Things are going to be cooler at the Friday Center this summer.
After about three years of repairs and problems operating at capacity, two chillers and two cooling towers will be installed at an estimated cost of $2.4 million. The upgrade falls in line with the University’s push to become more environmentally friendly.
The additions will better regulate the center’s air conditioning system with greener, more efficient equipment, said Doug Mullen, chilled water systems manager for Energy Services.
“We’re just trying to avoid hot calls,” Mullen said, referring to faculty and staff calls about rooms being too hot.
Robert Bruce, director of the Friday Center, said the administration receives only an occasional complaint about room temperatures.
Mullen said the main impetus for replacing the cooling towers and chillers, which cool water used for air conditioning systems, is the age of infrastructure pieces.
“It’s getting to an age where it needs to be replaced,” he said.
The equipment is at the tail end of its 25-year life span, he said.
He said the pieces to be replaced have rusted several times over the past three years, requiring repairs. Because of their age and deteriorating condition, the chiller plant has operated at about 80 percent capacity, which reduces the Friday Center’s air conditioning capabilities.