Oakleigh partners with Inbuilt to evaluate the Revolving Green Fund for HEFCE

The Revolving Green Fund is a partnership fund between HEFCE and Salix Finance Ltd that aims to help higher education institutions in England reduce greenhouse emissions. £30 million is available from 2008 to 2011 to provide recoverable grants to institutions for projects that reduce their emissions. Institutions will repay the funds through the savings they make. The fund has two strands, an institutional small projects (ISP) fund and a 'transformational' fund for large, one-off projects.

Oakleigh, working in partnership with Inbuilt (http://www.inbuilt.co.uk/) was appointed to undertake an initial evaluation of the fund in October 2009. The purpose of the ongoing evaluation is to assess progress of the fund to date; consider lessons learnt from the process; gather evidence, including unmet demand, to build a case for further funding; and to consider how the learning and good practice of the fund can be effectively captured and disseminated.

The evaluation has involved consultation with relevant sector bodies; in addition an online questionnaire has been made available to relevant practitioners across the sector including estates, energy, environmental, and financial managers, and senior managers sponsoring projects. Further consultation has taken place through interviews with representatives of institutions in receipt of funds; those who applied for funding unsuccessfully; and those institutions who have not applied to either strand of the fund.

The evaluation is currently in the analysis and reporting stage, with a report due for publication in April 2010.