Nagel Hall, the new $39.8 million residence hall, opened its doors to students at the beginning of this school year after almost two years of planning and construction.

The building is located on South High Street behind the Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management building, just north of Nelson Hall.

Ralph Nagel, a member of the DU Board of Trustees, and his wife Trish contributed $4 million to the project, according to Mike Furno, associate director of Housing and Residential Education.

The building was named Nagel Hall in their honor.

The new five-story dormitory provides needed housing for DU’s growing undergraduate student body.

Nagel Hall’s units are apartment-style, each including four bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room.

The building houses 356 students. Two-thirds of the residents are sophomores although the building is open to all upperclassmen.

In addition to student housing, Nagel Hall has a coffee shop, a Mexican restaurant and a pizza restaurant.

The facility also includes a game room, classrooms and three large meeting areas that double as study areas.

Works by nearly two dozen acclaimed painters from Colorado and France will be permanently exhibited in the public spaces of the dorm.

The Nagel Hall Art Collection was installed in July. Ralph Nagel, who is an accomplished landscape artist, spearheaded the creation of the collection.

Though the building is primarily a residence hall, Furno said that it is meant to be the “Grand Central Station” of the campus. By including places to eat, study and meet, it is meant to be a crossing place for students.

Groundbreaking for Nagel Hall occured in January 2007; the construction company was GH Phipps Construction.

Nagel Hall was designed to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

“When creating the building, as many green elements as possible were used in the design,” Furno said.

When evaluated by the standards of The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) it was given a gold rating, the highest possible.

LEED, is a certification process from the U.S. Green Building Council that grades buildings based on a point scale.

It is the second most “green” building on campus, the first being the Ricketson Law Building, which is the only other building on campus to receive a gold rating.

Nagel Hall’s heating and cooling system is designed to use less energy, and the plumbing system is designed to minimize the amount of water used.

The building’s copper is made of 90 percent recycled metal. Bike racks in the front also earned points toward the high LEED rating because they promote a transportation method that is not based on fossil fuel use.

“I love living in Nagel. It is a great place in a great community. It is great to be a part of something that is becoming a tradition, and, as an RA, starting things that will be traditions at DU for a long time,” said Lenora Sheer, a junior resident assistant.