Commerce City’s Civic Center is a modern, energy-efficient home for the city’s government operations, justice center and police department. It also serves as an entryway to the new Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. The building’s exterior design weaves natural and urban palettes with the use of a unique manufactured stone and a zinc metal wall panel; materials were selected for their beauty, longevity and easy maintenance. The white roof reduces demand on the building’s cooling systems, as well as the “heat island effect,” the temperature increase often caused when asphalt or other dark surfaces absorb the sun’s energy.