Implementation Plan

2009-10 Annual Report

See Pomona's 2009-10 Sustainability Annual Report [pdf]

Timeline and Priorities

Each section of the Action Plan document lists recommended actions by timeline and level of priority (high vs. low). Please see the entire document [pdf] .

Reporting

The successful implementation of this plan is unlikely without a strong commitment to regular, thorough reporting on progress. Regular assessment and reporting will happen in the following ways:

Sustainability Annual Report Each September, the Sustainability Integration Office will produce a Sustainability Annual Report to communicate progress and to provide an update on new programs projects, and accomplishments. This document will be reviewed and distributed by the President's Advisory Committee on Sustainability. See the 2009-10 Sustainability Annual Report [pdf] .
Greenhouse gas emissions inventory The Sustainability Integration Office will update the College's greenhouse gas inventory annually to track changes in emissions. This inventory will be included in the Sustainability Annual Report.
Sustainability Action Plan updating This Plan will be assessed and updated to maintain relevant and to assist with planning progress after the first years of implementation. Two and five years after adoption, the President's Advisory Committee on Sustainability will identify progress on every recommendation included in this plan, including explanation of whether the items were implemented and with what level of success. The entire Action Plan will be updated by May 2016.

Financing

The actions recommended in this plan represent significant potential financial costs and savings. Some projects will require large one-time financial outlays, while some do not require any new funding sources or are virtually cost-free. Likewise, some projects will provide large financial savings, whether immediate or incurred over time, and some will not provide any financial savings but perhaps some significant social or other non-financial benefits.

The College's financial accounting procedures are not currently structured to accurately assess the long-term costs and benefits of projects that span departments and financial account. Care must be taken to provide the organizational infrastructure necessary to accurately assess the financial impacts of projects. This plan takes a variety of steps to helping insure this will happen, including:

Requiring the use of life-cycle costing at specific points during the programming, design, and construction process for construction and renovation activities, and;
Committing the College to pursuing projects deemed feasible with a 6 year or less payback.

For all recommendations requiring new funding sources for up-front costs (listed below), the College faces a variety of financing opportunities, including the following:

Revolving loan fund Like many other institutions have begun to do, the College can deposit savings from projects into a fund from which future proposals could be funded. Projects funded would likely have to meet a certain threshold, such as a specific payback period or return on investment.
Grants The College can pursue a wide variety of public and private grants for programs and projects, and the Sustainability Integration Office is currently working closely with Foundation and Corporate Relations to track available opportunities.
Dedicated development targets The College can work with Major Gifts to determine specific projects as targets for fundraising.
Third-party funding The College can engage in partnerships with third-party companies to provide funding for design and installation of projects. Examples of this might include a company that funds an extensive lighting retrofit, with the College paying the company with a certain portion of energy savings that ensue. Another example is a power purchasing agreement, in which an energy technology company (e.g. solar photovoltaic) pays for the installation and maintenance of an on-campus system, resulting in zero up-front costs for the College, and sells the power generated back to the College.
Debt The College can issue tax-exempt bonds to finance large-scale projects, such as a large renewable energy installation.
One-time allocation The College may continue to allocate funds on a case-by-case basis - this is likely how many of the recommendations included in this plan will be funded.

Institutions all over the world, including businesses, non-profits, and educational institutions, are constantly developing new financial mechanisms for funding sustainability efforts. As this plan is implemented, the College will inevitably determine new means of funding projects and programs.

Summary of Costs See the Action Plan chapters for approximate financial estimates associated with recommended actions.