Computer Sciences Laboratories (CSL) Building (2025) : Planning, Design & Construction : UMass Amherst

Certified LEED v4 BD&C: Schools - Platinum

The Computer Sciences Laboratories building (CSL) is a four story, 94,300 square foot addition to the east side of the existing Computer Science Building, located on the north end of campus off Governors Drive. The CSL houses teaching and research facilities for the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences, supporting the college’s vision for a collaborative hub for the campus and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The new addition features a 240-seat lecture hall, two modern and flexible sixty-seat classrooms, and a fully equipped 4,000 square foot makerspace for formal and informal learning. The new building links to each existing floor of the existing Computer Science Building, creating an open, light-filled commons to enable one-on-one and group interactions and connect students with resources for support. Purpose-built labs set the stage for collaborative research and a cross-pollination of ideas, enabling faculty and researchers to make new breakthroughs in foundational and applied computing. This culture of connection extends to the building’s exterior through universally accessible paths, terraced rain gardens, and outdoor gathering spaces.

USBC Green Building Council LEED Platinum Seal

The CSL has achieved a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating of Platinum, the first building on campus to achieve that distinction, for successfully implementing a variety of sustainable strategies and features, including passive and active systems to avoid the use of fossil fuels and significantly reduce operational energy use despite high plug loads associated with computational labs.

Building Information

Address: 140 Governors Drive, Amherst, MA 01003
Completed: Summer 2025
Size: 94,300 GSF
Designer / Architect: Perkins Eastman
Owner's Project Manager: Colliers Project Leaders
General Contractor: Consigli
Commissioning Agent: BVH Integrated Services
UMass Project Manager: Burt Ewart
UMass Project Planners: Douglas Marshall, Jeffrey Dalzell

Sustainability

Resources

LEED Project Scorecard
LEED Project Dashboard
Self-Guided Building Tour

Mass timber structure resulting in approximately 58% reduction in embodied carbon compared to a conventional steel-and-concrete baseline – equivalent to roughly two decades of operational carbon savings
Low-emitting and environmentally friendly building materials, including low-carbon concrete
Building life-cycle analysis to guide decisions, reduce the environmental impact of construction materials and divert construction/demolition waste
Ground source heat exchange system combining 70 geothermal wells, heat recovery chillers, and a 2.3-million-gallon Thermal Energy Storage tank
High-performance envelope
Enhanced indoor air quality strategies
Access to daylight and quality views for occupants
Access to quality transit options and bike storage facilities
Indoor and outdoor water use reduction measures, including blue roofs, bioswales and a cistern to holistically reduce stormwater impact on civil infrastructure
Reduced heat island & light pollution
Leveraged monitoring-based and enhanced commissioning of systems
Other notable features include innovations in green building education and healthy materials and no-mercury lighting design