Lane Community College Energy Carryover Fund

Author: Emily Flynn and Jaime Silverstein
Published: August 2014

The Energy Carryover Fund, Lane Community College’s green revolving fund (GRF), was created in 2006 with an allocation of $165,585 from surplus funds in the college’s utilities budget. The fund has helped Lane meet their sustainability goals and formalize a process to identify energy efficiency projects. Since its creation, the Energy Carryover Fund has gone through operational and structural changes as Lane learned how to best utilize the fund.

The Energy Carryover Fund is administered by the Vice President of College Services, the Energy Analyst, and the Sustainability Coordinator. The fund averages a 22.9 percent return on investment and has achieved a total of $113,087 in savings to date. The GRF has also served as an opportunity to engage students in Lane’s renewable energy program in order to gain hands-on learning experience in selecting and implementing projects.