The SRF Charter may also be downloaded as a word document by clicking here: SRF Charter.

SUSTAINABILITY REVOLVING FUND CHARTER

Approved November 13, 2007

“Carleton College recognizes that it exists as part of interconnected communities that are impacted by personal and institutional choices. We are dedicated to investigating and promoting awareness of the current and future impacts of our actions in order to foster responsibility for these human and natural communities. Carleton strives to be a model of stewardship for the environment by incorpora-ting ideals of sustainability into the operations of the college and the daily life of individuals.”
- Carleton College Environmental Statement of Principles

“Carleton College recognizes that global warming is one of the greatest local and global challenges of our time.  The college values the goal of carbon neutrality as a priority for our community, recognizing that this goal merits the allocation of resources to research and implement technological and behavioral change.  The college commits to developing a framework to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with the input of students, staff and faculty.  In doing so, Carleton reaffirms its commitment to sustainability as articulated in the Environmental Statement of Principles.”
- Carleton College Carbon Neutrality Value Statement

Purpose

As stated in the Environmental Statement of Principles and the Carbon Neutrality Value Statement, Carleton College is committed to promoting sustainability ideals in campus operations and the daily life of members of the Carleton community and to devoting resources to bring about reductions in greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions toward the long-term goal of achieving carbon neutrality.  The purpose of the Sustainability Revolving Fund(SRF) is to promote these objectives by funding innovative projects, proposed by members of the Carleton community, that produce significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.  In doing so, the Fund is intended to empower all members of the community to contribute their ideas and energy to enhance Carleton’s contribution to global sustainability.  Equally importantly, the process of project creation and implementation is intended to provide valuable educational opportunities for students, in line with the educational mission of the College. 

Goals

• Enable development and implementation of projects that reduce the College’s GHG emissions by providing a source of funding.
• Empower students, faculty and staff by inviting project proposals from the entire campus community.
• Enable investments in renewable energy, alternative fuels, and energy efficiency.
• Create a mechanism for reducing the College’s GHG emissions in perpetuity by dedicating cost savings to provide funding for similar projects in the future.
• Fund pilot projects that prove the functionality and cost-effectiveness of innovative methods of emissions reductions that could then be implemented on a wider scale.
• Encourage broader societal action by exemplifying best practices in greenhouse gas mitigation.
• Encourage students, faculty and staff to be proactive and engaged in the process of transitioning the world to a sustainable future.
• To serve as a role model on sustainability initiatives for other institutions of higher education, community groups, non-profit organizations, businesses, and governmental bodies.

Methods and Financing

The original moneys for the Fund were provided by contributions by Carleton College, the Carleton Students Association(CSA), and the Carleton Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC).  The Fund is intended to be entirely self-funding and to grow over time through a revolving mechanism that draws cost savings from projects.  Projects will be selected based on two main criteria:  potential to decrease the College’s GHG emissions, and ability to repay the Fund.  The EAC will administer the Fund and will decide which projects to fund based on these criteria.  The Sustainability Revolving Fund(SRF) Committee, a subcommittee of the EAC, will evaluate project proposals and make recommendations on funding to the EAC, who will be the final arbiter of which projects receives funding, all through a process outlined below.  Once in place, projects will repay the Fund from proven reductions in energy costs attributable to project operation. 

Cost savings from all funded projects will accrue to the Fund, the College, and the CSA according to the following formula:

(i) Until the project’s costs have been recovered all cost savings will accrue to the SRF.

(iia) If all costs have been recovered before the sixth year of a project, ninety (90) percent of all subsequent cost savings will accrue to the SRF.  The remaining ten (10) percent accrued during the first six years will accrue to the CSA until the CSA has received one hundred and ten (110) percent ($19,250) of the original investment ($17,500).  The CSA will receive a check from the fund annually at the beginning of each spring term until the $19,250 has been repaid.  This clause (iia) is provisional and will be moot following the payback of the CSA’s original investment plus ten percent ($19,250).  

