Coors Event Center Lighting Upgrades

The Coors Event Center at CU Boulder is outfitted with low-flow water fixtures, high-performance insulation and windows, efficient lighting, and lighting and heating controls that are key to optimizing energy savings.

Coors Event Center

In May 2012, the Coors volleyball and basketball practice facility received a LEED platinum rating from the United States Green Building Council. It was the first LEED-certified athletic facility on the CU Boulder campus.

Energy Audits/Performance Contracting

SEEC/MacAllister Building

In 2014, CU Boulder began planning the renovation of the MacAllister Building on East Campus as part of the new SEEC, Sustainability, Energy and Environment Complex. The 280,000 SF building houses geoscience research and focuses on a holistic view of environmental concerns. Performance contracting was utilized to determine facility improvement measures which could be implemented during the renovation. Measures such as central plant upgrades, building automation upgrades, airside optimization, LED lighting retrofits tied to lighting controls, insulation and water conservation were implemented in 2015 and 2016. These measures are expected to save $572,600 per year in energy and operational costs and reduce annual CO2 emissions by 4,032 tons.

Wilderness Place

Wilderness Place was renovated in 2015/2016 to become the home for life sciences programs conducting animal research. An Energy Service Company conducted an energy audit of the existing 62,660 SF building to determine energy efficiency upgrades to be completed during the renovation. The audit produced facility improvement measures expected to produce close to $384,000 in energy and operational savings annually against a modeled baseline. Boiler replacements, hot water reheat, atomizing humidifiers, rooftop unit replacement, VAV, energy recovery, DDC controls, lighting controls, and LED lighting replacements were implemented as part of a total renovation of the building. By implementing these measures, CU Boulder is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 5,000 tons.

Coors Event Center

Upgrades to the Coors Event Center were also implemented through the Colorado energy office's performance contracting program. A technical energy audit was conducted in 2014 and identified a number of facility improvement measures directed toward reducing the energy consumption of the building. The upgrades included water conservation, LED lighting upgrades, controls upgrade to DDC and optimization of controls, recommission air distribution, and insulation of piping. These measures are expected to annually provide over $121,000 in savings for athletics and reduce carbon emissions by 1,080 tons.

JILA

In addition to performance contracts, a technical energy audit was conducted in JILA, the Joint Institute for Lab Astrophysics in 2015. Original construction of JILA dates back to 1965, with a number of renovations and additions being completed over the years. JILA is operated jointly by CU Boulder and NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The technical energy audit identified numerous facility improvement measures which would provide energy and operational savings, as well as upgrades to existing equipment beyond its useful life. Implementation of the identified measures is under review.