As temperatures drop, Residential Life & Education (ResLife) makes an important decision to switch on the heat in certain buildings. Manager of Maintenance Services, Scott Sieck, explains this is “a necessity to maintain each building.”
Director of ResLife Brian Stutz explains that he looks for days with below-freezing temperatures in the forecast in order to make the switch. “Last week we had 90-degree days. Once we turn the heat on, we have to leave it on,” said Stutz. Sieck acknowledged the weather in Nebraska tends to “take a while to decide if it’s going to maintain a constant temperature.”
Gaylord, Smith, Frees, Sheldon and Hansen Leadership Hall all need to be switched over between seasons. Sieck explains this is due to the design of the buildings and the industry standards at the time of construction. This also explains why newer buildings, like Haddix Athletic Center and Brodie Hall, don’t require this switch.
Elaborating on the building systems, Sieck explains that Gaylord, Smith, Sheldon and Hansens are on a two-pipe system. One pipe supplies the air, hot or cold depending on the season, from the mechanical room and through each fan coil into the dorm room. Another pipe brings the air back to be reheated or cooled. A fan coil is a “simple HVAC device using a fan and a heat exchanger coil to heat or cool a room,” Sieck explains. In the summer, the air is heated via a boiler, and in the winter cooled via a “chiller,” a big air conditioning system. “The fan draws air from the front and bottom of the unit through a filter,” Sieck said, “Then, it blows it up across the coil and out the top supply air grille to the room.”
Brodier has a traditional residential-type split system, with an electric furnace, air conditioner and thermostat. “Each room gets air supplied to it via ductwork with one thermostat in the common area and return air,” Sieck said. “This allows year-round control of heat or cool with no facilities switchover.”
According to Stutz, an entire building would need to be renovated to change the system; “however, any new building will be similar to Brodie.”
Sieck emphasized that for a two-pipe system to function properly, the coil needs to be clean and the air unrestricted. Items cannot be placed in front of, on top of, or crowding near the system.
For students who find their rooms suddenly stuffy, Stutz recommends a fan to circulate air. Likewise, while windows can be opened to let in cool air, opening them when temperatures are below freezing can result in fines. Burst pipes cause water damage and could lead to fines up to $600.