Regents Finance Committee advances projects at CU Boulder, UCCS for full board consideration

The Regents Finance Committee recently advanced two construction-related matters and one finance item for consideration by the full Board of Regents at its meeting today and Friday at CU Denver.

The committee took action during its Aug. 28 meeting held via Zoom.

If approved, a proposal from CU Boulder would give 88 square feet of land from the campus to the city of Boulder for its improvements to the 30th Street corridor. The strip runs along the east edge of the 30th Street right-of-way, north of Colorado Avenue, on the edge of CU Boulder’s East Campus.

Improvements, including bike paths, wider sidewalks and improved bus stops, will better connect the main campus and East Campus. The project also will help reduce the perceived negative travel distance between the two, said Derek Silva, associate vice chancellor for business strategy, CU Boulder. Construction is slated to run from October through next August.

At UCCS, the campus asked for approval to enter into $17.5 million of contractual agreements to address several energy savings and deferred maintenance projects. The cost would be repaid over time via energy savings, estimated at $929,000 annually.

The 28 small projects will contribute to achieving campus strategic plan sustainability goals, said Mark Ferguson, associate vice chancellor for administration and finance. Sustainability also is a key area of the Fiscal Strength pillar of the CU system’s strategic plan, which includes tracking of Energy Use Intensity and Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

Among the planned improvements at UCCS are retrofitting older lighting with LED systems and replacing end-of-life HVAC and electrical equipment. The efforts will reduce campus greenhouse gas emissions by 3,736 metric tons annually and will help UCCS achieve an overall reduction of 18% in total greenhouse gas emissions from its audit baseline year (2005).

The committee also advanced the extension of lines of credit for the campuses. The previously approved treasury pool loans are available to the campuses for Board of Regents-approved capital construction projects.