Green Leaders
Shattering the Myth – Funding First, Operational Change Second

Tadu Yimam, Policy Analyst
National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO)

In higher education, the economic downturn has dramatically changed the value of sustainable practices on campuses nationwide. Sustainability has gone from a trendy buzzword to a powerful movement that makes business sense in a rapidly changing economy. A well-designed sustainability initiative must incorporate financial analysis from the very beginning. The business officer on campus is often called upon to lead the development of sustainable strategies, but facilities staff, students and other campus stakeholders are increasingly becoming problem solvers in bridging financing gaps for projects that benefit the triple bottom line of sustainability: people, planet and prosperity.

In an effort to develop a tool that meets the need for new green financing mechanisms, the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), in partnership with Second Nature, has just released Financing Sustainability on Campus. This comprehensive guide offers real-world examples, creative strategies, and clear explanations of a wide variety of financial tools and programs for making sustainability initiatives a reality in higher education.

This resource answers questions and walks through the process of determining which financing strategy is the “best fit” for different institutions. For example, California State University, Fresno entered into a 20-year power purchase agreement. The university will purchase all the output from a 1.1-megawatt solar facility and in doing so expects to save more than $13 million in utility costs.

Another winning approach looks at how an institution can blend financing options. How can campuses utilize tax-exempt lease purchase contracts? What tax incentives are available? When is bond financing the best option? What new liabilities will institutions need to recognize on their balance sheets? Financing Sustainability on Campus addresses a myriad of approaches and indicates when each type of financing should be pursued. The first of its kind, the book truly shatters the myth that additional funding is necessary to make a change on campus. Instead it offers the guidance green champions on campuses need to navigate the increasingly complex area of sustainability.

Financing Sustainability on Campus is available for sale through NACUBO’s Web site in three editions: A hard copy and a PDF e-book are available now; an electronic version for Kindle will soon be sold through Amazon.

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LEED on Campus
Institutionalizing Sustainability: CSU Grows Green, from Campus to Community

Brian Dunbar, Executive Director, Institute for the Built Environment
Carol Dollard, Energy Engineer
Colorado State University

In line with its institutional commitment to sustainability, Colorado State University (CSU) recently installed photovoltaic (PV) systems on two of its academic buildings, Engineering and the Academic Village, at 18.9 and 12.6 kilowatts (kW) apiece. Additionally, the school went live this month with a 2,000-kW system on the CSU Foothills Campus – a full 15 acres of solar panels to provide renewable energy to the campus, setting CSU apart as having one of the largest university-hosted PV arrays in the country. While the commitment to sustainability at CSU goes back many decades, justifying solar system installations while the university was undergoing dramatic budget cuts posed a significant challenge.

Where did the money for the PV projects come from? The PV system on the Engineering Building was funded in part by grants from the Colorado Governor’s Energy Office. The competitive local construction market brought in bids for the Academic Village project that were well under budget, allowing the university to purchase the PV system for the site. The addition of solar panels on campus allowed CSU to pursue credits for green power as part of the Academic Village’s LEED certification.

The Foothills Campus array was third-party-financed through a power purchase agreement and is owned by the power company. The university thus takes on low obligation and risk for the installation, maintenance and service while enjoying a fixed rate for energy over a 20-year period, guarding against future electric rate increases.

Fortunately for CSU students, the benefits of having an increasingly green infrastructure extend far beyond building features. Through graduate courses such as Facilities Planning and Management, students work with local schools on LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (LEED EB:OM) projects. For students with a concentration on sustainable buildings through the Construction Management Program, this green service learning course is mandatory and drives home the importance of sustainable operations for existing buildings.

In the fall of 2008, students worked with City of Fort Collins employees to document the energy, water, waste, air quality, cleaning and purchasing practices for the city’s administration building. The students analyzed and compiled data for each applicable LEED credit, completed documentation for LEED certification, and presented recommendations to city staff in their pursuit of LEED EB:OM certification.

