CSU's quest to live up to its "green" university reputation may mean that its potential new stadium could join an elite club of LEED-certified stadia nationwide.

Measured against the LEED checklist for new construction and major renovations, the preliminary designs of the $246 million stadium rack up 58 points, just shy of the 60 points needed to achieve LEED Gold.

There are an additional 24 points in the "maybe" category for the stadium, and if all of those are achieved as well, the stadium could become LEED Platinum certified, the highest level of certification.

Of course, gold isn't cheap. As a rule, the cost of a building increases by at least 2 to 3 percent if it is built with LEED in mind, according to Scott Radecic, senior principal with stadium architect Populous, and one of the architects on the team who drew up the preliminary plans.

Getting CSU's potential stadium LEED-certified is "very doable," Radecic said, but, ultimately, it all depends on how far the client is willing to go.

CSU already has 10 buildings on campus that are LEED Gold. It has included a 5 percent line item in the budget for the stadium to ensure enough funds to green up the more than 42,000-seat arena.