Higher Education Design

Project Portfolio

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.

University of Cincinnati, Health Sciences Building Cincinnati, Ohio

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

Kaplan Wellness Center

University of North Carolina | Greensboro, North Carolina

This new wellness center serves 18,000 students and consists of space in three primary zones: activity, administrative, and support areas.

The activity zone includes a three-court gymnasium, a two-court gymnasium, an elevated jogging track, weight training rooms, multipurpose rooms, a 25-meter competitive natatorium, a fitness pool, classrooms, offices, and storage areas to support all activity spaces.

The administrative zone includes the director’s office suite, program staff offices, graduate assistants and student employee work areas, conference room, storage, and ancillary spaces.

The support zone includes lounge areas, a pro shop, locker rooms, laundry, recreation, and general building storage.

A new central utility building was also constructed to serve the new student recreation center and houses the cooling tower, tower disc filtration system, chillers and boilers, hot water, chilled water, and condenser water pumps.

Project at a Glance

Completion: 2016

Size: 216,000 SF

Cost: $92,000,000

Project Type: New Facility

Awards/Certifications: LEED Gold

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

Memorial Union

University of North Dakota | Grand Forks, North Dakota

The University of North Dakota Memorial Union gives students a new place to study, connect, dine, and enjoy the outdoors. The new facility features a twostory atrium with floor-to-ceiling windows allowing ample natural light and campus views. The 155,000 SF student center includes space for quiet lounge and meeting areas on the third floor, a lofted overlook and collaboration spaces on the second floor, and the ground level is the hub for student life. This floor includes dining, entertainment, ballroom spaces, gaming lounge, retail, and student support resources.

The design team for the new Memorial Union also focused on wellness and opportunities to enjoy the outdoors inside and out. Not only are views to the outside prominent, but there is also ample green space with gardens and lawn for student enjoyment.

Project at a Glance

Completion: 2022

Size: 155,000 SF

Cost: $80,000,000

Project Type: New Facility

Healthy Kentucky Research Building

University of Kentucky | Lexington, Kentucky

The University of Kentucky’s Medical Research Building 2 is a state-of-the-art facility for researchers in the biomedical, psychology, agriculture, arts and sciences, and engineering fields. CMTA was responsible for the lighting, plumbing, laboratory gas, fire suppression, and central plant expansion design.

The laboratory’s spaces are flexible and open, allowing users to adjust and modify the space to fit their needs. This includes:

Vivarium totaling 12,800 SF

8,000 SF imaging space

96 benches of biomedical wet lab space

Flexible lab/offices

Central lobby forum space and café

100-seat auditorium

Space for imaging equipment on the lower level

Computational dry lab space

Shelled space for future fit-up

This research building provides the University with a modern laboratory and vivarium facility for the study of health disparities in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The building’s mechanical system is served by the campus’ chilled water and high-pressure steam systems supplemented by a heat recovery chiller within the facility. The building’s heating and cooling is provided by chilled beams. The air supplied to wet labs is 100% outside air provided by air handling units located in a rooftop penthouse.

Project at a Glance

Completion: 2018

Size: 306,000 SF

Cost: $265,000,000

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

Gatton Student Center

University of Kentucky | Lexington, Kentucky

In 2013 CMTA began working with the University of Kentucky and the design team to upgrade the aging infrastructure for the most used building on the University Campus. It quickly became apparent that a much more significant project was needed to meet the student and University’s needs. What started as a $20M donation from the Gatton family evolved into a new 378,000 SF student center. The center represents a marrying of tradition and modernization, and is even described as the living room of the campus.

The original 1938 gymnasium that Adolf Rupp would coach in has become a one-of-a-kind fitness center for the northern campus, while the original 1938 student center was retained for the grand

ballrooms. The rest of the student center was re-imagined into a high-tech space that catered to the needs of students. This included a new cinema, a blue box theatre, student government chambers, Barnes and Noble bookstore, and the largest food service facility on campus.

