Focus Areas

The University of Colorado Denver’s sustainability efforts are primarily focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy, water and waste across CU Denver buildings. These focus areas are complimented by the work of our collaborative partners on waste diversion, alternative transportation, educational programming, and procurement.

Click below to view goals, performance metrics and efforts regarding our key focus areas.

Goal: Reduce building-related greenhouse gas emissions (CO2e/ft2) 50% by 2030, from 2019 baseline.

This goal aligns with the Science-based Targets Initiative (SBTI), which seeks to limit catastrophic climate change by achieving emissions levels that limit global warming to 1.5 - 2⁰ F.

How will we achieve it? 

Decrease energy consumption through energy efficiency strategies (see Energy section below).
Pursue renewable energy generation, such as on or off site solar, to decarbonize electricity source.
As feasible, convert gas/steam powered heating and cooling equipment to high efficiency electric heat pumps .
Xcel Energy has committed to achieving 80% renewable electricity supply by 2030 (75% of current emissions come from electricity purchased from Xcel).

Goal: Meet or exceed state-established target energy use intensity (EUI) for all CU Denver buildings.

Building performance and energy efficiency generates utility cost savings, as well as greater comfort for building occupants. Benchmarking against a Colorado-specific and building-use-specific target provides an indication of how much opportunity we may have in each building and where to focus our efforts.

How will we achieve it? 

Perform energy efficiency audits and building retrofits to decrease energy consumption and improve efficiency.
Practice Strategic Energy Management (SEM) and continuous building optimization through partnership with Xcel Energy.
Pursue building recommissioning (tune ups) whenever financially possible.
Replace all remaining incandescent and CFL lighting with LEDs (project currently underway).

What has already been accomplished?

Four of CU Denver’s buildings (Student Commons, Wellness Center, Business School and City Heights) are certified to LEED Gold standards. See their scorecards here.
City Heights has a green roof and there are 20 pollinator hives between City Heights and Student Commons!

Goal in Progress: Strive to achieve and maintain benchmark for efficient use (gal/sq ft or gal/person) based on building type (college/university, fitness center, dormitory).

Water in the West is a scarce resource and subject to future price volatility. This benchmark helps us identify inefficiencies and focus areas to reduce water utility costs and be a better steward of this precious resource.

How will we achieve it?

Indoor: install low-flow faucets/showerheads and replace or refurbish toilets
Outdoor: drought-tolerant landscaping, smart irrigation controls, leak detection

What has already been accomplished?

All seven CU Denver buildings have smart water meters on site that enable leak detection alerts and more sophisticated data analytics. Several of our cooling towers are also sub metered.
The Auraria Campus (who oversees irrigation south of Speer Boulevard) has installed new irrigation controllers with predictive analytics and weather sensors to decrease water used in irrigation.

Water use intensity benchmarks are informed by a number of sources and are currently under review.

Goal in Progress: Strive to achieve a 50% diversion rate (from landfill) by 2030.

Waste (particularly food waste) contributes to methane emissions, which are a potent greenhouse gas. Landfilled waste can also make its way into our oceans and waterways, leach contaminants into groundwater, and cause environmental health impacts. This goal is aligned with the Auraria Sustainable Campus program, our campus partner for waste diversion. The State of Colorado has established a goal of diverting 39% of waste from landfills by 2026 and 45% by 2036.

How will we achieve it?

Increase waste sorting signage and education.
Deploy more compost collection bins in key strategic areas.
Encourage event composting for events hosted by CU Denver.

What has already been accomplished?

CU Denver joined the Auraria in-vessel composting program in 2021 and currently has collection bins in all CU Denver buildings, including some kitchen operations.
CU Denver has a Furniture Swap Teams Channel (Coming Soon!) to promote reuse of gently used items
See Resources and Get Involved page for efforts hosted by the ASCP.

This graphic represents waste diversion for the Auraria Campus as a whole. CU Denver is still in the process of collecting weights from our haulers to calculate CU Denver’s own waste diversion rate.

The Auraria Sustainable Campus Program (ASCP) has been leading tri-institutional sustainability efforts for the broader Auraria Campus since 2004. The program is funded with student fees from all three academic institutions and works across seven sustainability pillars to reduce Auraria’s environmental impact.

The PSP works collaboratively with the three other CU campuses and the CU System Office to share best practices and advance system-wide sustainability initiatives, such as goal setting and procurement best practices.