Sustainability

Installing solar panels on rooftop in Boulder

The University of Colorado Boulder has . From being the first university to establish a recycling program, to being the first university to rank “gold” through the . Partners on the campus include the Environmental Center, the Office of Campus Sustainability, Facilities Management, Housing & Dining Services, students, faculty, staff and community members.

Campus Sustainability Tour

  • : SEEC officially opened in the spring of 2016 and consists of two buildings at the corner of Colorado Avenue and Discovery Drive. One of the buildings provides 289,000 square feet of office and is retrofitted as offices and workspace (including an accelerator mass spectrometer) for SEEC tenants. The second building was built from the ground up and provides state of the art laboratory space. The 145,000 square-foot, LEED-certified lab building was constructed using an open lab design concept to encourage idea exchange and collaboration. 
  • : This building was one of the first LEED Gold certified buildings on campus. The building, compared with an average building of its size, has seen cost savings of up to $250,000 per year because of energy and water efficient technologies, building systems and controls. 
  • : The Center for Community is LEED Gold certified. The building includes LED lighting, low-flow bathroom fixtures, evaporative cooling, maximal use of natural lighting, regional materials, materials  made of recycled content or rapidly renewable materials, Energy Star rated kitchen equipment, a pulper used to capture food waste for composting. 83 percent of C4C construction waste was recycled.
  • : The Will Vill North residence hall - completed in 2011 - is the first LEED Platinum building on campus and one of the first LEED Platinum residence halls of its size in the nation. The building is home to two sustainability oriented residential academic  programs for students, and also boasts native landscaping, water re-use, and a solar panel carport.

Did you know that CU Boulder is one of the nation’s leading green schools? Learn more about what makes our campus a leader in sustainability during the  walking tours held every Thursday*, starting at 4 p.m.

Explore a sampling of:

  • LEED green buildings
  • Chemical-free landscapes
  • Pollinator sanctuaries
  • Zero waste and recycling programs
  • Bike stations
  • Renewable energy
  • Sustainable food
  • and more initiatives that are helping CU-Boulder to achieve its sustainability goals.

Meet at the Environmental Center, University Memorial Center (UMC) Room 355. Wear comfortable walking shoes, weather appropriate clothing and bring a water bottle! 

*Tours do not meet during Fall Break and finals.

CU-Boulder is listed as one of the BEST Workplaces for CommutersSM (Colleges and Universities) for our efforts in exploring and supporting environmentally-friendly commuting travel options.

Environmental Health & Safety

The  department at the University of Colorado at Boulder provides comprehensive environmental, health and safety services to minimize health and safety impacts to the campus and the greater Boulder community. EH&S accomplishes this through training, consultation and partnership with members of the campus community as well as with local, state and federal agencies.

Dining Services

A variety of programs are in place to support this initiative in  and we continue to expand options each year. Below you can find out What We Do as well as finding out What You Can Do to assist in sustainability efforts.

Facilities Management

The CU  works behind the scenes to build and maintain an environmentally sustainable campus. By incorporating sustainable practices in our day to day operations, we have the ability to significantly reduce the negative environmental impact of buildings that we build and operate, and the services that we offer to our campus customers. For example:

  • Planning, Design and Construction; ensuring that campus buildings are engineered, constructed and renovated to be as safe, efficient, and sustainable as possible.
  • Utility and Energy Services; managing campus energy production, distribution and building efficiency programs.
  • Facilities Operations; implementing green cleaning, sustainable grounds keeping, integrated pest management, and building maintenance for all General Fund buildings. This division also manages the new recycling facility, which is operated in partnership with the Environmental Center.
  • Distribution Center; managing all campus shipping and receiving, surplus property reuse and recycling, and a variety of other logistics that helps the campus be more efficient.

Ralphie's Green Stampede

The  is a zero-waste and carbon-reduction program at Folsom Field, home of the Colorado Buffaloes Football Team. A collaboration between the Environmental Center and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, the program goal is to move toward zero-waste at Folsom Field during the football season and invest in local carbon-reduction projects to match energy used to power the stadium, for team travel and other football-related energy use. 

Learn more by visiting .