This past fall students performed the same documentation and analysis for Kinard Middle School, a school pursuing LEED EB:OM certification. In addition to working with school district facilities staff to compile data for each LEED credit, the students also participated in a charrette with Kinard’s eighth-grade students and teachers to envision how behavioral and operational changes could help the best-performing school in Colorado to use even less energy, lower its overall footprint, and become a model for other schools in Fort Collins and across the nation.

The Institute for the Built Environment (IBE) is an interdisciplinary research and community service group focused on green building and the LEED rating systems. Architecture firms and building owners hire IBE’s graduate student interns to manage LEED documentation on their projects. Additionally, IBE convinced CSU’s President Larry Penley to require LEED Gold certification for all new buildings on campus.

Students have gained excellent experience on LEED projects, including schools, university buildings, city facilities, offices, a children’s discovery center and other projects in Colorado and Wyoming. On average, CSU prepares 300 students and professionals a year to become LEED APs. The combination of creative hands-on learning experiences in green building and an increasingly green campus makes Colorado State University a model in institutionalizing sustainability.

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Curriculum Connections
Featured Award Winner: Iowa State University

Nadia M. Anderson, Assistant Professor and Director
The Bridge Studio, Department of Architecture
Iowa State University

To create a sustainable built environment for the future, architects must understand how buildings can foster a holistic intersection of technological innovation, social equity and economic vitality. As a winner of USGBC’s 2009 Excellence in Green Building Education Award, the Bridge Studio at Iowa State University was recognized as an exceptional model of green building education in colleges and universities. The Bridge Studio immerses students from a range of design disciplines in integrated practice through affordable housing projects, while assessing a range of sustainable design issues.

We launched the Bridge Studio program in 2006 with the help of a pilot grant from the American Institute of Architects’ Practice Academy initiative. From its inception, the Studio has been committed to finding innovative ways to build bridges between architectural education and practice. We saw an opportunity to engage issues that are transforming education and practice, primarily environmental sustainability and social equity. Our students work with local design firms, as well as community organizations and residents, to develop real projects for real communities in Iowa. We have worked with low-income neighborhoods in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids and this spring will work with the rural community of Corning in southwest Iowa.

In the Bridge Studio, students learn to make informed choices about design based on a range of factors. For example, in selecting heating and cooling systems, they must balance the need for improved energy efficiency to reduce energy bills with additional upfront costs that may affect eligibility for federal housing dollars. Students also learn to consider a house not as an isolated unit, but as part of a larger system that involves neighborhood stabilization and economic development in addition to reducing fossil fuel consumption and storm water run-off.

As a land grant university, Iowa State has a mission to assist the people of Iowa, the nation and the world through innovative and knowledge-based research, teaching and outreach. Our projects expand the understanding of architectural services to include the development of funding and organizational strategies that can in turn foster more comprehensive, sustainable approaches to the built environment. By working with community and non-profit organizations, students not only assist with specific design problems; they also help to identify larger organizational goals connected to environmental, social and economic sustainability.

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The Inside Track
USGBC Student Groups

USGBC Students are popping up all over the country, and the USGBC Students at Florida State University (FSU) are just one great example of young people leading the charge to green their campus. A small band of students studying real estate, civil engineering, interior design and urban planning, the group was recently awarded a grant from Youth Venture, whose notable supporters include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and MTVu, MTV’s first network devoted entirely to college and university students.

Youth Venture is a global movement of change-makers: young people from around the world who have launched initiatives to create a lasting positive impact in their communities. In tandem with other financial and outreach supporters, Youth Venture gives small grants to young leaders engaged in social change. The USGBC Students at FSU are in the process of developing an education and outreach plan for the spring and will use the grant money to support their efforts to advocate for green building and other key sustainability issues on campus.

USGBC Students is the college and university student engagement program of the U.S. Green Building Council. The program recruits, equips and connects the next generation of leaders to the green building movement and sustainable design industry by empowering students to transform their campuses, careers and communities.

If you are interested in starting a USGBC Students group at your college or university, visit www.usgbc.org/studentgroups or e-mail us at studentgroups@usgbc.org.

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