the work of the David E. Shi Center for Sustainability. With this gift from the Duke Endowment Center, the University has raised a total of $2.7 million toward the center's endowment. Since 2007, Furman University has received $11.7 million in support of its sustainability efforts, including the recent $2.5 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to install geothermal systems at campus apartments.
NY Times Features Responsible Investing at Stanford U
The New York Times recently covered Stanford University's (CA) grassroots effort to pressure the technology industry to crack down on “conflict minerals.” In the Democratic Republic of Congo, armed groups force villagers to mine minerals like wolframite and cassiterite. Metals processed from these minerals are used in consumer electronics products like laptop computers and cell phones. Stanford’s trustees are considering a resolution to create a new proxy voting guideline for the University’s investments. The guideline would support shareholders’ efforts to make companies trace the supply chain of the minerals used in their products.
U Nevada Reno Awarded Grant for Renewable Energy Scholarships
The University of Nevada, Reno has been awarded $600,000 for renewable energy scholarships. The grant will be used to create scholarships for incoming renewable energy and engineering students with financial need. The grant will allow the University to build on their renewable energy program, renewable energy research projects, and will provide qualified graduates to Nevada's energy industry.
Middlebury College Announces Sustainable Investments Initiative
Middlebury College (VT) has partnered with the Rockefeller Brothers Fund to announce the creation of the Sustainable Investments Initiative, a co-mingled fiscal vehicle seeking investments that generate long-term, social, environmental, and economic power. The Initiative will seek investments focused specifically on sustainability issues such as clean energy, water, climate science, and green building projects.
Brandeis U Passes Sustainability Fund
Brandeis University (MA) students have voted in favor of creating the Brandeis Sustainability Fund. Students will pay $15 per year and the Sustainability Fund Administrative Board will decide what proposals to finance based on which projects will best improve campus sustainability.
U Buffalo Receives Grant for Solar Array
The University at Buffalo (NY) has received a $7.5 million grant to construct a 1.1-megawatt solarenergy array. The solar array, consisting of 5,000 photovoltaic panels, will provide power to 735 student apartments. The solar array will be designed to operate in a cold-weather environment and withstand heavy snowfall, serving as a benchmark for future systems in similar climates. In addition, the facility will start training and certifying personnel in the installation of solar panels.
U Washington Establishes Sustainability Fund
The University of Washington's Services and Activities Fee Committee has given $339,805 to establish a Campus Sustainability Fund. The Fund will create guidelines for how to allocate the donation. Current proposals include a large campus farm, renewable-energy installations, covered bike racks, and digital textbooks.
Colgate U Senior Class Donates Gift to Env'l Sustainability
The Colgate University (NY) 2010 graduating class has donated a gift to the Environment Sustainability Fund. The gift will be used to fund future green efforts and may help fund a community garden. The garden would produce vegetables that could be used in dining halls on campus and serve as an educational tool to promote the importance of local food. The Class of 2008 donated $23,000 to launch the Environmental Sustainability Fund.
Recovery Act Awards $106 M for 37 Green Research Projects
The U.S. Department of Energy will be awarding $106 million in funding for 37 projects, a portion of which will be located on college campuses. Projects will focus on transformational energy including the production of biofuels from renewable electricity, new types of batteries to make electric cars more affordable, and the removal of carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants. Educational institutions will receive 57 percent of the grants awarded. Two institutions have been identified to lead research on the two of the three focus areas: Harvard Medical School (MA) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Syracuse U Receives $35K for Sustainable Enterprise Partnership
Syracuse University (NY) has received $35,000 from the Carrier Corporation to support the Sustainable Enterprise Partnership (SEP). The SEP, a collaboration among SU’s Whitman School of Management, the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), and the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems, provides education and research to encourage businesses to incorporate sustainability into their practices, products, services, supply chain, distribution, culture, and management.
25 Institutional Fellowships Awarded for Green Building
Second Nature has presented 25 under-resourced colleges and universities with 2010 Kresge Green Building Fellowship Awards. With funding from The Kresge Foundation, Second Nature presented these fellowships as a way to provide under-resourced institutions with information and networking opportunities that will develop champions for green building on their campuses. The Kresge Fellowship Program within the Advancing Green Building in Higher Education Initiative will provide free registration, accommodations, and travel expenses for fellows to attend one national green building-related conference.
U Arizona Approves Green Fee
University of Arizona Board of Regents has allotted $24 of each student’s annual tuition for campus sustainability efforts. The additional funds will allow the University to implement changes to reduce the school’s carbon footprint. Support from the student fee could allow for the creation of a formalized campus office of sustainability and a full-time sustainability coordinator. Other ideas include investing in environmental research and projects related to energy and water conservation.
