About CMTA
CMTA was founded in 1968 and is recognized as a national leader in high performance, sustainable design within the engineering industry. Our firm has leveraged our expertise in high performance, energy-efficient design into a nationwide practice that includes consulting engineering, performance contracting and zero energy design, technology solutions, and commissioning services.
CMTA prides itself on its data-driven, performance-based design process. Performance-based design uses benchmarking of our projects’ real-world energy usage as a challenge to our engineers to continuously improve energy performance. CMTA’s first signature performance-based design project was Richardsville Elementary School, the nation’s first operational Zero Energy school. Since then, our Zero Energy projects have led our firm into the national spotlight.
Because we walk the talk, we are true partners vested in sharing our knowledge with our clients. Our corporate headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky and our Lexington, Kentucky offices are both zero energy buildings with perfect ENERGY STAR scores. And our CMTA Energy Solutions corporate office in Louisville is the first in the U.S. to operate as Zero Energy and achieve WELL Gold certification. CMTA strives to create strong relationships with building owners and managers while also focusing on the health and comfort of the people who live, work, and play in spaces we design.
University of Kentucky, Student Center
Lexington, Kentucky
Education Technology + Security Expertise
Integrated Technology & Security Solutions
CMTA’s Technology Solutions Group is a full-service technology-focused consultancy that designs electronic safety, security, communications, and technology systems that are fully integrated with other building systems, including mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection. This team has provided technology solutions for academic campuses across the country.
The team provides campus-wide assessments of existing conditions and work with universities to weave emergency
preparedness and response into the very construct of the learning space, to narrow risk from a plethora of threats by creating concentric circles of protection.
Instructional Design & Technology
We bridge the gap between standard design and educational technology use in the classroom. For education projects, our dedicated team of Instructional Design and Technology Specialists work with the design team, administration, and faculty and staff to provide support to faculty and administration in the design and development of face-to-face and
web-supported learning. This focuses on educationally sound applications of technologies in the design and delivery of instruction.
We provide workshops, demonstrations, webinars, or other group sessions for faculty to support course development and instruction, focusing on the pedagogicallydriven use of technology to enhance teaching and learning. Our process explores other emerging technologies to facilitate teaching practices and student learning experiences and assist with the development of departmental policies and procedures, planning, budgeting, and priorities.
Higher Education
We partner with colleges and universities to create engaging, flexible, and resilient learning and living environments, drawing on decades of data and the most current research to shape experiences that empower all students and support educators. The CMTA team works closely with institutions of higher education across the country to deliver meaningful projects ranging from wellness centers, classrooms, research, and residence facilities to comprehensive infrastructure improvements and sustainability master plans.
As campuses across the country focus on decarbonization and sustainability, CMTA is creating holistic climate action plans for our higher education clients focused on achievable targets and practical solutions that lead to real results.
83M Square Feet
$9B+ Construction Value
School of the Arts Residence Hall
University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina
The UNC School of the Arts (UNCSA) new residence hall is comprised of five stories, with wings on four stories and a connecting bridge. Approximately 120,600 SF is dedicated to student and staff living quarters, with 444 beds and two staff apartments. CMTA provided early sustainability and wellness charrettes to educate the stakeholders and create high performance goals. The process required balancing goals for energy and wellness with the overall budget allocated.
The studies on ventilation and student performance led the design to higher-thancode ventilation rates in residence rooms to reduce CO2 levels. The goal was to improve sleep quality for better mental health and next day student performance.
Outside of residential living units, UNCSA desired to have common spaces that promote academic, artistic, and personal success.
CMTA led the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection engineering designs, as well as the technology, security and communications designs. CMTA was also retained to provide the fundamental and enhanced commissioning of the building energy systems.
Project at a Glance
Completion: 2022
Size: 120,630 SF
Cost: $46,000,000
Project Type: New Facility
Centennial Village
University of Miami | Coral Gables, Florida
Located on Lake Osceola at the heart of the University of Miami’s campus, Centennial Village replaces four existing high-rise buildings with 550,000 SF of new residence halls and a 40,000 SF dining facility. One of the primary goals of this project is to create a strong sense of community among the residence village, which will house most of the university’s freshman class.
The building design places significant focus on occupant health and wellness. Chilled beams are used for heating and cooling with a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS), heat recovery chillers for domestic hot water generation, and HLR air scrubbers for higher indoor air quality. Modeling was carried out to optimize daylight access and to determine areas of the building that should be provided with active circadian lighting systems to support healthy sleep cycles.
Project at a Glance
Completion: 2023 estimated
Size: 680,000 SF
Cost: $208,000,000
Project Type: New Facility
Awards / Certifications:
LEED Gold Targeted
WELL Targeted
Thurston Hall
George Washington University | Washington, D.C.
