换妻社区

Green Revolving Fund

What is the Green Revolving Fund?

The GRF at 换妻社区 is a self-sustaining financial tool that supports sustainability and efficiency projects on campus. The fund operates by allocating capital to environmentally beneficial projects, tracking their performance, and reinvesting the resulting cost savings back into the fund to support future initiatives.

The GRF is guided by two collaborative teams:

• GRF Team: Led by engineering faculty member, Dr. Jeffery Christians, this group is composed of student interns and assisted by local alumni to identify and research potential projects, track their outcomes, and prepare performance reports. The team also collaborates with the 换妻社区 Physical Plant and Business/Economics Departments.
• Oversight Committee: A group of administrators and faculty who approve projects, ensure alignment with the GRF鈥檚 objectives, and manage the reinvestment of savings.

By focusing on measurable impacts and fostering collaboration across the campus community, the GRF continuously enhances 换妻社区鈥檚 environmental and economic stewardship.鈥�

Who Oversees the Green Revolving Fund

The GRF is guided by sustainability and lowering operating costs while providing experiential internships to students. Hope pays student interns who are then tasked with finding and managing cost-saving energy projects on campus, this means donations go nearly 100% into projects. Hope also returns the cost-savings back into the GRF, allowing it to "revolve" and thus allowing your donations to fund projects long into the future.

The GRF Oversight Committee is responsible for ensuring that all projects funded by the Green Revolving Fund meet key requirements, including:

• Stewardship: Promoting sustainability and environmental responsibility.
• Fiscal Responsibility: Managing resources effectively to maximize impact.
• Return on Investment: Ensuring that projects generate measurable financial and environmental benefits.

The committee comprises individuals with expertise across various domains of campus operations, including:

• Chief Financial Officer: Oversees financial accountability and strategic funding alignment.
• Director of Finance and Business Services: Manages financial planning and tracking for GRF projects.
• Director of Operations: Ensures operational feasibility and long-term sustainability of projects.
• Project Manager (Physical Plant): Leads project execution and implementation of infrastructure upgrades.
• Director for the Office of Sustainability and Green Team Faculty Representatives: Provides leadership on aligning projects with the college鈥檚 broader sustainability goals.

Student Involvement

The Green Revolving Fund thrives thanks to the dedication of our student interns. These interns take on essential tasks such as analyzing campus energy systems, leading data collection efforts, and presenting proposals and reports to our oversight committee. Through their work, students not only contribute to impactful sustainability initiatives on campus but also gain valuable skills, build professional connections, and join a community passionate about environmental stewardship.

How the Green Revolving Fund Works

The Green Revolving Fund (GRF) at 换妻社区 operates as a self-sustaining resource to fund and reinvest in sustainability projects. It follows a simple cycle:

1. Project Identification: The GRF Team researches and proposes initiatives with environmental and financial benefits.
2. Approval Process: The Oversight Committee reviews and approves projects based on impact and feasibility.
3. Implementation: Projects are carried out by campus teams or contractors, with savings enhanced by applicable incentives and rebates.
4. Savings Tracking: The GRF Team monitors project performance and savings outcomes.
5. Reinvestment: Generated savings are reinvested into the fund, supporting future projects.

Partner with the Green Revolving Fund

We invite 换妻社区 alumni to lend their expertise in sustainability, energy management, or environmental engineering to enhance our GRF. Your insights can help facilitate projects that reduce energy use and generate cost savings on campus.

Donating to the GRF allows you to directly invest in a self-sustaining fund that drives innovation, reduces the college鈥檚 carbon footprint and operating budget, and fosters a culture of sustainability across campus.

1. Your money "rolls" back into the fund - donate once, continue to make an impact 

2. Valuable student experiences - internships, project management, sustainability

3. Support all Hope students by lowering operating costs long into the future

Your support will make a lasting impact, helping 换妻社区 lead the way in campus sustainability for years to come.

