Start-Up Story

 

What is the Graduate Green Living Program?

The Graduate Green Living Program (GGLP) is a peer-to-peer education program that promotes sustainable living in graduate school residence halls and apartments. Green Living Representatives (Reps) connect with fellow residents in a variety of ways about energy and water conservation and recycling and waste reduction. They also suggest infrastructure and policy improvements that will remove barriers to student conservation. At present there are GGLP Reps for Harvard Business School residence halls and common areas, and Harvard Law School residence halls.

The Idea Behind the Program

In order to enhance the benefits of working with HGCI on energy upgrade opportunities in buildings in the graduate residences operated by Harvard Real Estate Services, the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Law School, HGCI Director, Leith Sharp proposed that such projects be bundled together with an occupant behavioral change program in light of the success of the undergraduate Resource Efficiency Program to reduce pay back periods. The undergraduate Resource Efficiency Program was three years old and was well know across the University. This reputation was instrumental in making university leaders feel confident in tackling the graduate residential population.

First Steps Taken By HRES

In May of 2005, Susan Keller, Director of Residential Real Estate for Harvard Real Estate Services (HRES) gave the HGCI the necessary approval to go ahead with a loan fund application to fund all of the capital upgrades in concert with the new occupant behavioral change program. Specifically, it was decided that they would try the newly named “Graduate Green Living Program” at Peabody Terrace, Soldiers Field Park, and One Western Avenue for the 2005-2006 school year.

HLS and HBS Join In

Around the same time Leith was encouraged by the Harvard Law School and the Harvard Business School to provide them with a range of new service offerings, including programs for the residential populations of both schools. John Arciprete from Harvard Law School along with Doug Scatterday, Bob Breslow and Meghan Carter from Harvard Business School gave their instant financial and managerial support to the concept proposed by the HGCI. Both schools moved quickly to partner with the HGCI in funding a joint effort with Residential Real Estate, to be called the Graduate Green Living Program.

The Program Gets Underway

Loosely modeled on the successful undergraduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences Resource Efficiency Program, the Graduate Green Living Program educates and engages residents in shifting their priorities and behaviors to reduce the unnecessary consumption of resources (energy, water), to minimize the general creation of waste (through recycling, reuse and procurement) and to generally take greater responsibility for their own role in driving university-related environmental impacts.

The Story Continues to Evolve

The GGLP is currently entering its fourth year. With an interest from Harvard Real Estate Services to connect with residents in all of their properties on issues of sustainability and resources conservation behaviors an alternative, broad-scale GGL Program for outreach program will commence at HRES properties in the summer of 2008. The programs at HLS and HBS will continue in successfully using student workers to deliver messages in their residences on campus. 

The decision of HRES, HLS, and HBS to create these occupant engagement programs was a monumental step forward for Harvard, enabling the University to create the first-known graduate level green living program in the United States, and is a testimony to the visionary and forward-thinking leadership of these three leaders.