The institution has put together a walking tour of its Fort Collins campus to demonstrate to students, staff and visitors how it is pursuing environmentally friendly practices. The Green University Walking Tour takes participants to more than a dozen spots that have played a role in the school's sustainability efforts.

Among the highlights:

• Academic Village. This student housing community includes Aspen Hall, which opened last year and is the university's first residence hall to receive LEED gold certification. The village also has an on-site thermal plant with solar panels and a system that makes ice at night when electric rates are low and melts the ice during the day to heat the building. The village's dining center has a pulper that reduces water usage and creates a compostable byproduct from food and paper waste.
• Transit Center. The university identifies this building as one of the first on campus to receive LEED certification. Construction incorporated use of recycled granite, concrete and drywall; 75 percent of the waste generated in construction was recycled.
• Aspen Grille. This student-run restaurant has been certified by the Green Restaurant Association as one of only two "green restaurants" in Colorado. It uses local food products, including 20 varieties of "carbon-neutral lettuce" that are biked over from the campus greenhouse.
• Lake Street Parking Garage. The four-tier structure has a 9,000-square-foot solar panel array above the top tier and provides parking space for bicycles and low-emitting vehicles as well as traditional motor vehicles. The university is seeking LEED gold certification for the project.
• Engineering Building. The university has installed a 108-panel solar array on the roof of the facility. It is tied directly into the building’s electrical system and is expected to produce more than 25,000 kilowatt hours a year.
• Microbiology Study Lounge. Completed in 2008, the facility has a 400-square-foot green roof demonstration project.
• Indoor practice facility. Certified LEED gold, the building provides space for numerous sports programs, and uses daylighting strategies and water-conserving landscaping to reduce consumption of electricity and water.
• Guggenheim Hall. This academic building was renovated in 2003 and restored to its original 1910 appearance. The upgrades included recycled carpeting, non-toxic paints, low-flow plumbing fixtures and energy-efficient lighting. The facility received a LEED silver rating.
• Behavioral Science Building. The facility was designed to receive LEED gold certification. It was built with local materials and includes a garden atrium, water-efficient landscaping and renewable energy systems.

One of the more prominent elements in Colorado State's sustainability initiative is not included on the walking tour because it is found on the university's Foothills Campus, about three miles west of the main Fort Collins campus.

The Foothills Campus is home to a 2-megawatt solar plant with more than 8,000 panels that cover 15 acres. Colorado State says it is one of the largest solar plants situated at a university. It is expected to produce 3.5 million kilowatt hours of energy a year--enough to reduce annual greenhouse emissions by 5.5 million pounds.

The brochure for the university's green walking tour is online at www.green.colostate.edu/multimedia/green_walking_tour.pdf.

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HAND IN HAND: Academic institutions have been among the leading proponents of sustainable design. As long-term owners, they are in a position to gain a substantial return on their investments in sustainable-design strategies. To reap the rewards of sustainable design, an institution and its project team should work to integrate sustainability into a project from the outset....to read the entire article, click here.