换妻社区 Commitment to Sustainability

换妻社区 strives to create a future in which our planet and all its inhabitants flourish. Rooted in the Christian faith, we embrace our calling to care for the Earth and we celebrate restoring God鈥檚 creation and sustaining our future as synergistic goals. We commit to building a sustainable world that promotes the holistic well-being of future generations and affirms the dignity of all people. By means of our academic curriculum, our scholarly work, our student life programs, the management of our campus, and our engagement with the local and global community, we educate students for a sustainable future that values the rights and opportunities of every individual, each of whom is created and loved by God. We humbly embrace this calling and shoulder these responsibilities with joy.
鈥擜dopted by the Administrative Council, summer 2021

Acknowledgements

• Hiskes Family 鈥� Generous donation to launch the fund with matching funds from the college
• Faculty 鈥� Dr. Jeffrey Christians and Dr. Steven McMullen
• Physical Plant Team 鈥� For their support in answering student questions and identifying projects
• Financial Services  鈥� Tom Bylsma, Doug Van Dyken, and Cameron Butler
• Campus Green Team representatives Nick Duthler, Kara Slater, Michelle Seppala Gibbs, and Dr. Aaron Franzen
• Holland Board of Public Works
• Outside companies and contractors

About the Hiskes
Richard (Rich) Hiskes 鈥�73 and Anne Deckard 鈥�73 Hiskes believe the best way to address poverty, racism, human rights and other social justice issues is to focus on the environment, and they are starting at 换妻社区.

鈥淣one of it matters if we don鈥檛 have a world to live in,鈥� said Anne, who has been an environmentalist her whole life following in the footsteps of her mother, Anne Deboer Deckard.  

鈥淚鈥檓 very disturbed by climate change. It鈥檚 going faster than scientists thought. Our environment is collapsing and we all have to do something,鈥� added Rich, who has a Ph.D. in political science and helped to establish the Human Rights Institute at University of Connecticut where he worked as a professor for 35 years.  

That鈥檚 why the Hiskeses have made a significant financial investment in sustainability efforts at Hope. Due to their generosity, Hope is opening its first low- or zero-emission demonstration house where students will live this fall.

They provided the funding to support a student-led group to design, plan, budget and collaborate with Hope鈥檚 Physical Plant to retro-fit the cottage with a heat pump furnace, heat pump hot water heaters, solar panels and additional insulation. 

鈥溁黄奚缜� is a leader in the community,鈥� said Anne, who has a Ph.D. in the history and philosophy of science and worked as a professor of philosophy and associate dean at University of Connecticut for many years where she started the Science and Human Rights Program. She finished her career at Grand Valley State University where she retired as dean of the Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies. 鈥淚 hope this cottage inspires others to do the same. What we teach students has a ripple effect as they graduate and pursue their careers. We want to support Hope in becoming a leader in sustainability and creation care.鈥�

The Hiskeses established the Anne Deboer Deckard Fund to support a number of sustainability projects on campus and with a gift from Anne Deckard鈥檚 estate after her passing. 鈥淲hen we receive gifts, they are meant to be shared,鈥� said Anne.

The fund also supports three other sustainability projects: the enhancement of an environmental studies curriculum, a campus electric mobility station for recharging cars and bicycles, and a cottage renovation project. 

Anne Deckard, who was a professor of chemistry at Grand Rapids Community College, had deep relationships with Hope chemistry professors through their involvement with the American Scientific Affiliation, an organization dedicated to exploring the connections between faith and science. Deckard also worked briefly as an adjunct professor on campus.

鈥淕rowing up with a chemist mother is very influential,鈥� said Anne, who was a math, physics and philosophy major at Hope. 鈥淚 was well aware early on how chemicals affect our daily lives. My mother鈥檚 passion for environmentalism became my passion.鈥�

The Hiskes, who met at Hope and married at Marigold Lodge, applaud Hope鈥檚 commitment to sustainability. 鈥淚t seems like Hope was so far down the road. They just needed someone to come in and infuse money into their efforts,鈥� Rich said. 鈥淪eeing the cottage renovations is wonderfully rewarding to us.鈥