Arizona State University

Sustainability Initiatives Revolving Fund (SIRF)

The Arizona State University (ASU) Sustainability Initiatives Revolving Fund (SIRF) was established in fiscal year 2011 to invest in projects that foster and enable sustainability efforts and provide an economic return on investment. SIRF funds are available to all ASU community members. The SIRF is comprised of the following three tiers:

Tier 1 University Community Sustainability Micro Grants: Small projects that promote student engagement and build a campus sustainability culture.
Tier 2 Fund Matching and Efficiency Loans: Medium-scale, capital-improvement initiatives that return a project’s costs within 6 years or less. Targeted for departments upgrading and/or renovating space and equipment to improve efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.
Tier 3 Capital Expansion Loans: All large-scale initiatives that make a significant and measurable sustainability impact and return a project’s costs within 10 years or less. Targeted for strategic internal and external partnerships that reduce carbon emissions.

The SIRF committee, comprised of ASU senior management, convenes quarterly to review and approve project requests. The SIRF committee established minimum financial goals that the Tier 2 and Tier 3 projects must achieve to be approved for funding. Each project’s yearly savings are incorporated into ASU’s annual and multi-year fiscal plans.

The higher education participants in The Challenge are managed by Second Nature. To learn more about how Second Nature plans to expand use of GRFs in higher education, visit their page!