Project at a Glance Completion: 2018

Size: 378,000 SF

Cost: $230,000,000

Project Type: New Facility

Awards/Certifications:

LEED Silver

30% Energy Reduction

Semans Griswold Environmental Center

Washington College | Chestertown, Maryland

The new teaching and research center is designed to operate at netpositive energy and to meet the holistic standards of Living Building Challenge Petal Certification. It is expected to produce 105% of its energy needs on-site utilizing rooftop photovoltaic solar panels and a ground-source geothermal heating and cooling system. Freshwater piping systems bring river water directly into the building’s laboratories for scientific research. Inspired by biophilic design, the building celebrates daylight with a south-facing rooftop clerestory, connections to the riverfront landscape, and outdoor porches and walkways.

CMTA provided zero energy and sustainability consulting services including owner utilization charrettes and energy modeling. Our team also provided guidance and consultation through a peer review for the mechanical design of the HVAC system. This was to ensure high performance and energy efficiency of the overall system. CMTA designed the photovoltaic array and battery storage systems to create a full zero-energy building while also providing services for building optimization commissioning, performance verification, and building pressure testing.

A PV array and Energy Storage System (ESS) was designed to increase building energy resiliency by coupling PV and ESS to provide backup power without using combustibles. The ESS system also supports demand management and peak shaving to generate cost savings for the school. In addition, a load-shedding approach for the ESS system was incorporated that would extend backup times for critical lab loads.

Project at a Glance

Completion: 2020

Size: 10,000 SF

Cost: $11,000,000

Project Type: New Facility

Awards/Certifications:

LEED Platinum Targeted

Zero Energy Targeted

Gorecki Alumni Center

University of North Dakota | Grand Forks, North Dakota

A true campus and community landmark, the University of North Dakota Gorecki Alumni Center is a front door to campus. The project took ten years to complete, and in that time, the University underwent many changes, including three different presidents.

The Gorecki Alumni Center is the first LEED Platinum building in North Dakota. At 38,000 SF, it houses alumni services and administration. The building uses around 41% less energy than other buildings. The roof contains 3,219 SF of solar panels that are predicted to save up to 80,000 kWh a year — enough to run 7.3 average American homes annually.

There are 12.8 miles of piping under the building’s parking lot to create a geothermal

wellfield. A geothermal system is used to move heat from one area of the building to another and to take advantage of the Earth’s mass as a heat sink. This results in a significant reduction in energy consumption and a more economical operation over the lifetime of a building.

Project at a Glance Completion: 2014

Size: 38,000 SF

Cost: $12,000,000

Project Type: New Facility Awards/Certifications: LEED Platinum

Belknap Center

University of Louisville | Louisville, Kentucky

The 167,000 SF facility features chemistry and physics labs, offices, group meeting rooms, a café, large public circulation spaces with seating areas, as well as interactive classrooms with a capacity of 100, 60, and 40 people. The main lobby area features a community stair with a substantial light monitor to bring in natural lighting.

The building is connected to the campus steam and chilled water plant for heating and cooling. The underground concrete tunnel network was extended into the new building to deliver steam/condensate utilities and chilled water utilities. As part of the project, significant utility infrastructure improvements were included that impacted the campus’s chilled water and high-voltage electrical systems.

Project at a Glance

Completion: 2018

Size: 167,000 SF

Cost: $50,500,000

Project Type: New Facility

Awards / Certifications: LEED Gold

Roy Richards Sr. Hall

University of West Georgia College of Business Carrollton, Georgia

CMTA provided MEP and fire protection engineering services, as well as technology, communication, and security design for the new three-story University of West Georgia Richards College of Business, Roy Richards Sr. Hall.

Plans for the new facility include consolidating administrative and faculty offices to increase collaboration and program growth. In addition, Richards Hall incorporates traditional and flexible classrooms, innovative learning labs, and state-of-the-art technology to improve student experiences and learning outcomes. The hall also features conference-style space, attracting business and community partners to the College.

To achieve the owner’s sustainability goals, the budget, and the high number of low-load HVAC thermal comfort zones in the office areas, the building was split into two. The office areas are served by the traditional VAV AHU, while the classrooms are served by WSHP/DOAS.

By incorporating high-performance design strategies, the team anticipates the building to operate under a 25 EUI and receive 45 points for energy efficiency in the state sustainability Peach Program.

