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For Immediate Release


Contact:
Leslie Weddell
(719) 389-6038
Leslie.Weddell@ColoradoCollege.edu

NOTE TO EDITORS: High resolution photos of the Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center may be downloaded at http://www.coloradocollege.edu/news_events/photos/. Photo credits must be used.

EDITH KINNEY GAYLORD CORNERSTONE ARTS CENTER
AWARDED LEED GOLD CERTIFICATION

Predock-designed building earns coveted U.S. Green Building Council recognition

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Oct. 5, 2009 – Colorado College’s Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center has been awarded gold-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The 72,419-square-foot arts teaching and performance building, designed by award-winning architect Antoine Predock and opened in fall 2008, earned LEED points in the categories of sustainable sites; water efficiency; energy and atmosphere; materials and resources; indoor environmental quality; and innovation and design process.

LEED-certified buildings are designed to protect local ecosystems, conserve natural resources, reduce building operation costs, enhance asset value and profits, have superior indoor air quality and foster occupant health and productivity. Certification is awarded to only those buildings that meet strict performance and sustainability goals.

“We are pleased by this rating primarily because it indicates that we are doing the right thing,” said Colorado College President Richard F. Celeste. “A great deal of credit goes to the many dedicated people who worked on this building from start to finish. And our students deserve credit for advocating strongly for LEED certification.”

Colorado College pursued LEED certification of the arts building as one of the campus’ many efforts toward sustainability. In April, Celeste signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, with a goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2020. The college completed a comprehensive environmental inventory and sustainability plan; its long-term goal is to become carbon-regenerative and a net energy producer.

Specific areas where the Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center earned LEED points include the following:

• Erosion and sedimentation control
• Site selection
• Urban redevelopment
• Alternative transportation: public transportation access; bicycle storage and changing rooms; parking sites for low-emission and fuel efficient vehicles; parking capacity
• Reduced site disturbance, protected or restored open space
• Storm water management and treatment
• Landscape and exterior design to reduce non-roof heat islands
• Water-efficient landscaping
• Water-use reduction
• Optimize energy performance
• Ozone depletion measures (heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems do not contain HCFCs or halons)
• Green power (half of the building’s regulated electricity use is supplied by renewable power)
• Construction waste management (67.9 percent of construction waste was diverted from landfill disposal)
• Recycled content (combined recycled content value is 37.4 percent of the total materials by cost)
• Local/regional materials (43.1percent of the total project's materials by cost were manufactured within 500 miles of the project site, and 23.87 percent of the total project's materials by cost were manufactured using raw materials harvested within 500 miles of the project site)
• Carbon dioxide monitoring
• Internal air quality management plans were used before, during construction and before occupancy
• Low emitting materials used (green adhesives, sealants, paints and carpets)
• Lighting controllability
• Thermal comfort and monitoring systems
• Daylight and views for 90.4 percent of spaces
• Innovation in design: educational outreach; exemplary performance for at least 40 percent water use reduction; and exemplary performance for at least 30 percent recycled content; and green housecleaning program

The executive architectural firm working on the Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center was Anderson Mason Dale PC, and the contractor was Mortenson Construction.

In 2005, Colorado College’s 54,123-square-foot Russell T. Tutt Science Center was the first building in southern Colorado to earn LEED certification. The LEED standard has been adopted nationwide by federal agencies, state and local governments and private companies as the guideline for sustainable building.

The $33.4 million Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center is an interdisciplinary arts teaching and performance building with a 450-seat main theater, screening room, digital media labs, performance studios, costume shop, scene shop, “messy room” and flexible classrooms. The building features the IDEA (InterDisciplinary Experimental Arts) Space, an installation area that hosts a series of exhibitions, speakers, films, workshops and performances that integrate the visual and performing arts into the campus and the broader community. The building encourages interdisciplinary study, collaboration and experimentation.

The arts center is named for Edith Kinney Gaylord, who attended Colorado College, served on its board of trustees and was one of the college’s greatest benefactors. Gaylord, who died in 2001, founded the Inasmuch Foundation to support education, arts and culture, health and human services, historic preservation and environmental concerns. The Inasmuch Foundation donated $10 million to Colorado College for the building.

In September, the Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center was awarded the 2009 Honor Award by both the Denver and New Mexico chapters of the American Institute of Architects. The building’s additional recognitions include:

• 2009 Design/Delivery Process Innovation Award Using BIM, Technology in Architectural Practice Building Information Model Awards, American Institute of Architects
• 2009 North American Copper in Architecture Award, Copper Development Association, Canadian Copper & Brass Development Association
• 2009 Best Building, 15th Annual Best of the Springs, The (Colorado Springs) Gazette
• 2008 Gold Hard Hat Award, Outstanding Architectural Design Project, Colorado Construction Magazine

For additional information about the Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center, visit http://www.coloradocollege.edu/news_events/Cornerstone/.

About LEED
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System is a feature-oriented rating system where credits are earned for satisfying specified green building criteria. The five major environmental categories of review include: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. Certified, silver, gold and platinum levels of green building certification are awarded based on the total credits earned. The LEED standard has been adopted nationwide by federal agencies, state and local governments, and interested private companies as the guideline for sustainable building.

About Colorado College
Colorado College is a nationally prominent, four-year liberal arts college that was founded in Colorado Springs in 1874. The college operates on the innovative Block Plan, in which its 1,975 undergraduate students study one course at a time in intensive 3½-week blocks. The college also offers a master of arts in teaching degree. For more information, visit www.ColoradoCollege.edu <http://www.ColoradoCollege.edu>.