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Green Revolving Funds in Action: Case Study Series

University of Notre Dame
Green Loan Fund

Emily Flynn
Senior Research Fellow
Sustainable Endowments Institute
C a s e S t ud y : Un ive rsit y o f No t r e Dame

Summary

The University of Notre Dame’s Green Loan
Location: Notre Dame, Indiana Fund was started in 2008 by the school’s Energy
and Environmental Issues Committee with $2
Full-time student enrollment: 11,831
million dedicated to fund on-campus efficiency
Combined gross square footage of projects. The fund is managed by the campus
all buildings on campus: 9,291,472 Office of Sustainability. Potential projects are
proposed by students and staff and then reviewed
Endowment:
by a committee made up of administrators,
$5.53 billion as of June 30, 2009
faculty, students, and staff. A series of projects,
Type: Private undertaken in 2008 and 2010, exchanged
lightbulbs inside all of the campus dormitories
for CFLs. This project, the largest undertaken
by the Green Loan Fund, contributed to a net
savings of $20,000 annually and enabled the loans
to be paid back within an average of one year.

This case study was supported by generous
contributions from: David Rockefeller
Fund, HOK, John Merck Fund, Kresge
Foundation, Merck Family Fund, Roy A.
Hunt Foundation, U.S. EPA Green Power
Partnership and Wallace Global Fund.

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C a s e S t ud y : Un ive rsit y o f No t r e Dame

History

Notre Dame’s Office of Sustainability In conjunction with the creation of the new
and the Green Loan Fund Office of Sustainability, a green revolving fund,
titled the Notre Dame Green Loan Fund, was
Before the Green Loan Fund was initiated on
also created that summer. The seed money to
campus, sustainability projects were financed
start the fund came from an initial investment
with small grants from the Eco-Fund, a pool of
of $2 million from the central administrative
money seeded as a gift from the class of 2008
budget, and the fund is overseen by the
and contributed to further through alumni
Office of Sustainability’s program manager.
donations. While the Eco-Fund helped support
projects like a campus BikeFest and student
The Green Loan Fund supports projects that
trips to the national Powershift conference,
focus on energy efficiency on campus. The fund
the fund’s scope was limited in that it did
was strongly influenced by Harvard University’s
not expand to projects that focused more on
successful Green Loan Fund. Over the course
resource consumption and energy reduction.
of developing Notre Dame’s own fund, Energy
and Environmental Issues committee solicited
Addressing that need, the Energy and
advice from Harvard University staff.2
Environmental Issues committee researched
the environmental best practices being used at
other colleges and universities. The committee,
comprised of students, faculty, and staff,
concluded that Notre Dame would benefit
from both an Office of Sustainability and the
creation of a sustainability revolving fund, and
as a result, Notre Dame’s Office of Sustainability
opened the following summer in 2008.1

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C a s e S t ud y : Un ive rsit y o f No t r e Dame

Operations

Notre Dame Green Loan Fund but projects with longer repayment periods are
also considered if all parties are in agreement.3

Year Created: 2008
The Programs Manager in the Office of
Size: $2,000,000 Sustainability handles the project submission
process and presents all projects to the relevant
Source: Central Administrative Budget
departments.4 All university employees and
Average payback period: 7 Years students can submit project proposals to the
Programs Manager. After review by the Manager,
Administrator: Programs
a committee of 17 administrators, faculty, staff,
Manager, Office of Sustainability
and students decide which proposals to fund.5
Largest project financed: $150,000 All energy-related projects must also be signed
for LED outdoor light fixture project off on by the Director of Utilities. Successful
projects require a member from the Utilities
Average return on investment:
submitting division to be involved to oversee the
Data unavailable at the time of
project from start to finish to ensure its success.6
publication.

Eligibility & Applying to the Fund
In order to be eligible for funding from the
Green Loan Fund, projects must return savings
within a designated payback period, a figure
that is determined during the proposal stage for
the project. Fund administrators aim to fund
projects that have five-year paybacks or less,

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C a s e S t ud y : Un ive rsit y o f No t r e Dame

Performance

Project Data
Since the fund’s creation, 15 project proposals
have been submitted, with a total of 4 successfully
funded. The projects’ repayment periods
vary between 5 to 10 years, with an average
payback period of 7 years for all four projects.7
As of March 2011, the Green Loan Fund had
invested $133,848 in on-campus projects, with a
Student residence Ryan Hall opened its doors in
remaining $1,866,152 eligible for future projects 2009, and offers a more sustainable lifestyle that
on the Notre Dame campus.8 As the fund does includes 31 percent of the building materials being
re-purposed from recycled content, low-flow water
not charge interest on their loans, the fund
conservation technology in the bathrooms, and
will remain at the initial size of $2 million. energy-eff icient lighting and daylighting design.

Project 1: CFL Exchanges in To carry out the project, students designated as
Student Resident Halls Sustainability Commissioners were appointed
to each residence hall to assist the other students
Notre Dame’s series of compact fluorescent
in the hall by informing them of the project
lightbulb (CFL) exchanges took place during
and helping to facilitate the exchange. By going
four month-long phases in October 2008,
door-to-door, sustainability staff and student
November 2008, November 2009, and September
interns collected the older incandescent bulbs
2010. The project involved trading students’
from students and replaced them with the CFLs.9
incandescent lightbulbs for more energy-
efficient fluorescent bulbs throughout all 29
The exchanges impacted approximately 9,400
residence halls on campus, including dorm
students of the 11,800 students affiliated with
rooms and common spaces. The initiative was
Notre Dame who lived on and off campus.10
proposed collaboratively by staff and student
In total, 7,450 light bulbs were exchanged
interns in the Office of Sustainability.
over the course of the four series of CFL

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C a s e S t ud y : Un ive rsit y o f No t r e Dame

exchanges: 1,400 in the first round, 3,000
in the second, 1,550 in the third, and 1,500
in the fourth.11 Approximately $17,600 was
invested into the entire CFL Exchange project,
with each project paying back their loan in
under a year.12 The exchanges have saved
the campus a total of $20,000 annually.

