The Penn Green Fund welcomes ideas from the Penn community about ways to improve Penn’s environmental performance and reduce campus emissions.  An initiative of Penn’s Green Campus Partnership and funded by the Division of Facilities and Real Estate Services, the Green Fund is designed to seed innovative ideas from Penn students, faculty, and staff with one-time grants of as much as $50,000.

Proposed projects must support goals and objectives outlined in Penn’s Climate Action Plan, a long-range strategy launched in 2009 to reduce the University’s carbon footprint and enhance its overall sustainability.

Applying for a Green Fund Grant

Please review the frequently asked questions related to the Green Fund before beginning your application. 

Green Fund applications are accepted during Spring and Fall semesters.

PROPOSAL Criteria

The Green Fund was created to finance innovative ideas from students, faculty or staff which are designed to help Penn meet its sustainability goals, as outlined in its Climate Action Plan. The complete Green Fund application will be posted here soon.

The maximum allocation for each award is $50,000. In an effort to replenish the fund and make future awards possible, prospective grant-seekers should note that projects generating financial savings to the University are expected to repay the award. The Green Fund is available to current students, faculty and staff at Penn. The Green Fund does not cover on-going costs or salaries.

The following items are included in the Green Fund application and are required for review by the Green Fund Review Board:

• A description of the project and its intended outcome, including criteria for evaluating its success in meeting its goals, and with an explanation of any independent funding secured by the applicants
• Project participants, identifying project leadership and their responsibilities
• The target beneficiary audience
• A detailed time line, including a start date and anticipated implementation schedule
• Specific cost and savings estimates, and
• A sponsorship letter, expressing support for the project from the sponsoring department chair and/or center head.

Please send submissions to:

Email sustainability@upenn.edu [1] with the subject line “Green Fund Submission”

OR

Penn Green Fund
Division of Facilities and Real Estate Services
3101 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6289

Green Fund Review Board

The Penn Green Fund Review Board will be made up of nine individuals from the Penn Community.  These individuals will represent students both graduate and undergraduate, faculty, large and small schools, and staff.  This board will be chaired by Penn’s Environmental Sustainability Coordinator to guide the review board decision making process.

• Green Campus Partnership: Dan Garofalo, Environmental Sustainability Coordinator
• Facilities and Real Estate Services: Marilyn Jost, Exec. Director of Finance and Administration
• Office of the Provost:  Andrew Binns, Associate Provost for Education
• Penn Professional Staff Association:  Taylor Berkowitz, Senior Planner, Facilities and Real Estate Services
• School of Arts and Sciences:  Matthew Lane, Exec. Director of Facilities Planning and Science Operations
• Division of Business Services: John Eckman, Director, Residential Services
• Undergraduate Assembly: Tiffany Zhu
• Graduate and Professional Student Assembly: TBD