ATLAS Center at the University of Colorado

Project Summary

Department of Facilities Management, University of Colorado
Boulder, Colorado

Project Type:
University

Size:
66,155 Square Feet

Year Constructed / Occupied:
2005 / 2006

Project Details

The Alliance for Teaching, Learning and Society (ATLAS) is a campus-wide institute at the University of Colorado's Boulder campus that integrates information technology with multidisciplinary curricular, research and outreach programs. The University of Colorado Student Union passed a capital funding fee in the fall of 2004 requiring that all new buildings on the campus achieve at minimum LEED® Silver Certification. Therefore, all ATLAS design team members were committed to achieving LEED® Certification from the beginning of the project's design. The Center is the first building at CU to attain a Gold Certification from the United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design™ Rating System. The ATLAS Center is a 66,155 square foot educational facility located in the heart of the Boulder campus. The Center contains a 3,000 square foot, two-story performance studio, a 1,000 square foot production studio, a 150-seat distance-learning auditorium and a 75-seat film screening room in addition to several smaller classrooms. ATLAS will be the home for the National Center for Women & Information Technology, the Film Studies Program and the new Teaching and Learning Center.

Sustainable Design Features

In addition to being within walking distance of several bus lines and being in the middle of an extremely bike-friendly city, the University of Colorado has 14 buses that run on 20% biodiesel (B20) fuel that will service the ATLAS Center.
The design team for the ATLAS complex incorporated strategies to reduce the urban heat island effect on both the site and roof surfaces. Seventy-two percent of the total impervious area of the site is covered in reflective materials.
The University is purchasing 100% of the ATLAS Center's electricity from Community Energy, Inc. which offers certified sustainable electric power.
With high recycled-content specifications and diligent efforts by the project's construction team, the project was able to verify that over 25% of the building's material cost is recycled content.
As part of the University's commitment to open space, the project sponsored the planting of 3,600 square feet of native grasses on the campus in an area previously covered by invasive weed