By giving students on campus the opportunity
to take an active role in the CFL exchange
project, the Office of Sustainability aimed
to not only reduce the amount of energy
consumed in residence halls but to also
increase education about current energy-saving
technologies and energy use on campus.

Project 2: Water Conservation in
the Stepan Chemistry Building
In September 2010, the Green Loan Fund
supported the purchase of water economizers
for two new autoclaves to be installed in
the Stepan Chemistry building.13

The autoclave project is overseen by the facilities
manager in the College of Science and the
Office of Sustainability. The economizers each
cost $13,000 and are projected to save over
350,000 gallons of water annually, or about
$1,100.14 The payback period for this project
is estimated by the campus to be 10 years.

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C a s e S t ud y : Un ive rsit y o f No t r e Dame

Lessons Learned

Challenges of the Green Loan Fund to the Utilities department; recent project
proposals have discussed composting and electric
One of the challenges that the Green Loan Fund
vehicles. The fund administrators also recognize
has faced since its launch is a limited number
that ECM funding will not be a perpetual
of project proposals. Erin Hafner, Program
competitor. By the end of 2011, the money that
Manager for the Office of Sustainability, stated
has been budgeted for ECM will all be invested
that a factor of this limited number of proposals
in conservation projects, and the revolving
was due to competing sources of funding for
fund will emerge as another viable option for
efficiency projects on campus. In 2008, the same
financing future utility-saving projects.
year that the revolving fund was launched, Notre
Dame’s central administrative budget allocated a
Recommendations for
separate $4 million to the Energy Conservation
Starting New Funds
Measures program on campus, or ECM. The
ECM received an additional $6.5 million two Before beginning Notre Dame’s revolving fund,
years later in 2010. Though the ECM is managed university administrators found it beneficial
directly by the Utility Department, the ECM to look at models of fund operation and
was also designed to fund projects that would maintenance at other institutions. Though they
reduce utility bills through energy projects. looked to Harvard University’s revolving fund
Because of the creation of a competing source as a guide, Hafner cautioned that each school is
of capital, projects that the Green Loan Fund unique, and a single model will not be universally
would otherwise fund, like lighting and HVAC applicable. She also stresses the importance
retrofits, were supported by the ECM instead of creating a committee of faculty, staff, and
and resulted in fewer project proposals that students to implement the fund and continually
were submitted to the green revolving fund.15 advise the administration on its management.

The loan fund has addressed this issue by The Future of the Fund
focusing on projects that bear no connection

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C a s e S t ud y : Un ive rsit y o f No t r e Dame

Notre Dame plans to sustain its revolving fund
for future projects by publicizing the option for
graduating seniors and alumni to direct their
donation gifts to the fund. To this end, the school
plans to create marketing materials that will spread
information about the fund and promote its on-
campus projects and their benefits. Administrators
hope that this will engage the greater campus
community in the fund, as well as encourage
future donations from alumni that support
the sustainability projects at Notre Dame.16

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C a s e S t ud y : Un ive rsit y o f No t r e Dame

Endnotes
1 Hafner, Erin (Programs Manager, Notre Dame 10 University of Notre Dame- Off-Campus Housing.
Office of Sustainability). email to Emily Flynn. The College Prowler. http://collegeprowler.com/
December 10th, 2010. university-of-notre-dame/off--campus-housing/.
Accessed December 15th, 2010.
2 Sustainability at ND. Sustainability- University of
Notre Dame. http://green.nd.edu/sustainability-at- 11 Funded Projects. Sustainability – University of
nd/energy/. Accessed November 30th, 2010. Notre Dame. http://green.nd.edu/the-green-fund/
funded-projects/. Accessed December 15th, 2010.
3 Green Loan Fund Proposal Funding. http://green.
nd.edu/the-green-fund/. Accessed November 12 Hafner, Erin. email to Emily Flynn. February 1,
22nd, 2010. 2010.

4 Hafner, Erin. email to Emily Flynn. December 13 Funded Projects. Sustainability – University of
10th, 2010. Notre Dame. http://green.nd.edu/the-green-fund/
funded-projects/. Accessed November 22nd, 2010.
5 Revolving Loan Funds.” Survey. The Sustainable
Endowments Institute. February 1st, 2010. 14 Water. Sustainability, University of Notre Dame.
http://green.nd.edu/sustainability-at-nd/water/.
6 Hafner, Erin. email to Emily Flynn. December Accessed December 14th, 2010.
10th, 2010.
15 Projects. Utilities Department, University of Notre
7 Revolving Loan Funds.” Survey. The Sustainable Dame. http://utilities.nd.edu/projects/. Accessed
Endowments Institute. February 1st, 2010. December 14th, 2010.

8 Revolving Loan Funds.” Survey. The Sustainable 16 Hafner, Erin. phone interview with Ria Knapp.
Endowments Institute. February 1st, 2010. May 2010.

9 Hafner, Erin. email to Emily Flynn. December
10th, 2010.