(iib) After six years, one hundred (100) percent of all additional avoided cost savings will accrue to the College.  

(iii) All subsequent monetary inputs into the fund will be approved by the SRF on a case-by-case basis.

If at all possible, exact cost-savings measurements should be obtained, but in cases where this is unfeasible or costly, an educated estimate should be used.  For example, the known energy savings ratio of a compact fluorescent light-bulb (CFL) should be used where the exact effect on electricity usage of a certain number of CFLs may be hard to measure quantitatively through electricity readings. The SRF Committee will decide whether exact or estimated savings are appropriate for each project.

In all cases, project proposals should take advantage of local, state, or federal incentives for renewable energy or efficiency investments.  In particular, state revolving loan funding can be used to maximize project investment, by buying back 50% of a project’s debt to 0% interest. These incentives are liable to change due to new legislation and the SRF Committee should advise groups developing project proposals to research governmental incentives to include in their financing plan.

Ideally, projects will have payback periods of four years or less, so that excess returns may accrue to the Fund for at least two years.  Projects with longer payback periods may still be considered for funding, if their environmental or educational benefits are especially noteworthy. 

Funds for projects may be used for:

1. Materials or products that constitute the project—often the primary cost.
2. Professional work, installation, or design— costs should be minimized when possible, but for some projects, this may be the primary cost.
3. Research and testing or monitoring equipment—costs should be minimized, barring exceptional circumstances, which must be approved by the committee by consensus.
4. Community education, outreach, and publicity—costs should be minimized, barring exceptional circumstances which must be approved by the board by consensus.
5. Proposal Development—costs should be eliminated, if possible.  Student, staff, and faculty volunteer work should be utilized to the greatest extent possible.  The research of proposals, technologies, existing campus conditions, and implementation strategies should be conducted through independent studies with professors to the greatest extent possible.  Any campus surveying or similar work should be conducted through student groups such as: SOPE, or Carleton’s Minnesota Public Interest Research Group (MPIRG).  If possible, any funding required to develop the proposal itself should be found elsewhere, but the board may approve such funding by consensus.
6. Staff and work—the board may approve a salary by consensus—if possible, for a student employment position—for a work position(s) for a designated project(s) should conditions merit and the added cost still yields cost-savings to repay the Fund. In some cases, a work position could be a proposal on its own, as long as over-all cost savings would still be realized.  The Fund should accept a minor loss should such a position yield dramatic benefits to campus sustainability or show potential to lead to other projects with better financial potential. 

Governance

The fund will be managed by the SRF Committee, subcommittee of the EAC. The SRF committee’s purpose is threefold: to advertise the fund, to assist students through the proposal process and to choose the best projects to recommend to the EAC for approval. The committee is composed of five voting members: a college administrator, a Sustainability Assistant, a faculty member, and two students. One member, who represents the college administration, will be the Director of Energy Management.

One member will be a faculty member, who will be a current sitting member of the Environmental Advisory Committee.

One member will be a current Sustainability Assistant. 

Two members will be Carleton students. One will be the CSA-EAC liaison, who will serve as the committee chair, and the other will be a member of the CSA budget committee, who will be appointed by the committee annually during Fall term.

In addition, the Senior Accountant from Facilities will serve as the SRF’s Treasurer in a non-voting capacity.

The Director of Energy Management and Senior Accountant from Facilities are permanent members of the Committee, and the term of the faculty member will be for two years.  All other members will serve annual terms.  Terms can be modified based on scheduling.  Any Committee member can be reappointed by the designated body for additional terms.  New, qualified Committee members, however, should be appointed when possible.  Should a Committee member resign, a replacement should be chosen through the established method at the earliest available opportunity.  The chair of the Committee will be selected by the Committee for a one-year term.

In the case that this initial charter is deemed inadequate by the SRF Committee, it will be the responsibility of the SRF Committee to propose changes.  Any change to the charter proposed by the Committee must be approved by at least four voting members of the Committee.  In addition, all charter revisions must be approved by the Treasurer of the College, the CSA, and the EAC.

