Green Fund

The Fund is managed by a committee made up of students, faculty, and staff from all 4 Tufts campuses.

Committee Members

• Ruth Bennett, Director of Strategic Capital Programs
• Silvia Bottinelli, Lecturer, Visual & Critical Studies Department, SMFA at Tufts
• Sean Cash, Associate Professor, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy
• Ujjayant Chakravorty, Professor, Department of Economics, School of Arts & Sciences
• Paul Henjes, A20
• Olivia Ireland, A20
• Chloe Malouf, A20
• Whitney Stiehler, Wildlife Clinic Coordinator, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
• Tina Woolston, Office of Sustainability Program Director

Potential projects that could be approved by the Green Fund Committee include any type of educational project or event (e.g. art exhibit, speaker, workshop, performance art) related to sustainability, sustainability enhancements (e.g. student-designed green roof or rain garden, solar charging stations, drinking water solution for events), pilot programs, student projects to study potential resource saving strategies, etc. Projects are not required to have a financial payback.

Tufts community members can get involved in several ways: submit an original idea for a sustainability project or educational event; join an existing team; or provide feedback and/or support ideas of others. To do any of the above, go to Tufts Idea Hub.

Tufts community members, as well as non-Tufts members, can support the projects that the Green Fund supports by donating directly to Sustainability at Tufts.

 

1. Interested parties submit a couple of sentences explaining their idea. The Office of Sustainability reviews all the proposals for duplicates, redundant, or otherwise obviously untenable ideas (e.g. putting a wind turbine on a building that has known structural issues). During the soft launch (Spring/summer 2018) we will be using the on-line tool Tufts Idea Hub to solicit initial ideas.
2. Applicants may be asked clarifying questions or provided with feedback to help refine their idea (through the Idea Hub).
3. Other students, faculty or staff can request to join an existing project idea.
4. The committee members will read through the ideas to decide which projects adhere to the guidelines and solicit feedback from relevant departments impacted by the proposals. An initial score, based on the selection criteria, would be completed by the committee members (each member will score the proposals independently and the average of their scores would be used). At least 2 members would read each proposal. Committee members cannot score their own proposals.
   The top 5-10 proposals (depending on the number and quality of proposals received) will be invited to complete a full application.
5. Applicants of the top proposals would then be invited to present their ideas (5 min presentation) to the full committee in an open forum that anyone is welcome to attend.
6. The proposals would then be scored based on the selection criteria. Depending on the funding requested, 1 or more finalists would be selected.

Funded proposals approved for implementation may be provided with assistance in the form of staff time in order to begin the implementation process of the project(s) within the next calendar year. Project teams must submit a report at the conclusion of the project that outlines the impact it has had on the Tufts community, including metrics such as energy or emissions saved, people, reached, etc.

• Environmental impact (energy savings, emissions reductions, water reductions, etc.)
• Social impact
• Education
• Feasibility (including whether or not the applicant is willing and able to contribute time to any project requiring heavy student involvement and adherence to all federal, state, local and Tufts rules and regulations)
• Ability to measure success
• Immediate cost savings (if relevant)
• Life Cycle Cost savings (including impacts on operating budget)
• Regulatory compliance
• Public relations value
• The Tufts Community’s interest and support
• Number of collaborators from different disciplines/constituents (e.g. faculty, staff and students)

Coming soon, but will include:

• Name(s) and affiliation(s) of submitters*
• Date
• Contact info for the team leader (email and phone)
• Project role of all team members (e.g. advisor, project member)
• Description of project
• Proposed timeline
• Budget (total cost must be under $40,000)
• Explanation of how the project will benefit Tufts
• Methods and metrics for evaluating the success of the project (e.g. description of how people will know if the project was a success) and a description of what would constitute a successful completion of the project.
• List of stakeholders (e.g. anyone who would be impacted by the project)
• (optional) Letters of support from key stakeholders

*Affiliation includes status (staff, faculty, student), department or major, job title or year,

The following projects have been funded through different processes but could have been supported by this fund if it had been available.

• Reducing Solvent Use in Chemical Research Labs (study)
• Heating & Cooling Energy Use in Pearson-Michael: P-200 fume hoods (study)
• Energy Efficient Ultra Low Temperature (ULT) Freezers (project)
  • The incremental difference between the cost of a standard ULT freezer and a high-efficiency freezer.
• Hodgdon Solar Panels (project)
  • Donated solar panels are going to be installed on Hodgdon hall to electrify power outlets for charging electronic devices