Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 68.45
Liaison Justin Mog
Submission Date March 4, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of Louisville
IN-40: Sustainability Projects Fund

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 0.50 Justin Mog
Assistant to the Provost for Sustainability Initiatives
Office of the Provost
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name of the institution’s sustainability projects fund:
Green Fund for UofL

Which of the following best describes the primary source of funding for the sustainability projects fund?:
Donation driven

Year the institution’s sustainability projects fund was established:
2,012

A brief description of the institution’s sustainability projects fund:

With the launching of the UofL Green Fund, we are offering people at UofL who are passionate about sustainability a way to contribute financially to our efforts and providing alumni and friends of the university with an opportunity to directly support our initiatives, as well.

What’s particularly exciting about sustainability initiatives is that they hold the promise not only of paying for themselves, but oftentimes, of saving considerable money in the long-run. Many projects, however, take some initial funding as seed money to get them off the ground without raising tuition or adding new student fees. That’s where the UofL Green Fund will help.

The UofL Green Fund provides the seed money to help start and advance campus sustainability initiatives and pilot projects for which additional financial support will be required. Anyone who has a good idea for advancing campus sustainability will have the opportunity to propose projects for consideration. Students, in collaboration with the Sustainability Council, will have the opportunity to play a role in determining which projects take priority, as well as actively participating in their implementation. Projects that receive money from the UofL Green Fund will change over time, but some initial ideas include:

- Employing student campus sustainability workers and “Eco-Reps” like those at other schools;
- Producing educational and outreach materials to raise awareness about campus sustainability and how individuals can make a difference;
- Installing on campus such renewable energy projects as solar and wind power;
- Purchasing and maintaining bicycles for a campus bike-share program, as well as bike racks for buildings that lack them;
- Purchasing bins and signs for recycling and composting efforts;
- Installing rain gardens; pervious concrete; green roofs; and native, lower-maintenance species on campus grounds;
- Expanding, maintaining and improving the organic campus Garden Commons at the Cultural Center;
- Renovating model green classrooms, dorm rooms and offices; or
- Purchasing and maintaining a reusable commencement gown collection for students to borrow.


A brief description of the multi-stakeholder decision-making process used to determine which projects receive funding through the sustainability projects fund:

The university-wide Sustainability Council is the governing body that makes decisions about which projects receive funding. It is comprised of a wide array of students, faculty, and staff from across the university who share an interest in advancing sustainability. The full Council meets for 90 minutes on the last Wednesday of every month to share ideas and discuss projects that may need financial support. It's four main committees and additional work groups also meet regularly to vet ideas.


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:
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