The building houses the Gwendolyn Brooks Cultural Center, Casa Latina and the Women's Center, all under one roof.

It not only provides more space and better location for those groups, but as  KHQA's Jarod Wells shows you the multicultural center is a leading facility in more ways than one.

The WIU Multicultural Center is a LEED facility. That's L-E-E-D, which stands for leadership in energy and environmental design.

"We get the prestige of showing that the university is going to commit to saving the environment," said WIU Facilities Planning and Construction Deputy Director Ted Renner.

That committment began before construction even started with the removal of an underground gas tank.

"Things that we did during construction, we manifested over 50% of the waste that we sent from this building, basically off-site and we were able to prove that it didn't go to a landfill, it went to recycled areas," said Renner.

Recycling is key throughout the facility. Some floors are made of used tires. Others are made of recycled glass. The reward for WIU will come over time.

"The award comes in the fact that our maintenance costs over the life of the building should be lower. It should be easier for our people to maintain the building," said Renner.

A vegetative roof is one way to keep maintenance costs down. A normal flat roof has a life span of about 20 years.

"Because of this vegetative roof system that we have, and because the membrane is actually protected by the growth and the plant life, the roof did not cost twice as much, probably about 1 1/2 times the costs of a normal roof, but it will last 40 years," said Renner.

A lot of small things will cut down on costs as well. Like motion sensors for lights, and carpet in the entry that traps dirt and dust from making its way inside. And here's one more big cost-saving method. The chimney you're looking at burns coal or natural gas, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to heat or cool every building on campus, except the multi cultural center. It's heated geothermally, which should pay for itself in about five years.

The total project cost of the multicultural center was about $6 million.

Renner says he has attended a lot of conferences about building design.

This facility has put Western Illinois University well above the average.