Bring your sustainability project to life with the Green Investment Fund
Applications open until Dec. 20
Do you see opportunities to be more sustainable on campus? Do you need a little help to turn your ideas into action?
The 2024 Green Investment Fund offers a unique opportunity to bring your innovative ideas to life. Whether you’re a student, faculty or staff member, this is your chance to secure up to $100,000 in revolving funding for projects that promote environmental stewardship and sustainable practices.
Last year, Mark Fry, associate professor, and his team in the biological sciences department applied to have the existing fluorescent fixtures in the 13,000 square-foot Animal Holding Facility replaced with an energy-efficient LED system.
“The lights in part of the facility were old, installed when the Duff Roblin Building was constructed in the late 1960s,” says Fry. “These lights were nearing their end of life, and needed to be replaced with something that was appropriate for an animal facility.”
Fry notes there were several possible choices to upgrade the lighting, but LED lights would provide quality lighting and were much more energy efficient than alternatives. However, they were also more expensive.
“Sometimes, a choice may be a bit less expensive, but may not be the best choice for environmental sustainability,” says Fry. “The Green Investment Fund will certainly help make sustainability easier to choose in those cases where the more sustainable choice is more expensive.”
Another project funded last year was a helium recovery system. Helium is critical to chemistry research on campus, but it’s a non-renewable resource. The chemistry department proposed the installation of a helium capture-and-liquification system to mitigate waste.
“This would generate a closed loop system that would ultimately reduce the need for us to purchase liquid helium from external vendors,” says John Sorensen, professor and acting head of the department of chemistry. “This will reduce costs considerably and make our helium system more sustainable. It will also insulate us from price and supply shocks.”
Revolving fund
To be able to fund sustainable projects into the future, the Green Investment Fund is a revolving fund. Therefore, projects must demonstrate the ability to repay the awarded amount from generated revenue or cost savings within 10 years.
“I would recommend that units carefully evaluate how savings would be realized and how those savings could be used to repay the GIF investment,” says Sorensen. “In our case the savings from needing to purchase external liquid helium will allow us to meet this expectation.
Fry notes that in the initial consultation of the lighting project, Physical Plant provided a rough estimate of how much electricity would be saved by using LED lights. That, along with the financial incentive from the GIF, helped make the project decision easier.
“The application process was easy, and I’d recommend that others who are planning a project evaluate whether the project could be helped by the Green Investment Fund.
Apply to Green Investment Fund today.
Feeling inspired?
Have a look around your area to see where the Green Investment Fund could make a difference. Here are some possible ideas:
- Replacing inefficient equipment and appliances with energy efficient ones (eg. -80°C freezers)
- Projects ensuring fume hood sashes in labs are closed when not in use
- Switching to renewable energy sources
- Replacing disposable materials/supplies with reusable ones
- Implementing practices that reduce consumption of materials/supplies
- Recycling/repurposing resources