As construction projects loom, CU pledges to meet strict environmental standards
Future buildings at CU will conform to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system in order to make the campus more environmentally conscious.
Peter Vandermersch, CU’s Manager of Facilities Mechanical Engineering, recently said all future building projects at CU will, at least, meet the LEED Silver standards.
Future construction includes the renovations to the Leeds business school and any other proposed construction project. Vandermersch said he is proud of the fact that CU is a leader in Colorado in sustainable development.
“We’re the first state university in Colorado that has LEED certified buildings,” Vandermersch said.
The U.S. Green Building Council based in Washington, D.C. published the LEED system. The group is a non-profit organization consisting of business, community and political leaders that work to improve the environment by encouraging green building construction, operation and maintenance practices. Board members include officers of major corporations as well as university professors and government officials.
“The U.S. Green Building Council’s core purpose is to transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life,” is the mission of the council according to the USGBC Web site.
The USGBC has several different levels of certification. Each ranking means that the building conforms to escalating standards of quality. The standards focus on a sustainable building’s sites, energy and water efficiency, indoor environmental quality and the materials and resources used in construction.
The ATLAS and Wolf Law buildings both meet the Gold standards, and the UMC received a post-renovation Silver rating in 2006. According to an article posted by the Colorado Governor’s Office Energy Management and Conservation in Jan. 2007, the cost of getting the law building to meet the Gold standards was less than one percent more than a standard building on campus.
The article goes on to say that CU plans on making all future buildings LEED-certified and might retrofit other buildings that have already been built.
Contact Campus Press Reporter Rob Ryan at rryan@colorado.edu.
