Centennial Grants support projects that apply IBM’s smarter planet strategies to community service, and can become a model for similar volunteer engagements elsewhere. IBM has awarded 11 Centennial Grants of up to $100,000 each, totaling nearly $1 million worldwide. The grants fund innovative projects developed by IBM volunteers in areas such as healthcare, energy conservation and food safety.
On a blustery December morning in Randolph Center, Vermont, the faculty, staff, and students of Vermont Technical College found themselves in a clamorous game of Jeopardy! with only one category of questions: Energy. Janette Bombardier – the Senior Location Executive for IBM’s Essex, Vermont facility – had whipped the audience into a frenzy of enthusiasm (both in-person and via live video feed to six other Vermont Tech locations) as answers were yelled out and prizes were distributed. Working with IBM on a project funded by an IBM Centennial Grant, Vermont Tech had just committed to reducing its 2012 electrical consumption by 5 percent – an amount roughly equal to 250,000 kilowatts and $25,000 in costs.
Senior Location Executive Janette Bombardier Leads the Jeopardy! Round
Vermont Tech’s Center for Sustainable Practices is championing the project, which is a collaboration between IBM and the Vermont State College system. The “Managing Energy – Sustaining Our Community” Centennial Grant will provide funding to Vermont Tech to implement the most promising energy-saving ideas identified through a campus-wide initiative, and for monitoring campus energy use to help meet the 5 percent reduction goal.
On that December day, the college announced a faculty mini-grant program to encourage curriculum alterations focused on data analytics and energy reduction. Vermont Tech also announced the state college system’s first Green Revolving Fund. With seed money from the IBM Centennial Grant, the fund will support energy-efficiency projects developed by students, with cost savings recycled into the fund to perpetuate its legacy.
At the end of the day, participants were urged to spread the word and to submit their energy use reduction suggestions to a special email account. The first 100 people to submit ideas will receive prizes provided by IBM and Efficiency Vermont – a nonprofit operated by the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation. Those ideas will be evaluated based on projected return on investment, and then implemented to help Vermont Tech meet its 5% energy reduction challenge.
Stay tuned for a report on our progress!
Donna Barlow Casey is Director of the Academic Center for Sustainable Practices (CSP) at Vermont Technical College. As the first full-time CSP director at the state’s only technical college, Ms. Casey is charged with applying green technologies and sustainable practices to educational, operational, student- and community-focused efforts to develop a vibrant, green economy in Vermont.
Related Article:
Flipping the Smart Grid Switch in Vermont
Read more about IBM Centennial Grants in Vermont:
IBM awards more than $500,000 in grants to Vermont community organizations
IBM awards grants to more than 100 nonprofits and schools in Vermont
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