Sustainable Endowments Institute launches Billion Dollar Green Challenge for colleges, universities and nonprofits

by Shane Henson — October 21, 2011—The Sustainable Endowments Institute, a Cambridge-based nonprofit that has pioneered research and education to advance sustainability in campus operations and endowment practices, and 15 partners have launched the Billion Dollar Green Challenge, an initiative that urges and invites colleges, universities and other nonprofits to invest a total of one billion dollars in self-managed green revolving funds that finance energy efficiency upgrades.

The Challenge is inspired by the exceptional performance of existing green revolving funds, which have a median annual return on investment of 32 percent, as documented by Greening The Bottom Line, a report published by the Sustainable Endowments Institute.

In advance of the launch, 32 institutions have already joined The Challenge’s Founding Circle by committing to invest a cumulative total of more than $65 million in green revolving funds. In addition to Harvard, Stanford and ASU, other Founding Circle institutions include Caltech, Dartmouth, George Washington, Middlebury, the University of British Columbia, and Weber State University.

Guided by a 34-member expert advisory council, The Billion Dollar Green Challenge offers technical assistance, best practices sharing, access to an advanced Web-based tool for managing green revolving funds, peer institutions’ project-specific data, and invitations to specialized Webinars and conferences.

The Billion Dollar Green Challenge has received financial support from the David Rockefeller Fund, HOK, John Merck Fund, Kresge Foundation, Merck Family Fund, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Roy A. Hunt Foundation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership, and the Wallace Global Fund.