New Utilities Replace Nagging Futilities

Central Connecticut State University, founded in 1849, is Connecticut’s oldest public university. The infrastructure is old, too. Faced with expensive repairs each year, administrators decided that a new heating and cooling system was necessary. The challenge was coming up with a solution that wouldn’t disrupt the architectural integrity of the university.

CCSU’s current campus was built back in 1921, and its boiler plant was commissioned in 1923. Until very recently, boilers that dated back to the 1950s and 1960s powered the steam-heating system serving the 294-acre campus. The last upgrade was in 1967. But the area being served has tripled since the boilers were installed – from 1 million square feet of assignable space to 3 million square feet – putting a severe strain on the heating system and related infrastructure. Each winter, repairs to the system disrupted campus life and cost between $75,000 and $80,000 per episode. In the summer, a lack of air conditioning made many buildings inhospitable. The few buildings with cooling were served by satellite rotary-screw chillers that were loud enough to disrupt classes and annoy nearby residents. And with yet another 1 million square feet of assignable space expected to be built within a decade, something had to be done.

“The global vision for this project was to upgrade all of the heating and cooling for the campus and to create a new distribution network,” explains Associate Chief Administrative Officer Dan Moran, the driving force behind the project. “We were spending a couple hundred thousand dollars a year just fixing and maintaining an aging system. As important as it was to replace that system, we also wanted to look past just fixing the utility system infrastructure. We saw this as an opportunity to position the university to grow, to optimize the campus so that we could attract the kind of students and faculty that could help define our future. So we went through the campus, opened it like it had a zipper, and redid the insides. Then we zipped it up and redid the outside. We looked at every piece of green space, water, power – everything. And we used this opportunity to prepare the campus for our future.”

Formal planning began in 1990, and by 1996 CCSU had a fully developed plan to replace the outdated and inadequate utility systems. In 1998, after carefully reviewing the university’s plan, the Connecticut state legislature appropriated $200 million over a 10-year period for campuswide improvements. The budget included $40 million for a new energy center and utility distribution system.

The new expandable energy center is both powerful and attractive. Anchoring the campus renovation and blending perfectly with campus architecture, the 30,600-square-foot brick energy center has enough space to accommodate the additional equipment that will be necessary to service future buildings, as projected in the school’s master plan. But beauty and power are not the energy center’s only virtues.

The system houses steam and electricity cogeneration equipment, as well as water chillers. CCSU chose this approach for two very practical reasons: reliability and economy. If a blackout or brownout should occur, the electricity generators can power essential functions and protect equipment against uneven loads. During peak periods – when purchased energy is most expensive – the university can “peak shave,” producing its own power until the cost of purchased power decreases. A study determined that this approach would achieve significant savings.

“On top of all that, the building is extremely attractive,” says Robert Austin of DMJM+Harris, the project manager. “It’s one of the prettiest central plants that I’ve ever seen.”

The energy center was just one segment of a larger project. Major landscaping enhancements took place and power lines went underground. All utilities, including water, sewer, gas, telecommunications and electrical systems were improved.

In addition to the energy center and landscaping improvements, a 2,000-foot-long utility tunnel was built to carry steam and chilled water distribution lines through the center of campus. Buried pipes connect each building to this main conduit. As DMJM+Harris had recommended, construction was handled in a single bid package, providing significant cost savings, single-point responsibility, greater construction flexibility and enhanced coordination.

“Start with a dream. Finish with a future.” That’s a great slogan, and it serves CCSU quite well. But it also serves as an apt description of this project. Beginning with a dream of updating the infrastructure, CCSU finished with a project that adroitly prepared the campus for its future.

Arthur Schurr is a New York-based freelance writer. He can be reached at bulaas@aol.com.