| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65.47 |
| Liaison | Pamela Mischen |
| Submission Date | March 5, 2020 |
Binghamton University
IN-40: Sustainability Projects Fund
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.50 / 0.50 |
Sandy
DeJohn Utilities Manager / Sustainability Coordinator Physical Facilities |
Name of the institution’s sustainability projects fund:
Which of the following best describes the primary source of funding for the sustainability projects fund?:
Year the institution’s sustainability projects fund was established:
A brief description of the institution’s sustainability projects fund:
Binghamton University instituted several sustainability related funds:
1. Energy savings revolving fund - in 2006 Physical Facilities petitioned the senior administration to allow the utility budget surplus to be used for energy efficiency improvement / clean energy projects. Savings resulting from these projects would be returned to the fund for other similar investments. The university has since invested about $12 million dollars in various projects across campus including lighting upgrades (to LED), roof top solar,
water conservation projects (low flow fixtures), etc. and realized greater than $15 million dollars of savings in return.
2. Our campus recycling and composting program is self-sustaining with the cashflow generated through revenue contracts associated with recycled materials. This fund is used to hire student workforce to operate the material resource recovery program.
3. Our decision (a difficult one) to reduce membership participation in multiple organizations with similar sustainability goals resulted in available funding for a sustainability scholarship course. President Stenger utilized the would-be membership fee to offer a free sustainable energy 4-credit course to roughly 20 eligible students ranging from freshmen to senior levels.
A brief description of the multi-stakeholder decision-making process used to determine which projects receive funding through the sustainability projects fund:
The energy savings revolving fund was established in 2006 with an MOU between our senior administration and Physical Facilities Department to invest in projects with a 3-year return on investment (ROI) target. The program is administered by the Energy Team that performs ROI assessment for initial approval, followed by project implementation and subsequent performance documentation. As the program was proven successful by continuously generating surplus and improving our energy / water use intensity, the senior administration granted local authority to the Energy Team to approve additional projects and manage the budget. Now the decision making has been streamlined to approve projects by categories (lighting upgrade, boiler efficiency improvements, water savings, etc.) The program manager periodically reviews the effectiveness of the investments to safeguard the fund sustainability.
Website URL where information about the sustainability projects fund is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.