At the University I attend, donors have to give enough for the building and an endowment for ongoing maintenance and operation expenses. A long time ago they were getting these amazing buildings donated, then getting stuck with much higher maintenance costs than the previous billing, or had a lot of extra square footage to heat, cool, and maintain.

These buildings are replacing elderly buildings/adding capacity so we can serve more students. So the operation/maintenance costs should fall dramatically for the buildings that are being replaced, and new revenue from more students pay for the new buildings maintenance/operations.

But if the building is much 'fancier' than needed, it becomes a lot more to maintain than a simpler design/finish.