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Green Fund

We are looking forward to seeing the creativity and innovation of the members of the Penn community to help reduce Penn’s carbon footprint.

Program Overview

The Penn Green Fund welcomes ideas from the Penn community about ways to improve Penn’s environmental performance and reduce carbon emissions.  The Penn Green Fund is an initiative of Penn’s Green Campus Partnership and funded by the Division of Facilities and Real Estate Services and the Office of the Provost.  Each award will be funded as a one-time grant to members of the Penn Community.  The maximum allocation is $50,000.  A web link for the application and further information is on the Green Campus Partnership website.

Details

Selection Criteria
Each project will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

    1. Impact on Penn’s carbon emissions, or other environmental benefits
    2. Savings
    3. Overall project cost

While awarding creativity and innovation, priority will be given to projects with results that are:

    1. Able to demonstrate a quantifiable return on investment, and/or secure additional funding apart from the Green Fund grant
    2. Applicable across campus
    3. Effective in educating or changing behavior at Penn
    4. Focused directly on Penn’s University City campus, New Bolton Center, and/or the Morris Arboretum
    5. Interdisciplinary, and engage multiple stakeholders within the Penn community.

Project Obligations

  • Each project leader is required to submit a performance/status project report at midpoint and completion.  The final report is to be suitable for publication, and quantify the environmental benefits of the project.
  • The University owns the results of all work funded through the Penn Green Fund

Funding and Repayment

The Penn Green Fund is being initially financed as a one-time budget allocation by the Division of Facilities and Real Estate Services and the Office of the Provost, and is intended to facilitate energy and resources savings across the university.  To perpetuate this program, projects that generate financial savings directly to schools and centers will be asked to repay their grant.  Proposals should outline the savings strategy and anticipated repayment schedule.  Once the Green Loan Fund grant has been repaid, additional savings will return to the applying school or center.

 

Please contact sustainability@upenn.edu with any questions you might have regarding the Green Fund or for projects involving expenses over $50,000.