IU in need of upgrade

During a time of scarce funding, spending millions to improve and replace utilities on the Bloomington campus is the last thing IU wants to do.\nIU Physical Plant Director Hank Hewetson presented the news to the board of trustees Thursday that the University's aging heating, cooling and electrical systems will need improvements and replacements within the next five to eight years as a result of new environmental standards and capacity issues.\nHowever, these projects will cost more than the University currently is ready to handle. \nPeter Obremskey, chairman of the IU board of trustees facilities committee, said the cost to upgrade the utilities is estimated at $150 million.\nThe cooling system upgrade would cost $39.4 million, a new steam heat plant totals $95 million and updates to the electrical system could reach $14.7 million, Obremskey said.\n"Where the money is going to come from, I don't know," he said. "Some will come from the state, some from student fees and some from donations."\nMark Menefee, assistant director of the Utilities Division, said the University's chilled water air conditioning system isn't powerful enough to cool all of the University's buildings.\n"It's the same as the air conditioner in your house," Menefee said. "If it's not large enough to cool the house, maybe you have to close off a room to cool the areas that you want cooled."\nThe lack of a powerful cooling system has caused the Utilities Division to shut off air conditioning to some buildings when the outside temperature reaches 85 degrees or higher.\n"We've run out of capacity to serve the whole campus," he said. "We have to decide which buildings will receive cooling and which will not because we cannot serve them all once the outside temperature reaches a certain point."\nOne current project, which will cost $4.2 million, replaces the two oldest chilled water units. Menefee said the project will be finished by this coming summer, and the new units will double the capacity of the old ones.\nThe University's steam heating system also has aged and needs updating or replacement. New environmental regulations such as the Clean Air Act, which takes effect in 2007, will put even more pressure on the University to change its ways.\nThe University's boilers, which provide the campus's heat, were built in 1955 and 1959. \n"We have to retire the boilers," Menefee said. "We've got to comply with them and make decisions for the future. We need to build a new facility in order to stay with the same fuels and comply with the regulation."\nIf built, the new facility will be located just north of the railroad tracks, close to the current plant.\nCurrently, the University uses Indiana coal and natural gas to fuel the campus.\nIU's electrical system is also under scrutiny. Menefee said the system has aged and therefore needs work or replacement. \nMenefee said the Utilities Division would like to increase reliability.\n"We have power interruptions which are natural with a national grid system like ours," Menefee said. "Problems in one place affect the grid as a whole."\nThe University's priority is reliable electricity to the academic buildings, not the dormitories or greek houses, Menefee said. \n"This is a process that we're taking to the trustees and we have to work through this and understand what we want to have in the end -- reliable utilities for campus," Menefee said.\n-- Contact staff writer Alli Stolper at astolper@indiana.edu.