Utah State Trustees Say Yes to Cooler Classrooms

Utah State University's Board of Trustees on Friday approved spending $16,308,460 for campus central air-conditioning and the purchase of 550 acres of land.

The trustees voted unanimously to approve the almost $15 million cost to acquire and install electrical co-generation and central chilling equipment. Fred Hunsaker, USU's vice president for administrative services, said because of the semester system the university is bringing students onto campus during the hot parts of the year. This results in many classrooms being nonfunctional because they lack air conditioning.

Currently USU is the only campus in the state without central air-chilling abilities, Hunsaker said. USU is using rooftop and other forms of air conditioning that are on the verge of needing to be replaced.

"Many units are uniform in their obsolescence," Hunsaker said. With a pricetag of $100,000 to $200,000 per unit, that can be a hefty cost for the university in the long run.

The university has been looking into the option of central chilling for two years and has already spent $100,000 going through the process, including an extensive request for proposals, Hunsaker said. Every aspect has been looked at in great detail, he said.

In addition to the benefit of cooler air the new co-generation equipment will generate onsite power, which will create a savings in purchased energy. Currently the process requires 13,000 BTUs to generate one kilowatt of energy.

With co-generation, the process will be cut by more than half, requiring only 5,500 BTUs per kilowatt, Hunsaker said. This will create an anticipated annual savings of $1,175,277 from the onsite generation of power and heat.

Space to install the new co-generation and central chilling equipment is not a problem because of the university's new heating plant. The newly built plant has plenty of room to incorporate the new equipment. Further, the newly created tunnels around the university provide a means to help transmit the utilities.

Caterpillar Inc. is the vendor providing all equipment and a lease-purchase agreement that extends over a period of 22 years, with an interest rate of 3.95 percent. In addition, Caterpillar has agreed to the condition that the only funds available to service the debt are the savings from co-generation within the fuel and power state appropriation, according to an executive summary in the written proposal for the equipment.

In addition, the trustees also approved $1.6 million to buy approximately 550 acres of land located near Cache Junction. The land is located 12 miles northwest of Logan.

Acquisition of the property will open up possibilities for the Innovation Campus, Agricultural Research Center, and the Department of Agriculture at Utah State University, said Hunsaker. Also, it will be able to produce volume feed necessary for food at the Caine Dairy, he said.

Purchase of the property will be bonded for, over a 10- to 12-year period at 4 percent interest. The price of the land includes water shares via pumps along Cutler Reservoir.

USU President Kermit Hall called both measures a "very significant move by the university."

By Matt Stephens