|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: KellyLucci EfficiencyVermont 802-540-7630 klucci@veic.org VERMONT IS A NATIONAL LEADER IN COLLEGE ENERGY EFFICIENCY FINANCING Vermont has more College and University Green Revolving Funds thanany other State June 7, 2012 Burlington, VT Vermont institutions of higher education are taking big steps toimprove energy efficiency on their campuses and are committing realdollars to do so. Over the last nine months, a dozen Vermontcolleges and the University of Vermont have partnered withEfficiency Vermont and Burlington Electric Department in publiclycommitting to establish green revolving funds. Collectively, theyhave pledged more than $16 million to these funds in support ofenergy efficiency improvements on their campuses. This means thatVermont has more participating institutions than any other stateand is second only to California in total dollars committed togreen revolving funds under the Sustainable Endowments Institute s Billion Dollar Green Challenge. Vermont institutions that have so far committed to establish greenrevolving funds are: Burlington College, Champlain College, GreenMountain College, Middlebury College, Saint Michael s College,University of Vermont, Vermont Law School, and the Vermont StateColleges (Castleton State College, Community College of Vermont,Johnson State College, Lyndon State College, and Vermont TechnicalCollege). Green revolving funds are an innovative financing mechanism thatenables institutions and businesses to capitalize on the savingsproduced by energy efficiency projects. As the funds are investedin projects, they are replenished by savings realized throughreductions in energy usage. This encourages institutions to makelong-term investments in energy efficiency and provides them with aready source of upfront capital to invest in new projects. The push for green revolving funds was catalyzed in the fall of2011 with the announcement of the Sustainable EndowmentsInstitute s Billion Dollar Green Challenge, which called oncolleges and universities to invest a total of one billion dollarsin energy efficiency projects. Efficiency Vermont, working with thesupport of the High Meadows Fund, helped promote the effort inVermont by reaching out to colleges and universities to explore andmodel the benefits of green revolving fund investments on theircampuses. Officials at many Vermont colleges have already begun the processof generating proposals for funding, and are eager to undertakeenergy efficiency projects. Burlington College is particularly excited to participate in thegreen revolving fund, as our new campus is a perfect location forsustainability projects, President Christine Plunkett said,referring to its new campus – a 94,000 square foot historicbuilding on 32 acres. Establishing a green revolving fund helps further several goals forChamplain College, including providing funding to support continuedupgrades of historic buildings, and improve on their existing andsuccessful partnerships with Burlington Electric Department andVermont Gas Systems. It also allows the college to provide anattractive investment opportunity for new and returning donors whoare interested in supporting sustainability efforts on campus.According to Christina Erickson, Champlain s SustainabilityDirector, the college will also use their fund as a vehicle to bothbroaden and deepen engagement on campus: We are excited by thepossibility of involving students, faculty, and staff in variousaspects of the fund, including proposing and evaluating projects,monitoring performance, and marketing our successes. Over the past decade, GMC has invested an average of $1.8 millionper year in infrastructure projects to improve the energyefficiency of its facilities, including a new biomass facility,window replacements, and major upgrades in lighting and electricalsystems. The revolving fund will create valuable new opportunitiesto lower consumption and reduce our carbon footprint, said GreenMountain College President Paul Fonteyn. Energy efficiency is notonly a sensible way to create long-term financial savings, it alsoprovides ways for our students to gain hands-on experience inplanning and executing efficiency projects on campus. "Establishing a green revolving fund made perfect sense forMiddlebury College based on its history of energy saving projectswith Efficiency Vermont," said Middlebury College Director ofSustainability Integration Jack Byrne. "Since 2000,we've completed $1.14 million of energy efficiency andconservation projects that are saving us $378,000 dollars a year.Our new fund helps us do more projects that we might not otherwisehave pursued because now we have additional resources." For Saint Michael s College, the establishment of a greenrevolving fund is in line with the institution s strategic planwhich states, in part, that the College will implementinstitutional practices and policies that promote awareness of thecurrent and future impacts of actions on human and naturalcommunities, including the incorporation of ideals ofsustainability into operations, the academic program, and the dailylives of individuals. Sustainability Coordinator HeatherLynch notes that the green revolving fund is a perfect example ofthe forward thinking the college must take to advance itssustainability program, realizing that the decisions and actions wetake now will have a positive impact far into our future. Since 2001, Saint Michael s College has completed 49 energyefficiency projects, and more are in the works. Those projectsto date have saved over 1.1 million kWh and over $168,000annually. Initially the plan is for the fund support additionalenergy efficiency projects, but in future the college hopes toexpand the fund to involve staff, faculty and students ingenerating project proposals that touch upon not only efficiency,but also renewable energy and green campus initiatives. It isthe prospect of involving the whole Saint Michael s community inthis initiative that excites us most explained Lynch. The University of Vermont has made the largest commitment to greenrevolving funds of any college or university in the country,earmarking $13 million for the effort. To fund the program, theuniversity will reallocate about 10 percent of its cash on hand,which is normally invested for short periods in low-risk financialinstruments. These funds will instead be directed to such energyefficiency initiatives as installing demand-controlled ventilationsystems in buildings; replacing external lighting across campuswith energy efficient LED fixtures; and upgrading ventilation andlighting controls in older facilities. We think investing our cash in energy efficiency projects, whichhave a better rate of return than many of our current investments,is a fiscally and environmentally sound way to put our money towork, said Richard Cate, UVM s vice president for finance andadministration. Vermont Law School is pleased to join the growing number ofVermont s institutions of higher education that recognize greenrevolving funds as a smart investment, said VLS Dean andPresident Jeff Shields. Vermont Law School has long been a leaderin energy efficiency, from our green buildings to our pioneeringcourses in energy and the environment. Having an energyconservation sustainability loan fund will save money, reduceenergy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and demonstratethe environmental stewardship values of our students, faculty,staff and trustees. As a system of public colleges, committed by mission to serve for the benefit of Vermont and focused on providing anaccessible and affordable higher education to Vermonters, we cannever lose sight of what drives our costs, commented VermontState Colleges Chancellor Tim Donovan. While the Vermont StateColleges remain the most affordable post-secondary options in thestate, health care, energy and static levels of state funding forthe operation of the colleges continue to leave a heavy burden onstudents through tuition costs. This fund will allow thecolleges to make smart investments that are good for the bottomline and good for the environment. In commending the institutions for the commitments they have made,Burlington Electric Department General Manager Barb Grimes said: BED considers these revolving loan funds as a great way to makedeep efficiency investments with very good paybacks. Theinstitutions creating these funds are thinking long term about howto save money, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tread moregently on the planet. This type of forward thinking planningbenefits us all. Efficiency Vermont Director Jim Merriam agreed, noting that greenrevolving funds have proven to be a highly effective investment forcolleges and universities, enabling them to save money and energyboth immediately and over the long term. We are thrilled thatVermont has become a national leader in this effort, and we lookforward to partnering with all the Vermont institutions that havemade commitments in order to help identify projects that take fulladvantage of this innovative financing tool. Efficiency Vermont was created by the Vermont Legislature and theVermont Public Service Board to help all Vermonters reduce energycosts, strengthen the economy, and protect Vermont'senvironment. For more information, contact Efficiency Vermontat 888-921-5990 or visit . The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Gasket Rubber Sheet , Teflon Ptfe Sheet, and more. For more , please visit Ptfe Teflon Tube today!
Related Articles -
China Gasket Rubber Sheet, Teflon Ptfe Sheet,
|
