One of the few multidisciplinary arts institutions in the nation, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College (FAC) is home to a collecting museum, multiple exhibition galleries, an art school, and a theater company. The FAC/CC alliance serves both the Pikes Peak regional community and the CC campus. The FAC Museum boasts a world-class permanent collection of more than 17,000 objects that showcase the rich history and vibrant contemporary cultures of the Southwest and the Americas through Native American, Hispanic and Spanish Colonial, and twentieth-century American works. FAC’s Bemis School of Art provides year-round visual art classes, workshops, and camps for community youth and adults alongside co-curricular offerings for CC students and extracurricular activities for the entire CC campus.

This Scoping Grant will allow for an Investment Grade Energy Audit (IGA) of the FAC. The IGA will provide a detailed assessment of the FAC’s energy consumption, building systems, and operations based on energy data, equipment inventories, site surveys, building plans, systems review, etc. Findings will be used to identify energy-saving opportunities and potential returns on investment for implementation. Conducting the IGA concurrently with a campus-wide Energy Master Plan (EMP) will facilitate the alignment of the FAC’s efficiency needs with overarching campus sustainability goals and priorities. The IGA’s granularity will inform the development of initiatives tailored to the FAC’s unique operational needs while also contributing to the broader EMP objectives.