ST. BONAVENTURE (April 13)—Alexandra Notaro awoke with a jolt. She smacked her hand to her forehead to wipe away the tiny droplets outlining her brow. She got up, walked across the room to the radiator, turned the knob all the way to the right but found the valve already closed. She stood next to the open window, took a deep breath and shook her head.
At the center of St. Bonaventure University’s campus lies the central boiler plant, a building holding a heating system crucial to the comfort of all those on campus in the winter.
Although the system first produced heat in 1949, 30 years after the central boiler plant’s construction, Philip Winger, associate vice president for facilities, called the system efficient and reliable. Students, however, find the system unreliable and regulation difficult.
“It’s always uncomfortable,” said Notaro, fourth-floor resident in Devereux Hall. “We sleep with our windows wide open with the heat off and it’s still very hot.”
The 90-year-old plant, attached to the east side of the Thomas Merton Center, has cracked windows, dirtied walls and a crumbling foundation.
Three large steam boilers reside within the walls of the boiler plant. The university installed the main boiler in 1949, the other two in 1954, said Winger.
“The system is old but maintained with modern means of control. It’s reasonably efficient and reliable in the cold weather,” Winger said.
Winger said an emergency generator in the boiler room keeps this system working during power outages on campus. This keeps the boilers running for an extended period of time.
Approximately 2,500 feet of tunnels lie beneath campus.
“Most of our large buildings are heated directly with steam distributed right into rooms through underground tunnels. Low-pressure steam comes up into the room and heats the radiator,” Winger said.
The maintenance building, Hopkins Hall, the Richter Center, Francis Hall and the apartments on the east side of campus do not rely on the central boiler plant. These buildings use separate natural gas-fired furnaces.
In Shay, Loughlen, Devereux, Doyle, Robinson and Falconio halls, students control the amount of steam heat within their rooms with a valve on the radiator. Plassmann Hall, Friedsam Memorial Library and De La Roche Hall rely on the steam heat system.
However, some students find the system flawed.
“My calculus class in the basement of De La Roche is always so hot,” said Andrew Walsh, a biology major who spends 10 hours a week in De La Roche. “I usually find it difficult to concentrate.”
“If we don’t have heat on, it’s freezing,” said Rebecca Weitzel, a corner room resident on the fourth floor of Devereux Hall. “If we have it on, it’s too hot, and sometimes doesn’t work or takes a while to work, which is frustrating.”
Students can turn off the radiator and still feel too hot because neighbors on each side and below a room still use heat, Winger said.
The boiler system does not have precise temperature control. All the basements of the buildings to, however, have a modern computer-centralized master control system that adapts to the outdoor temperature, Winger said.
The new system aims to regulate the temperature in a building. However, students find imperfections with regulation.
“In the Plassmann stairwells I’m always sweating no matter the season, but especially in winter,” said senior Nicholas Stefani. “Something’s got to be done about that.”
College campuses began using boiler systems in the early part of the last century. Bonaventure, unlike most universities, still maintains its original system, Winger said.
This year, Bonaventure spent $750,000 on natural gas to run the boilers. Winger said the university paid less for gas this year than in the last few years because of the recent recession.
Winger said he has never been dissatisfied with the heating equipment, but said replacement of the system ranks high on the list of projects the university wants to complete.
Replacing the equipment will be a difficult and expensive task because Winger said he already has a multi-million-dollar list of deferred maintenance. However, new equipment could knock 10 to 15 percent off the gas bill.
Winger said the university has three priorities:
· paving campus roads this spring, $1.5 million
· construction of the School of Business, $10 million
· replacement of the central boiler equipment, $5 million
Winger, however, has a temporary solution that could save money and keep temperatures relatively consistent.
“If everyone were conscious of the controls – from the thermostat in the apartments to the valve in Loughlen – and how to use them,” said Winger, “it would be a little step to help save a lot of money.”
No comments:
Post a Comment