Iowa State University currently offers two opportunities to obtain funding specifically for sustainable projects and initiatives on campus. These green funding avenues are available to both ISU students (Green Initiatives Fund) and ISU faculty and staff members (Live Green! Revolving Loan Fund). Application guidelines are available for both funding opportunities year-round. Be sure to check out previously-funded projects that have promoted all facets of sustainability at Iowa State!
Funding Opportunities
Live Green! Loan Fund
Do you have an energy-saving or other sustainability-focused project idea for your campus building or office? Through the Live Green! Initiative’s Live Green! Revolving Loan Fund, you can put your idea into practice and get the savings started.
The Live Green! Revolving Loan Fund provides interest-free loans for campus projects that promote energy conservation and sustainability and provide a return on the investment through increased efficiencies including (but not limited to): resource use, financial savings and emissions reductions.
Loan recipients repay their loans through savings derived from the implementation of their project. As the loan fund is replenished, through loan repayments, the loan can “revolve” and fund additional sustainability more energy conservation projects on campus. After the loan has been repaid, the ongoing savings is retained by the loan recipient to use in whatever manner will most benefit their goals and priority initiatives.
Iowa State’s green loan fund is one of only 76 that have been established on college campuses in the United States and Canada. The Live Green! Revolving Loan Fund has been recognized for its contributions in furthering campus sustainability initiatives and included in various Sustainable Endowments Institute publications on the subject including:
- Green Revolving Funds: A Guide to Implementation & Management (2013)
- Greening the Bottom Line - Case Studies of Green Revolving Loan Funds (2012, 2011)
In support of the Sustainable Endowment Institute’s Billion Dollar Green Challenge, aimed at increasing financial investment in campus sustainability, Iowa State University’s Office of Sustainability served on the development team for GRITS (The Green Revolving Investment Tracking System), a web-based tool designed to help manage every aspect of an institution’s green revolving fund (GRF) including aggregate and project-specific financial, energy, and carbon data, as well as serve as a resource library.
Green Initiatives Fund
Iowa State’s Student Government encourages students to make a sustainable impact with their time at Iowa State. One way it does this is with the Green Initiatives Fund, facilitated through the ISU Student Government Sustainability Committee, which supports student-initiated projects that promote environmental, economic and social sustainability.
Applicants must represent a recognized student organization. Funding is given to projects that align with the following goals:
- Reducing energy consumption, waste production and the carbon footprint on campus.
- Encouraging sustainable development and encouraging ISU to become a greener campus.
- Providing educational opportunities for students to learn more about sustainable lifestyles, choices, and options.
- Benefiting a large part of the ISU campus or connecting the university to the Ames community.
Applications will be reviewed by the student-led Student Government Sustainability Committee.
If students have a specific project or initiative that supports a sustainable future and Cyclone student experience, funding consideration can be requested by:
- Downloading an application detailing their ideas, and
- Filling out the submission form.
For more information, contact Abigail Bergstrom and Katherine (Kit) O'Driscoll, co-Student Government Directors of Sustainability.