A boom in students creates a boom in construction at colleges

With students heading to college in record numbers, local institutions are constructing everything from new dormitories to academic buildings, hoping to attract the best and brightest students and professors. And many of the projects are emphasizing sustainable design.

The good news is that a number of major institutions [are] poised to move forward with major expansion projects, said Richard T. Anderson, president of the New York Building Congress. Indeed, a recent report from the group found that despite a slowdown in construction by the government sector, colleges continue to invest in their futures.

The citys 105 universities and colleges have spent a combined $2 billion on maintenance and new facilities in each year from 2010 to 2012, and are expected to put in another $10 billion through 2017, or an average of $9.5 million each.

Since 2003, the City University of New Yorks student population has increased by nearly 50 percent, requiring an expansion. According to CUNYs Vice Chancellor for Facilities Planning, Construction and Management Iris Weinshall, CUNYs goal, along with new projects, is to redevelop at least a quarter of its facilities with a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certification by 2017. As these include many historic and landmark buildings, Weinshall noted, this is a huge and important task.

Lehman Colleges new Science Hall, in fact, which opened for classes in spring 2013, has a LEED Platinum certification, the top of four levels, from the US Green Building Council.

And Lehmans LEED Silver four-story School of Social Work is the first of a three-phase campus within a campus dedicated to the sciences.

A new building at the New York City College of Technology sits on the former site of the Klitgord Building in Brooklyn.Photo: Perkins-Eastman

The facility was constructed with $70 million in funding provided by New York State through the CUNY Capital Program. Funding of $1.5 million for the rooftop greenhouse was provided by an allocation from the New York City Council.

Other recent projects, including the CUNY School of Law and the Summit residence hall at Queens College, have Gold certification, while Hunter Colleges School of Social Work and Bronx Community Colleges North Hall and Library have Silver.

There are also several research facilities in the CUNY construction pipeline, including an advanced research complex on the City College campus in Harlem, and the new College of Staten Island dormitory, which will aim for LEED Gold.

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A boom in students creates a boom in construction at colleges