Located two blocks from the White House on the Foggy Bottom campus, Thurston Hall is George Washington University’s largest freshman residence hall and is critical to the first-year experience for many students. The 100-year-old building has seen many uses in its lifetime, though has had no previous comprehensive renovations. A central, inaccessible lightwell was converted to a highly functional outdoor covered space that can usable most of the year. In addition, GWU took the highly unusual step of putting back fewer beds than are currently in the building to improve residence life.
The building contains a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) with heat recovery and rainwater collection.
Project at a Glance
Completion: 2021
Size: 200,000 SF
Cost: $85,000,000
Project Type: New Facility
Awards/Certifications:
LEED Gold Targeted
Marian Spencer Hall
University of Cincinnati | Cincinnati, Ohio
This new high-rise/mixed use facility houses 200 students with suite-style units containing four beds and bathroom for each unit. New offices totaling approximately 9,600 SF serve the housing and food services department. A grade-level food service operation serves the University community with a full-service café style operation.
The HVAC system serving the dining level and office area utilizes two, central, variable volume air handling units. Each zone utilizes a variable air volume terminal unit with hot water reheat to maintain zone temperature. The kitchen and server lines include several cooking stations which utilize stainless steel hoods to exhaust smoke and heat. The 50 percent makeup air for the hood exhaust consists of a makeup air system, the remaining make up air is conditioned air provided by the central air handling units.
The residence floors are heated and cooled utilizing four pipe fan coil systems. The outside air and exhaust system for these rooms includes a dedicated, outside air unit which includes energy recovery to transfer energy from the exhaust air into the outside air stream.
Project at a Glance
Completion: 2017
Size: 110,000 SF
Cost: $35,000,000
Project Type: New Facility
West Woods Residence Hall
College of William & Mary | Williamsburg, Virgina
After a 2021 Housing and Dining Master Plan with CMTA, the College of William & Mary (W&M) solicited a public-private partnership (P3) for two new residence halls and dining hall. The project is set to align with the camps FY2030 Carbon Neutral Goals.
While designing the new residence halls student’s cognitive improvement was an area of focus as well as Virginia’s naturally humid environment. Through a dedicated outside air system (DOAS) and high filtration, the design team is able to reduce CO2 levels well below standards to increase students performance and sleep quality. On top of that, CMTA worked with the maintenance team to reduce the humidity in the buildings year round to improve the student’s comfort.
The P3 investment team is using the
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) benefits to not only provide funding that was previously not available to higher education facilities as well as help the College meet their FY2030 Carbon Neutrality Goals.
The largest contribution from the IRA are the energy recovery systems, the geothermal system that eliminates combustibles on-site, and the rooftop solar array to offset combustion from utilities. The power for the building will be purchased though renewable resources from the utility company, with an overall targeted Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of 38.
Project at a Glance Completion: 2025 estimated
Size: 258,445 SF
Cost: $108,000,000
Project Type: New Facility
Cater Hall
North Dakota State University
Fargo, North Dakota
Completed in 2019, Catherine Cater Hall is the first new residence hall built on the NDSU campus since 2008. In an effort to increase student enrollment and retention, the university wanted to provide additional housing on campus.
The suite-style residence hall is intended for second-year students and offers both one and two-bedroom suite options with a total of 455 beds. Each floor of the six-story building contains a huddle room, study rooms, and a lobby. The main floor features a media room, game room, and conference space. The facility connects to the existing campus tunnel system for easy access to other residence halls and dining facilities.
Project at a Glance
Completion: 2019
Size: 148,000 SF
Cost: $40,000,000
Project Type: New Facility
Callahan Residence & Dining Hall
Northern Kentucky University | Highland Heights, Kentucky
Northern Kentucky University purchased the 148,000 SF Lakeside Nursing Home and converted it into a 400 bed residence hall. The building is comprised of seven threestory housing wings containing 2-person, 3-person, and 4-person suites with personal restroom facilities. In addition, there is also a resident director suite, visiting faculty suite, and resident advisor suites. The building has a full service kitchen/dining area as well as a new laundry facility.
The mechanical system for this building was completely renovated. A new 300 ton air-cooled chiller was added to the existing 260 ton water-cooled chiller and three new high efficiency gas fired boilers were added. These are connected to a 2-pipe fan coil system to provide heating and cooling. In addition, three new domestic water
boilers were installed for domestic water heating. Low flow 1.6 GPM shower heads are provided throughout. The building has a new direct digital control system which connects to the campus wide DDC system.
Recently, the building was showing signs of condensation so CMTA replaced the original 1960s piping distribution and modified the pumping distribution system. The pumping modifications simplified the distribution and now provide redundancy for improved reliability.
Project at a Glance
Completion: 2009 Renovation, 2022 Piping
Replacement
Size: 148,000 SF
Cost: $9,500,000 (both projects)
Project Type: Renovation