Facilities

Facilities

The Environmental Studies program is now housed in the new Sustainability, Energy, and Environment Complex (“SEEC”). SEEC brings together under a single roof some of the best minds in environmental and sustainability research at CU and in federal labs. A new, LEED-certified building will house shared labs featuring a new generation of analytical instruments and synthesis capabilities not available elsewhere on CU’s campus. An adjoining 290,000 square-foot space will be refurbished for teaching, programs, collaborative work, and community connections. The complex is designed to generate interaction and collaboration, fostering chance encounters that can generate sparks of discovery.

SEEC will be a flagship for CU’s environmental cluster, bringing together a community of undergraduate and graduate students, faculty educators and government researchers, industry analysts and citizens. It will co-locate researchers and programs now scattered among 17 CU buildings—many of which have outdated features and declining conditions that render them increasingly unsuitable for cutting-edge teaching and research.

Rare for a building on a university campus, SEEC will host federal laboratories whose energy and environment researchers will benefit from immediate proximity to CU’s world-class investigators. Their presence in the complex will help CU-Boulder researchers obtain federal grants and connect better with national innovation priorities.

SEEC partners include:

University of Colorado Boulder

  • Renewable & Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI)
  • Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR)
  • Environmental Engineering Program (EVEN)
  • Environmental Studies Program (ENVS)
  • Cooperative Institute in Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)
  • Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (ATOC)
  • Center of the American West

Affiliated Federal Agencies

  • National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
  • U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

SEEC will join the communities of expertise on CU-Boulder’s East Campus in biotechnology, space sciences, and other high-tech disciplines to establish a critical mass. You can put a foundation under emerging research that brings us closer to a sustainable future for Colorado and the world.