Needier Colleges Will Get Help With Green Building

Second Nature, a nonprofit group that advocates sustainability in higher education, is starting a program to help less wealthy colleges, like historically black institutions and tribal colleges, with green-building and energy-efficiency programs. With a modest $1.2-million grant from the Kresge Foundation, Second Nature will establish a series of projects, including fellowships for college executives to provide education about green building, discounted memberships in the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, and educational resources for under-endowed schools.

The fellowships will be open to 40 college administrators in campus planning, facilities, and finance and business. They will help administrators attend conferences like Greenbuild 2009 or the climate leadership summit convened by the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, among others.

Second Nature will also use the grant to train contractors who work with less wealthy schools and offer other educational opportunities for green building.

Links to fellowship applications and other information can be found on Second Nature’s Web site.