Talk:Harvard University, MA Green Campus Loan Fund

Source File: http://www.greencampus.harvard.edu/gclf/startup.php

Start-Up Story
How the Green Campus Loan Fund Was Established

In 2000, the HGCI Director and Co-Chairs consulted with many staff across Harvard to raise support for establishing a revolving loan fund that built upon previous experience at Harvard (see RCIP below). A proposal was developed that included a request for:

• $3 million to be made available (from the Harvard bank) as an interest-free revolving loan fund for conservation projects with 5-year payback periods or less,
• dedicated full-time staff to administer, promote and leverage the fund to its full potential,
• the Loan Fund to be made available for funding human resource projects that had proven financial and environmental returns, and
• an advisory group of facility directors to be established to oversee the approval process for loan applications.

After 12 months spent lobbying the central administration, including presentations to facility directors across the campus and a formal presentation to the President and Provost, the proposal was approved for the creation of a second-generation loan fund program. The HGCI was awarded $3 million, an annual staffing budget of $150,000 (for 5 years) and responsibility for full fund administration.

In the first 2 years of operation, the GCLF was administered by a full time staff person. We spent time establishing a foundation of engagement and participation. We also spent time establishing accounting systems, networks, support services, and promotional strategies. After 2 years, the GCLF had evolved to requiring less time (10-20 hr/wk) and was imbedded into the Green Campus Initiative's Green Campus Building Service. The merging of these two programs has allowed the HGCI to link up the provision of its expert building services with the financial incentive of the Loan Fund, and project activity has increased.

In FY05 the President approved a doubling of the Green Campus Loan Fund from $3 million to $6 million while presenting at what came to be Al Gore’s famous An Inconvenient Truth presentation at Sanders Theater. In FY07 through the successful advocacy of the HGCI the loan was again doubled by President Summers to $12 million in his keynote address at the HGCI's sustainability conference. The HGCI gained agreement from the President to expand the terms of the loan fund to support New Construction Loans. The mission of both the old and new Green Campus Loan Fund is to facilitate organizational decision-making that seriously considers the environmental sustainability of campus life by funding innovative infrastructure and behavioral education projects aimed at reducing Harvard's environmental impacts.