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Institutional Benefits
The GCLF has also created indirect benefits for the HGCI and the University, many of which were unanticipated. Less easy to quantify, these qualitative program benefits are described in detail below:
HGCI Legitimacy
Administrative authority over $12 million of loan money immediately bolstered HGCI legitimacy at negotiating tables around the University. Although not every department avails of the money, the fact that the HGCI was able to secure a significant financial incentive program for facilities upgrades legitimized its right to sit at the table of University facilities managers. There is also a substantial amount of good will between the HGCI and departments that have benefited by GCLF financing, ensuring future collaboration on efficiency projects.
HGCI Program Interconnections
All HGCI programs have benefited either directly or indirectly because of the GCLF. Some programs, such as the Campus Energy Reduction Programs (CERP) within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and at the Longwood Medical Area and the Graduate Green Living Program (GGL) have been directly financed through GCLF financing. Other programs, such as the HGCI Green Campus Building Service, benefit by being able to offer direct access to GCLF financing for eligible projects. In turn, the promotion of the GCLF by these programs helps the GCLF further flourish.
New Program Development
In addition to directly funding programs such as CERP, the GCLF's support of such programs has led to second-generation programs created as a result of initial program success. The highly successful FAS Resource Efficiency Program was a spin-off from the Faculty of Arts and Science's CERP Program as well as a direct beneficiary of Loan Fund funding of new recycling bins for student dorms. This program, in turn, is likely to generate other program possibilities, demonstrating that once programs are given the opportunity to demonstrate their benefits for the University, they do a credible job of selling themselves.
Support for Existing Sustainability Champions
In addition to benefiting HGCI programs, the GCLF has also benefited those around the University already actively making the case for sustainability projects. They, too, are equipped with a new financial resource that helps make the case for their personal project ambitions. A good example of this interaction is Harvard's Recycling programs. Rob Gogan, Solid Waste and Recycling Coordinator at Harvard, was able to persuade his department to take a GCLF loan in order to enhance his recycling programs. Without the GCLF, the money would not have been available for recycling upgrades.
University Service Provider Stimulation
The GCLF has also increased activity of service providers hoping to win contracts at the University for efficiency improvements. Service providers understand that the GCLF is a powerful financial incentive for efficiency improvements; hoping to take advantage of cost barriers being lowered at Harvard as a result of the GCLF, service providers are more aggressively pursuing efficiency projects around the University and often citing the GCLF as a financing source in their project proposals.
Cross-fertilization of Project Ideas
As a result of the GCLF being managed by the HGCI, a department with strong cross-departmental communication networks, project ideas that previously would not have been circulated around disparate University facility management departments are promoted widely across the University. This project idea promotion comes both formally through Best Practice Exchange forums, as well as informally through impromptu conversations between HGCI and facility management departments. Additionally, the GCLF Advisory Committee serves as a great forum for project idea dissemination because of the high profile committee membership. The GCLF Advisory Committee is surprisingly one of the few opportunities facility directors from around the University have to convene and discuss strategies for efficiency optimization in their facilities.
Identification of Deeper Institutional Barriers
The GCLF was created to address what facility managers cited as the major reason they had difficulty in operating highly efficient buildings - money. In conversations with facility managers still unable to upgrade facilities after the creation of a financial incentive program, the HGCI has been able to diagnose other institutional barriers that prevent facility managers from operating efficiency infrastructure - such as utility pricing structures; administrative support in the way of education, resources, and recognition of efficiency improvements; administrative disconnect between capital and operating budgets; and poorly-coordinated facility renovations.
External Recognition
As a pioneering financial incentive program for sustainability projects in the University setting, the GCLF has given the HGCI legitimacy and recognition for the HGCI outside of the University. From EPA case studies to constant inquiries from other universities considering a similar incentive program, the GCLF has helped secure the HGCI's position as one of the country's leading university sustainability programs.
Identification of Other Financial Incentive Needs
Discussion revolving around the GCLF has helped the HGCI appreciate what other financial support departments need to pursue sustainability projects. The HGCI realizes that the GCLF is not the only financial incentive needed to stimulate efficiency improvements and sustainable design at the University. The GCLF has given the HGCI a platform from which to discuss other incentive program needs with departments across the University.
Setting the Precedent of Creativity
The GCLF is a constant reminder to the HGCI and others in the University that to every organizational hurdle on the path to sustainability there is a solution. Not always evident at first, solutions will materialize when those working on the problems employ the principles of collaboration and creativity. It is these principles that allowed for the development of the GCLF, and will help create future programs that continue to wear down institutional barriers to sustainability.