Project manager and engineer for the University Damien Lallathin presented a plan targeted toward self-sufficiency in electricity at the Physical Environment Committee meeting Thursday.
“We need to increase our self-reliability and meet the energy needs of the growing University,” Lallathin said.
The University is utilizing two types of fuel, gas and diesel, according to Lallathin. Now, steam will be the new source of energy in order to reach the capacity, he said.
The total estimated budget for the project is $55 to $60 million, Lallathin said. Financing for the project will be paid back by the energy savings in less than twenty years.
“The new equipment in the plants will have the same longetivity as the current one [equipment],” Lallathin said.
According to John Giles, visiting lecturer from the College of Management, the equipment in place now has been there for more than 50 years.
Lallathin said he plans to start the project by creating steam powered electricity on North Campus, from the railroad tracks to Hillsborough Street.
Attendees at the meeting also discussed Yarborough Central Plant and Cates Avenue Central Plant, the next renovative project. According to Douglas Hall, a design representative from BBH, an architectural design firm with expertise in Higher Education facilities, better pedestrian paths will be offered around the two plants.
“All the equipment in Yarborough Central Plant will be taken out and replaced with new equipment,” Hall said. “More and more students use the path between Carmichael Gym and First Year College, which shows that the path needs development.”
The second segment of the meeting focused on campus parking and transportation. Dick Bernhard, an industrial and system engineering professor, said everything that can be done regarding parking and transportation has been done.
However, Bernhard presented several issues.
”Being a pedestrian is dangerous on this campus,” he said.”This may not seem like a big problem, but consider handicapped people, for example.”
In addition, he said night parking is becoming a problem.
“After 5 p.m., I can hardly get to my office because of all the students parked in the employee parking area,” Bernhard said.
The issue not only deals with employees, but students with parking permits as well.
“Those who have permits can not really use them at night,” Bernhard said. “Coliseum Parking Deck came as one solution, but the problem still exists.”
Overall, the meeting suggested the campus is becoming more friendly to its students and the environment, Garden Freeman, superintendent of maintenance and chairman of the committee, said.
In an attempt to “go green” on campus, the provost’s plan has encouraged engineers, designers, architects and other professionals to work on renovating the University’s physical environment.
“This is a huge achievement. We will have our own electricity,” Freeman said.
Derek Guttery, a sophomore in engineering, said the plan doesn’t surprise him.
“We have our own power plant, so I am not surprised the University is about to start providing electricity for itself.”