Western Washington U Students Vote to Expand Green Energy Fee
Western Washington University students have voted to approve an expanded green fee which will continue to finance the University’s renewable energy certificates. More than 80 percent of the student body was in favor of increasing the fee from $4 to $9 per academic quarter. The green fee was first approved in 2005 and has been used to purchase renewable energy credits and finance student projects devoted to increasing energy efficiency, decreasing consumption, and generating renewable energy. The fee will need to be approved by the Associated Students Board of Directors and the WWU Board of Trustees before it can go into effect.
5 Texas Universities Pass Green Fund
Student bodies at five Texas institutions voted on and approved green funds during Earth Week: University of Texas at Austin; University of Texas, San Antonio; University of Texas, El Paso; Texas A&M University, and University of North Texas. At UT Austin, 71% of voters favored the new fee. At Texas A&M, where a more heated debate took place, 57% voted in favor. The new fees would range from $3 – $5 per semester. If each of the funds is approved by its respective board of regents, the funds would generate a combined $8 million for sustainability projects over their five year lifespan.
U California Santa Barbara Allots Funding for Green Projects
The University of California, Santa Barbara's The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) Grant Making Committee has announced its grant recipients for the 2009-10 funding cycle. The 13 projects selected to receive funding include plastic bottle reduction, LED stage lights, building waste audits, a wind turbine installation, a utility conservation incentive program, a water conservation initiative, and other eco-friendly projects.
U California Santa Barbara Students Approve Renewable Energy Fee
Students at the University of California, Santa Barbara have approved a mandatory student renewable energy fee with the highest voter turnout ever recorded. The Student Services Renewable Energy Initiative will generate revenue to be used to fund large-scale renewable energy projects at the seaside campus. This fee increase of $6 per quarter will generate upwards of $3.4 million dollars by the time it expires in 2020.
St Mary's College, U Kansas to Start Green Revolving Loan Funds
The St. Mary's College of Maryland and the University of Kansas have announced plans to start revolving loan funds for campus sustainability projects. St. Mary's College Student Government Association will allocate roughly $100,000 to a new fund for creating or implementing sustainable, energy-saving technologies and systems on campus. The majority of the money saved will then go back into the fund. Students will be able to propose and modify projects using the fund. KU's Revolving Green Fund will finance sustainability projects aimed at reducing energy costs and consumption starting with $10,000.
Western Michigan U Trustees Approve Student Green Fee
Responding to a student-led initiative and vote, Western Michigan University trustees have approved a new $8 per-semester fee that will begin in fall 2010 and fund campus efforts to sustain a campus culture focused on sustainability. The fee was approved by students who voted in a campus-wide general election this spring. The initiative will generate an estimated $440,000 annually and will be used to support a Sustainability Office, a green jobs program for students, and student research.
U Pennsylvania Announces Green Fund Projects
The University of Pennsylvania has announced the second round of Green Fund awards, designed to seed environmental project ideas from faculty, students, and staff with one-time grants of as much as $50,000. Projects will include worm composting; a documentary on retrofit installations on campus; the addition of a recycling and a trash compactor; an educational lecture series; and the installation of an energy meter at the School of Veterinary Medicine, occupancy sensors in the Quad, an automatic capacitor bank and associated equipment at the Translational Research Lab to improve the building’s energy performance, a 1,000 - 2,000 gallon storm-water-collection tank that will supply the irrigation system, and a hydronic heater unit designed to heat the Arboretum's Horticulture Garage with wood from trees damaged on the site.
U Vermont Approves Clean Energy Fund Projects
The University of Vermont Clean Energy Fund Committee has approved its first round of projects. The Fund assesses UVM undergraduate and graduate students a $10 fee each semester to establish new clean energy projects on and around the UVM campus, generating about $225,000 per year. This year, $174,669 was allocated for nine approved student projects; $32,000 was set aside for an annual education and outreach fellowship to support student involvement in clean energy projects, coordinate with classroom instruction, secure grant funding, and disseminate information; and $25,000 will be used for professional project management for any construction the funded projects require. $25,000 was also set aside as a contingency fund. Selected projects include a campus dashboard system; the development of an energy auditing course and a virtual carport course; the installation of solar trackers, a solar array, and a solar hot water unit; solar power and smart grid research; and evaluation of biomass potential on the Trinity campus.
California CCs Receive Grants for Green Job Training
Sempra Energy Foundations has given 10 California community colleges a total of $250,000 in grants. Each institution received $25,000 to use as scholarships for students joining green job training programs. Awarded colleges include: Citrus College, Fullerton College, Glendale Community College, Imperial Valley Community College, Los Angeles Trade Tech, Riverside Community College, San Diego City Community College, Santa Ana Community College, Southwestern Community College, and Taft Community College.
Southern Illinois U Carbondale Green Fee Funds Campus Projects
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale has approved 17 projects for funding from its Green Fund. Projects that offered educational opportunities, student involvement, improvements to campus life and collaboration between multiple departments were more likely to receive money. The fund, generated by a green fee, gave out $151,174.50 to projects this semester.