SRF Procedure

The SRF Committee will meet at least twice a term—while classes are in session—to discuss proposals if any have been proposed.  SRF Committee meetings are open only to members and invited guests. 

While unformulated ideas may be presented briefly for Committee discussion, suggestions, and help with proposal development, only thorough proposals with a clear target, financial plan, implementation plan and time line will be officially evaluated and voted on.

Any member of the Carleton community may submit a proposal, though student-initiated proposals are especially welcome and every proposal must engage one or more students in the research and proposal process.  All proposals must designate a person or persons who will be responsible for carrying out implementation and monitoring over the first two terms of the project’s lifetime.  Students are encouraged to consult with faculty and Facilities Department staff, if appropriate, for suggestions regarding the design and implementation of their project.  The EAC webpage contains a project proposal template with details on what the SRF Committee will be looking for in a project proposal.

Five hard copies and an electronic version of project proposals should be submitted to the EAC-CSA liaison by no later than the Wednesday of the 8th week of any term.  The SRF approval process has four stages. (1)All proposals will be initially reviewed by the SRF Committee.  As few as three SRF Committee members constitutes a quorum for initial recommendation of a proposal.  (2)All proposals that are initially approved by the Committee will be presented to the CSA by the EAC-CSA liaison.  This will serve to garner ideas and foster broader student involvement in the Fund and the projects it enables. At least one of the project’s initiators must be present during this presentation in order to field questions and make any additional comments.  (3)The project will then be reviewed for a second time by the SRF Committee, which then decides whether or not to recommend the project to the EAC.  The Committee typically will not exhaust the Fund in a single year to the extent that the amount of funding available for projects in the subsequent year is less than half that available in the current year.  That is, typically at least 50% of the Fund’s value in a current year must be regenerated through project or investment revenue or payback by the beginning of the following year though in exceptional circumstances(for proposals with exceptional merit), the Committee will be allowed to approve modestly larger amounts.  In evaluating proposals, the Committee may modify these proposals either by scale, implementation plan, or financial parameters before voting on the proposal.  Any Committee member may call for a vote.  In both the initial recommendation and final approval by the Committee, consensus should be achieved where possible, but decisions will be made by majority rule subject to the consensus requirements cited below.  (4)The approved projects will come before the EAC, where the three EAC co-chairs may by consensus decide either to: (a)approve the projects on their own, or (b)bring any projects to the EAC for discussion.  

Should a proposal be chosen by the EAC to receive SRF funding, the Committee and proposal initiators must proceed with implementation as rapidly as possible, including funding, installation, advertising and education.  Students who are not project initiators should be involved in proposal implementation whenever possible, particularly in publicizing the project and educating the community.

The SRF Treasurer will manage the budget and the accounting of the SRF. The credits from the project’s energy savings will come from the Facilities utilities budget. Approved projects will be monitored by two parties, the students, faculty and/or staff who made the proposal (to increase the education value of projects) and an unbiased party approved by the SRF committee as part of the approval process. The unbiased party, which may be a Sustainability Assistant (STA), the ENTS Associate, members of the EAC, and/or, in special cases, a facilities member, will guarantee the accuracy and continuity of project monitoring. Project monitoring for each individual project entails regular and accurate accounting to help ensure progress and long-term success.  Ultimately, the SRF assumes responsibility for the monitoring and ensuring the continuation of projects.   

A short report on the status of each project will be given by the respective monitoring parties to the SRF committee once term, or more by request of the committee. The first report for a project should be given the term that the project is approved and reports are necessary until the project is deemed completed by the SRF committee. The project report must identify the current and, if applicable, the future accountable—both biased and unbiased—parties for the project and must include an update on how the project is fulfilling its economic, educational and other goals. Once a year, the EAC will release a public document outlining the financial performance of each individual project and the fund as a whole.  The ENTS associate will be primarily responsible for the production of this report.