LEEDing to the New Transit Center

The new Fort Collins Transit Center, planned for the north side of the Lory Student Center, will help teach people about sustainable construction practices. The transit center is one of several regional projects involving the CM department’s Institute for the Built Environment (IBE) as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) consultant.

The 15,000-square-foot transit center will house Transfort bus offices, meeting spaces, a lobby/waiting area, and the Lory Student Center convenience store.Last spring, CM, interior design, and engineering students in Brian Dunbar’s Sustainable Technologies in the Built Environment class explored signage and interpretive options for ways to make the transit center project a learning experience for other students during and after construction. The first signs will be installed when demolition of the facade on the north side of the Student Center begins this fall.

“When the building is complete, permanent signage will tell visitors about the sustainable features of the building and about the importance of ecologically sensitive design, construction, and occupancy,” says Josie Plaut, a CM graduate student and IBE representative.

Plaut is helping to coordinate the project’s LEED certification goals by attending project meetings, learning and interpreting the LEED Rating System, and managing the documentation process.

“It’s largely to Josie’s credit that the transit center is almost certain to be LEED-certified,” says Mary Nobe, an IBE research associate and doctoral candidate. “She has clarified the issues regarding the various credit ratings and whether or not they’re achievable. Because of her knowledge of the LEED system, she’s initiated good discussions that have really helped this project.”

Competing to Win

Colorado State’s CM student teams again led the way at regional and national competitions in 2005.“Our students are being heavily recruited at these competitions, because our industry leaders want to be associated with winners,” says CM Department Head Larry Grosse. Take Joel Yates, captain of last year’s MCAA student team (which took first place), for example. After graduating in May 2004, Yates was hired by Kinetics, one of the event’s sponsors. Another way companies are investing in our students is by stepping forward to sponsor our student teams. During 2005, 29 individuals and companies donated toward team expenses (see sidebar). After the 2005 NAHB competition, Mercedes Homes Inc. offered to sponsor CSU’s entire NAHB team next year by paying for students’ travel expenses to participate in the competition.We send our heartfelt thanks to all those companies that have donated to help our student teams. Congratulations to our winning teams, pictured below.

Winning teams of (left) the ASC Region IV Competition – 1st Place (Commercial) and the ASC/AGC National Competition – 2nd Place (Commercial); (center) the MCAA National Competition – 2nd Place (Mechanical); and (right) the NAHB National Competition – 3rd Place (Homebuilding).

2005 Student Competition Sponsors

Alliance Construction Solutions Ames Construction, Inc. Barnard Construction Co., Inc. Bosco Constructors, Inc. Braconier Plumbing & Heating Co., Inc. Building Material Holding Corporation Collins-Kiessig General Contractors, Inc. Commercial Roofers, Inc. D. H. Blattner & Sons, Inc. Dohn Construction , Inc. Drahota Construction Company Gallegos Construction Co. GE Johnson Construction Co. General Construction Co. Genesis Homes, LLC

Glacier Construction Co., Inc. Granite Construction Company Haselden Construction, LLC Hensel Phelps Construction Co. Hydro Construction Co., Inc. ISEC, Inc. JE Dunn Construction Dr. James Young John West Phase 2 Company Pinkard Construction Ryland Homes Saunders Construction, Inc. Scott Griffin