Project at a Glance

Completion: 2021

Size: 64,300 SF

Cost: $19,200,000

Project Type: New Facility

A. Glenn Hill STEM Center

North Dakota State University | Fargo, North Dakota

The new A. Glenn Hill STEM (Science-TechnologyEngineering-Mathematics) center was built to address the growing classroom and laboratory needs of students.

This facility provides state-of-the-art educational spaces for science and technology instruction and has allowed for better use of existing space to support research and teaching in STEM areas. A. Glenn Hill supports the unanimous top capital project priority of all colleges, deans, and senior academic leadership at NDSU, as well as the business community and the state of North Dakota, by providing excellent educational opportunities in the STEM fields of study. It aligns with the third goal of the SBHE, which states, Economic development through quality education, research, training, and service.

Spaces in the building are devoted exclusively to labs and traditional science and engineering classrooms as well as modular “open frame” flexible classrooms that would range in size from 20 to an auditorium that house 250-500 students. The building also adds much-needed classroom space to the campus as student enrollment has outgrown the available space.

Project at a Glance

Completion: 2017

Size: 120,000 SF

Cost: $30,000,000

Project Type: New Facility

Maturi Pavilion Volleyball Suite

University of Minnesota | Minneapolis, Minnesota

Maturi Pavilion has been home to NCAA Division I Gopher volleyball since 1994. Prior to the 2019 season, Maturi Pavilion received world-class facility upgrades that transformed the existing space to enhance the performance and experience of the volleyball student-athletes. The 9,000 SF renovation included updated locker rooms, weight room improvements, a new club room, and a hydrotherapy tub all located adjacent to the competition court. A new

air conditioning system was designed for the facility, providing a comfortable and temperature-controlled space for athletes and fans.

Project at a Glance

Completion: 2020

Size: 9,000 SF

Cost: $3,200,000

Project Type: Renovation

25% Energy Reduction

Massachusetts Hall

Harvard University | Cambridge, Massachusetts

To say this building is rich with history would be an understatement. Built in 1720 — which even predates the inception of the United States — Massachusetts Hall housed the Continental Army during the American Revolution and now serves as a dormitory for students, as well as senior level office space for the President and Provost of the University. Mass Hall is officially recognized as a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service, highlighting it as a location that possessed exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States.

One of the most critical challenges of this project was to maintain the historical and architectural beauty of the building while also updating the engineering while focusing on efficient and quiet systems. The low floor-to-floor height and the historical significance of this building required innovation and creativity from the engineering team.

The final solution implemented an extremely low-velocity VAV system that integrated small vertical duct risers within the wall pilasters and millwork. Once the project concluded, the President and Provost of the University complimented CMTA on the swift completion of such a challenging and time-restricted project.

Project at a Glance

Completion: 2017

Size: 22,000 SF

Cost: $13,000,000

Project Type: Renovation

Awards / Certifications: National Historic Landmark

Esports Lounge

University of Kentucky | Lexington, Kentucky

The University of Kentucky selected CMTA Technology Solutions to develop a cuttingedge, technology-infused space to cater to today’s ever-evolving Esports industry. From the project’s inception, the design team heavily relied on a student-first approach. The team coordinated with the users of the space and gathered their expectations to develop flexible and reliable audio and video systems that utilize the University’s IT network heavily.

Designed as a hub of activity around innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic development, the Cornerstone supports UK’s nationally-recognized Smart Campus digital strategy, which increases persistence and graduation rates while preparing students for purposeful lives. The facility includes a 100-seat Esports theater, two team rooms for practice and pre-match warm-up, a 50-station gaming lounge, and three console stations equipped for the latest and greatest gaming experience.

Security and safety features that align with UK’s campus security standards were incorporated into the design. The state-ofthe-art system includes keyless entry, access control, analytic cameras, and warning notification systems.

Serving as a technology interpreter between all project parties, CMTA Technology Solutions brought this project to fruition. CMTA expedited, budgeted, and executed the vision for the space, transforming it into one of the most robust immersive experiences in Esports in the nation.

Project at a Glance Completion: 2020

Size: 4,500 SF

Cost: $1,000,000

Project Type: New Facility

Building Science Leadership