By – newsteamboulder.org
The new CU residence hall, Williams Village North is the first residence hall of its size to receive the U.S. Green Building Council LEED platinum rating.
As project manager Steve Hecht explains, LEED certification is, “a certification which deals with energy efficiency and design, and the whole program is to ensure that the designers, contractors and owners make buildings as energy efficient as possible.”
The residence hall is using many energy saving materials in the construction and will have many energy saving features such as, solar hot water heaters and low flow toilets and showers.
Williams Village North will house 500 undergraduate students. Standing six stories tall at its highest point, it will have standard single and double rooms, as well as three and four person suites.
There are also a lot of new features for students. “There are public spaces, great rooms, recreational facilities and residential academic program facilities,” said Hecht.
The current budget for the building is 46.5 million dollars. Included in this budget are all of the sustainability costs, which come to about 1.6 million. All of these sustainability features are expected to use 39% less energy than a baseline building design based on the LEED criteria.
The residence hall, which is expected to open this August, is located in the Williams Village area along with existing residence halls, Sterns and Darley, as well as the Bear Creek Apartment complex.