Like all of the OFS programs, the road in was not direct, not fast, and not easy to explain. The process of engaging potential funding partners, of establishing good working relationships with diverse constituencies, and of building a fully functioning program is an organic process. The keys to success are persistence, flexibility, strategic and creative thinking, active learning, listening, and partnership building.
The history
2001–2002: Making the Case
On June 1, 2001, the Institute for Global Health and Environment partnered with the Harvard Green Campus Initiative (HGCI) in sponsoring an all-day forum at the Harvard Medical School (HMS) entitled "First Do No Harm." This forum was the result of the vision and commitment of Paul Rosenau, a second-year medical student. The forum began with the assumption that the professional responsibility to "first, do no harm," applies to the "collective impacts of our collective actions." More than 70 staff, students, and faculty from the Harvard medical area attended the forum. This forum challenged Harvard Medical School and associated hospitals, Harvard School of Public Health, and Harvard Dental School to consider the pursuit of environmental health as a basic tenet of health research and education.
2002: The Office Opens
As a result of the interest in this forum, the Harvard Green Campus Initiative worked to establish a six-month partnership with Environmental Health and Safety, the Harvard School of Public Health, and Harvard Medical School. This partnership funded the establishment of the Longwood Green Campus Initiative (LGCI), a subsidiary program of the Harvard Green Campus Initiative. From February to August 2002, forum recommendations were refined and the following tasks were undertaken:
- Harvard had its first building, the Landmark Building, accepted into the Pilot phase of the US Green Building Council's new LEED for Commercial Interiors Pilot program.
- A symposium on fuel cells was conducted at the Harvard Medical School.
- Green building opportunities were researched for upcoming building projects at Longwood.
- A Graduate School of Design student was employed as an intern to support HMS contracting efforts in bidding for an Energy Service Company.
- Green Campus Loan-funded projects were implemented.
- A comprehensive feasibility study was produced showing a variety of cost effective environmental programs (from energy reduction to environmental procurement) that could be implemented at HMS.
2002–2003: Exploration of Energy Saving Opportunities in Laboratory Buildings
The Harvard Green Campus Initiative worked to establish a partnership with HMS in order to explore energy reduction opportunities in HMS laboratory buildings. In September 2002, this became the new focus of the Longwood Green Campus Initiative. Working with faculty, staff, students, and administrators, a pilot laboratory building was identified and thoroughly audited. The Harvard Green Campus Initiative established a partnership with Labs21 in order to assist with assessing the energy efficiency opportunities in the pilot building and to assist in the development of a methodology for identifying energy reduction opportunities in all Harvard laboratory buildings.
2003–2004: LGCI and the Computer Energy Reduction Program
In August 2003 during a gallant attempt to keep the LGCI funded, the HGCI was successful in proposing a Green Campus Loan Fund project to the Harvard Medical School and School of Public Health. This project proposal had a two-year payback period and was based upon a successful program the HGCI had implemented in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
The Longwood Green Campus Initiative embraced the Computer Energy Reduction Program as one of its main programs for this period. Other projects undertaken in this time included the LEED certification process for the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) Landmark Center renovation and completion of a preliminary greenhouse gas inventory.
2004–2008: The Program Evolves
The Computer Energy Reduction Program was so successful that the three Longwood Schools decided to extend the program another year, through July 2005, and to expand the focus of the program. To reflect this change, the Computer Energy Reduction Program was renamed the Longwood Green Campus Initiative.
Both HMS and HSPH were busy with energy conservation projects in the buildings as well, including projects such as lighting retrofits with motion sensors, steam trap replacements, low-flow fume hoods at HSPH, and many other projects. Visit the rest of our website for more information on recent activities.
October 2008: HGCI becomes Harvard's Office for Sustainability
With the October 22nd public sustainability celebration of the new Harvard-wide greenhouse gas reduction goal—a 30 percent reduction (below 2006 levels) by 2016—the Office for Sustainability was created under new Executive Vice President Ed Forst. With this transition from the Harvard Green Campus Initiative to the Office for Sustainability, the Longwood Green Campus Initiative became the Longwood Sustainability Program, which includes both the HMS and HSPH Green Programs.
Funding
The Longwood Sustainability Program has an annual budget of around $95,000. Funding pays for program management, marketing and events, administrations costs, and student internships. The Longwood Sustainability Program has more than returned this investment through energy savings. The program is funded through the Operations departments of Harvard's three Longwood schools: Harvard Medical School, Harvard Dental School, and Harvard School of Public Health.
