WHY WE CREATED GRITS
GRITS is a program of the Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI), a Boston-based organization. SEI launched GRITS 1.0 in 2014 as part of its mission of mobilizing institutional leaders to invest in energy-efficiency-focused climate solutions. Now on version 4.0+, GRITS supports the sustainability work of hundreds of organizations.
Every day, institutions are tackling projects that reduce resource consumption and save money by lowering utility bills. SEI created GRITS because no tool existed that allowed institutions to easily track and demonstrate a project’s significant energy, financial, and carbon benefits. Institutions can also access project performance data from peers as well as share their own data via the GRITS Library. GRITS is designed to be an affordable platform that offers numerous benefits over traditional spreadsheet tracking.
WIDE RANGE OF USERS
GRITS is used by a diverse range of more than 800 institutions across all 50 States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Institutional sectors represented include higher education, commercial, healthcare, K-12 schools, municipalities, county and state governments.
GRITS TEAM
Aaron Karp – Director, GRITS
Arvel Hernandez – Director of Engineering
Beth Pollack – Advisor and Director, Environmental Health
Deb Robison – Director of Outreach
Mark Orlowski – CEO and Founder
SUPPORTERS
The initial development, launch, and growth of GRITS would not have been possible without the generous support of the following foundations that provided grants to GRITS or related projects. Lead support was received from the Kresge Foundation and the High Meadows Foundation with additional support provided by the Barr Foundation, David Rockefeller Fund, Hull Family Foundation, John Merck Fund, Merck Family Fund, Roy A. Hunt Foundation, Vervane Foundation, and the Wallace Global Fund.
PARTNERSHIPS
Many institutions access GRITS at a significantly reduced cost thanks to associations or other networks to which they belong. If your institution is part of an association or network that may be interested in providing GRITS access to their members, contact us.
To learn more about SEI’s existing partnerships with APPA, Second Nature, or NYSERDA, or our initiative with ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, please visit the partnerships section.