Overview
The Green Campus Loan Fund (GCLF) is a $12 million revolving loan fund that provides up-front capital for projects that reduce Harvard’s environmental impact. Projects pay back the loan from their savings within five years.
The Loan Fund provides capital for high-performance campus design, operations, maintenance, and occupant behavior projects. Basic project eligibility guidelines state that projects must reduce the University’s environmental impacts and have a payback period of five to ten years or less. The model is simple: GCLF provides the up-front capital. Applicant departments agree to repay the fund via savings achieved by project-related reductions in utility consumption, waste removal, or operating costs. This formula allows departments to upgrade the efficiency, comfort, and functionality of their facilities without incurring any capital costs.
Project criteria
Eligible projects include ones that:
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- Reduce energy use
- Reduce water use
- Reduce sewage or stormwater
- Reduce pollutants
- Improve operations
- Educate occupants
- Install renewable energy
Rules
For both types of loans, multiple conservation measure can be combined in one application.
Full cost loans:
$500,000 limit per conservation measure
Payback period of five years or less
Incremental loans:
$500,000 limit per conservation measure
Minimum 9% IRR
How to apply
The Application Form
Loans for Full Cost and Incremental Cost projects are available. Fill out the appropriate form and mail/email/fax the completed application form to the address below and contact us with any questions. You will need Adobe Acrobat Read 5.0 or later [download here] or Excel.
Office for Sustainability, 46 Blackstone Street, Cambridge, MA 02139. Phone: 617-496-1278, Fax: 617-495-9409
The Application Process Described
After reviewing the Loan Fund Criteria and Eligibility Requirements, we recommend contacting Nathan Gauthier (617-495-4980) or another Office for Sustainability (OFS) staff member at project conception to benefit from a range of support services and to align the project direction with the GCLF criteria. This pre-application process will lead to a smooth application and review process.
Payment Process
Payback schedules are based on the estimated annual savings calculated during the application process. Once part or all of your expenses for a particular project are incurred, send a copy of the paid invoice to Nathan Gauthier in order to receive that equivalent paid to the coding indicated on the application form. Payments back to the Loan Fund from the "paid from" account on the application form are completed annually at the end of August.
Payment process & admin. fee
- Payback schedules are based on estimated annual savings.
- Payments are completed annually in August.
- An annual 3% administrative fee is added to the loan and the payback period adjusted accordingly.
Typical Projects
The most commonly funded categories (in order) include:
- Lighting
- HVAC
- Kitchen
- Behavior change
- Controls
- Insulation
- Renewable energy
- Metering
- Cogeneration
