University of Colorado Boulder
PAE-3: Physical Campus Plan

Sustainability principles and practices are enumerated at a high level in both the existing, ten year old Campus Master Plan (2001), and the forthcoming (2011) update to the CMP. For the purposes of this credit, the existing CMP passages are cited below. From the existing plan: "Sustainability is part of long-term campus planning. A generally accepted definition of sustainability is "providing for the needs of the present without detracting from the ability to fulfill needs of the future" (David Johnston, What's Working). The U.S. Department of Energy defines sustainable buildings as "buildings that minimize the impact of the built environment on the ecosystem while providing for human well-being through the design, construction, operation, maintenance, and reuse of buildings." The concepts of sustainable design and use of "green" building materials apply at all stages of the design process (program plans, architect selection, design, construction, and closeout). Many procedures and materials once considered safe, such as asbestos and lead paint, are now known to be potentially hazardous and "green" building practices and materials are being substituted. Goal Adopt improved building industry practices for sustainability and the use of safe materials. Guidelines Select environmentally sensitive architects to design CU-Boulder buildings. Keep up-to-date the provisions of adopted building codes and campus construction standards regarding these concerns. Weigh first-cost vs. longer-term payback decisions. 7. Resource Conservation a. Energy Conservation The construction of the cogeneration facility increased the efficiency of energy production. However, campus energy use and resultant utility bills have been increasing in the years preceding this Campus Master Plan. Among the reasons are a sizable increase in square footage with new buildings coming on line, increased ventilation in laboratory buildings to help assure occupants' safety, lack of heat recovery equipment, and increases in heat-producing and energyconsumptive equipment such as lasers and computer peripherals. Planning and design for new buildings can mitigate the demand for energy, although there is often a higher initial cost in order to achieve the subsequent annual savings. In many buildings on campus, building use and equipment produce considerable heat, shifting the emphasis of energy conservation from how to heat a building to how to cool a building. Goal Conserve energy to mitigate environmental impacts and to reduce costs. Guidelines Identify opportunities to save energy whenever this is a sound economic decision. Assure that new buildings and renovations comply with energy saving provisions of applicable codes and standards. Increase metering of use in order to have better information and to provide incentives for efficiency. b. Water Conservation The use and payment for treated water was significantly reduced when large parts of the Main Campus irrigation systems were converted from treated water to untreated ditch water. This is a good use of the university's water rights. Also, new campus development no longer pays Plant Investment Fees (PIFs) for the use of City of Boulder water as long as water demand does not exceed the previous peak. Additional opportunities for water conservation include process cooling and conversion of additional areas to non-potable water irrigation. Goal Limit environmental impacts and costs through water conservation. Guidelines Identify opportunities to reduce use of treated water to cool equipment (lasers used in research, for example) through process cooling. Convert additional irrigated areas to the use of non-potable water. Optimize raw water resources on all CU-Boulder properties. 8. Solid Waste Management CU-Boulder has had a growing commitment to recycling waste materials. This has involved new programs and new facilities. Solid waste management is a growing problem as convenient regional landfill capacity diminishes, environmental pressures to recycle grow, and hauling and disposal costs escalate. Students originally founded the recycling program in 1976. The program became so successful that by 1991 it outgrew student-only efforts. An administration (Facilities Management) and student government (UCSU) partnership was founded, with cooperative efforts by many departments, including Housing. The Intermediate Processing Facility, in which materials are sorted for recycling, is located in the Grounds Building. This processing facility may need to be relocated as part of a proposed Athletics Fieldhouse project. Greater attention needs to be paid to the design of site accessories for trash and recycling (see the Outdoor Areas Plan sites accessories section, Secion IV.C.7) and location, especially around building entrances (see IV.C.3.f). Functional design guidelines to integrate recycling facilities on campus grounds and in campus buildings are found in Appendix 7 of the CU-Boulder Construction Standards. Goal Reduce the waste for which the campus must pay removal costs. Guidelines Decrease waste generation. Increase convenience of diverting recyclables. Integrate recycling when new facilities and major renovations occur. Recycle and minimize waste in construction projects. Continue to replace trash-only containers (indoors and outdoors) with solid waste stations for both trash and recyclables." [page 140]