Any individual or organization within the Oberlin community may submit proposals for project funding. The Green EDGE Fund can support three different types of projects: Efficiency Loans, Sustainability Grants and Carbon Management Fund Grants. Efficiency Loans are allocated to projects that reduce resource consumption and have clear and calculable financial savings for Oberlin College. This accoun
t operates on a revolving loan fund model; all financial savings directly resulting from these projects are paid by the College into the Efficiency Loan Account on an annual basis until 150 percent of the initial investment is repaid so that further loans can be made. Savings may be calculated based on conservative estimates or measurable changes in resource consumption data. Sustainability Grants are allocated to projects that promote environmental sustainability within the Oberlin Community, and do not have clear and calculable financial savings for Oberlin College. These projects do not necessarily result in direct resource use reductions, but do promote environmental sustainability as defined by the sitting Board. Carbon Management Fund (CMF) Grants are allocated to projects that provide verifiable sequestration of carbon and are situated in or around Oberlin. These carbon sequestrations are meant to be attributed to specific areas of the College for which carbon offsets have not yet been acquired. Non-Recourse Carbon Investments do not have payback requirements, but do require a calculation quantifying the carbon saved through the project. Non-Recourse Carbon Investments are awarded based on the relative cost to offset a metric ton of CO2 or equivalent greenhouse gases by the project and an additional consideration of non-carbon related benefits resulting from the project. Efficiency Loans are funded through Oberlin College while Sustainability Grants and Carbon Management Fund Grants are funded through student semesterly Green Fees. If a proposal could receive either source of funding, we will give it much higher priority as an efficiency loan than as a sustainability grants and CMF grants. We prefer projects with a revenue stream that can fund more proposals in the future.