4 Maine CCs Receive Grant Money for Green Curriculum
The Maine Public Utilities Commission's Efficiency Maine program has awarded four community colleges a total of $1.3 million in grants. Northern Maine Community College, Eastern Maine Community College, Kennebec Valley Community College, and Southern Maine Community College each received funding. The money is being used to expand each College's sustainability curriculum.
Denison U Awards Internal Sustainability Projects Funding
The Denison University (OH) Environmental Sustainability Venture Fund has awarded grants for green campus projects. Students, faculty, and staff were invited to submit proposals for small-scale projects that would enhance environmental sustainability at Denison. The following projects received funding: a campus garden, a bike-share, a laundry exchange, reusable water bottles, shoe recycling, apartment compost, weatherization, and reusable dishware.
U Texas Austin, Rice U Students Approve Green Fees
Students at the University of Texas at Austin and at Rice University (TX) have passed referendums to establish green funds on campus. UT Austin students approved a $5 a semester fee which could be added to tuition bills beginning in 2011. The money raised by the fees will be used for such projects as subsidizing internships for green jobs and paying for a community garden. Students at UT passed the measure with 71 percent in favor and 29 percent opposed, with 8,917 total votes cast. One out of five dollars in the UT proposal would go toward financial aid. The $9 a semester green fee at Rice will create the Rice Endowment for Sustainable Energy Technology (RESET), which will be used for campus sustainability projects.
Texas A&M U Students Vote for Green Fee
Texas A&M University students have voted to impose a $3 per semester student fee in order to support environmental services on campus. The fee will create the "Aggie Green Fund" and will generate $300,000 annually to carry out sustainability initiatives. This comes a year after the Texas state legislature approved a measure allowing students to implement student-driven fees.
U Illinois Urbana-Champaign Passes Student Green Fee
Students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have passed a referendum that proposed increasing the current student green fee from $5 to $14. The first fee was implemented in the spring of 2007. One of the current programs that will continue to benefit from the newly-increased fee is the student sustainable farm, which sells produce to the university’s dining halls. The farm is relatively new, celebrating its first full harvest year. The increased fee will help plant new seeds for future farm projects.
Slippery Rock U Awards Funding for Sustainability Projects
Slippery Rock University (PA) Green Fund committee has approved several sustainability projects for the upcoming year. One initiative will purchase a $9,600 biofuels processor. The equipment will be used to convert used vegetable oil from campus dining facilities into biofuel that will be used to power university diesel tractors and lawnmowers. The processor is expected to generate up to $1,200 in savings each year. Other grants awarded by the Green Fund committee include $11,600 to purchase occupancy sensors for classrooms and high-tech electric meters, $4,150 for a sustainability across the curriculum program; and $3,085 for sustainability educational programming for students.
U Utah Awards 1st Round of Internal Sustainability Funds
The University of Utah Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund committee has chosen seven energy-saving proposals to receive funding from its sustainability fee. Among the projects selected were proposals to add switches to vending machines so they use less energy, modify the U’s solar panels to track the sun throughout the day to maximize their absorption, and design a way to capture storm water for the U’s plants. Approximately $35,000 has been allocated to the selected projects.
New York U Funds On-Campus Sustainable Projects
New York University has selected 14 projects out of over 50 submissions to be the recipients of its Sustainability Fund grant money. The Sustainability Task Force gave out $75,000 to projects that will reduce environmental impacts, engage the community, and advance applied research and educational goals on campus.
Rice U Establishes Committee on Investor Responsibility Policy
A group of students from Rice University's (TX) Rice for Peace and Justice group have created the Committee on Investor Responsibility Policy. The Committee, which will focus on the social and environmental impact of the institutions' investments, will consist of three faculty members chosen by the Faculty Senate, two graduate students chosen by the Graduate Student Association, three undergraduate students chosen by the Student Association and one administrator chosen by President David Leebron. All offices will need to be confirmed by the president and will be up for renewal on a yearly basis.
U Illinois Chicago Receives Funding Toward Food Issues Education
The University of Illinois at Chicago has received a $149,000 grant from the Washington-based Institute of Museum and Library Sciences for its soup kitchen at the Jane Adams Hull-House Museum and the half-acre Hull-House Urban Farm that supplies some of its ingredients. The two-year grant will help fund the Hull-House Museum's Re-Thinking Soup program, a weekly luncheon that features recipes from local chefs and speakers on food issues like food sovreignty, ethical eating and animal rights.
Slippery Rock U Green Fee Funds Projects
The Slippery Rock University (PA) student green fee has distributed $19,500 in grant money to fund new projects. Professors and students recently submitted project proposals for how the funds should be spent and a committee chose five of the proposals including: a campus wide showing of Food Inc., lectures from green speakers, a biofuels project, occupancy sensors for class rooms, and electric metering equipment.
U Georgia Approves Student Green Fee
University of Georgia President Michael Adams has announced the approval of a student green fee to begin next fall. The $3 fee will help to fund a campus sustainability office, support efforts to coordinate environmental programming, address energy efficiency, and interlace sustainability efforts on campus with university academics.
