1. Student Involvement in Revolving Loans: A Case Study University of Illinois Student Sustainability Committee: Marika Nell, Katie Kinley, Marcus Ricci and Emily Cross

2. Student Sustainability Committee Two green fees passed in 2003 and 2007 – $2 Clean Energy Fee – $12 Sustainable Campus Environment Fee Annual revenue ~$1.05 million 10 student voting members

3. Revolving Loan Funds What is a revolving loan fund? – Initial lump sum of money is set aside – Projects are selected that will have a quantifiable payback – Returns from the projects are reinvested into the fund to continue to invest in other projects Over 50 other RLFs country-wide Benefits of Revolving Loan Funds – Long-term financing solution – Capital investments possible

4. Starting the University of Illinois RLF Wind turbine project failed in 2011 – Student Sustainability Committee had allocated $640,000 toward the project Students proposed creating a revolving loan fund using the money committed by other entities (Office of the Chancellor and the Office of the President) for the turbine

5. Revolving Loan Fund Investors Total: $2.25 million Student Sustainability Committee: $500,000 Chancellor’s Office: $1,000,000 President’s Office: $750,000 Chancellor committed to matching any additional SSC funds

6. Voting Board Board includes Student Body President, Student Trustee, and one at-large student member and Chair of the Student Sustainability Committee Non-students: Representatives from F&S, Provost, Research and Student Affairs Meets once a year

7. Funding Priorities 1.Payback period 2.Reduction of coal 3.Fund size impact 4.Visibility 5.Project coordination (leverage of additional funds)

8. Projects Completed First Round: – $1.5 million: T12—T8 lighting retrofits – $750,000: LED exit signage and occupancy sensors (split 50/50 with the SSC) T-8 lighting retrofits

9. Leveraging Funds for the RLF 1.Utility Savings 2.Fully Loaded Rate Structure 3.Grant Funds

10. Utility Savings Students advocated for having 100% of the utility savings return to the RLF The RLF is credited for the amount of savings from its contribution

11. Fully Loaded Rate Structure Fully Loaded Rate Students were very involved in the discussions with administrators to push for fully-loaded rate

12. Grants Project grants written by Facilities and Services serve also increase RLF SSC-funded solar decathlon house

13. Lessons Learned

14. In creating the Revolving Loan Fund: – Student empowerment important – Challenging administration – Got all stakeholders together: administration, Facilities and Services, students, faculty – Made sure the Agreement was thought out and clear Structure: – Savings and rate structure were chosen to maximize effectiveness of RLF

15. Lessons Learned Looking Back: – Make clear the process of SSC funding projects through the RLF – Formalize a procedure for deciding slate of projects – One meeting a year

16. Lessons Learned Overall: Revolving Loan Fund is a good tool to finance energy conservation projects while helping the University Use existing green fee pools to challenge administration Helps the SSC because we can focus on other aspects of sustainability

17. Thank you! http://ssc.union.illinois.edu sustainability-committee@illinois.edu