Although Athens’ spring temperatures can change by tens of degrees between days, Ohio University’s building temperatures are not that flexible.
The reason the temperature can get unusually warm is that many buildings go into a transition, said Harry Wyatt, associate vice president for architecture, design and construction.
From early October, OU Facilities will turn off the cooling units and turn on the heating units, while from April onward the buildings undergo a state of change, with heating being turned off to allow the cooling units to combat the warmer weather outside the buildings.
As the cooling units turn on, there may be some variance in temperatures between buildings, Wyatt said.
“It varies immensely,” Wyatt said. “Some can be handled via computer while others may have manual switch-overs, yet some are not on the central system.”
The older buildings rely on central steam and water, but the controls are not sophisticated enough to be controlled via computer so they have to be done manually, said Wyatt. Facilities’ operations department is responsible for changing them with a central HVAC control shop in the Facilities Management Work Center, 1 Riverside Drive.
More than 85 percent of university buildings rely on the central steam power to provide heat for the buildings, and 25 percent of university buildings require water cooling to power the air conditioning. The portion of buildings that do not rely on steam power or water cooling for heat or air conditioning rely on electricity, Wyatt said.
Some students are constantly asking about when the university typically turns on the heat or the air conditioning.
Blake Yates, a sophomore studying exercise physiology, has complained to the university due to the hot temperatures in some buildings, but he has not received any response from the university.
“I would like to see the temperatures get adjusted accordingly to the weather,” Yates said. “This has been an ongoing problem in my two years at OU.”
Yates said he believes the temperature in buildings could potentially lead to students skipping class or getting distracted.
Some buildings such as Ping Center, Alden Library and the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium take a bit longer to cool down due to the large size of the structures compared to smaller buildings.
Residence halls will still have heating turned on, but they will be shut off soon because more people use classroom buildings rather than residence halls, Wyatt said.
Nolan Johnson, a sophomore studying economics and finance, said the hot temperatures in certain buildings such as Morton and Bentley make it a struggle to focus in class.
“I would just like them to maybe move to some sort of temperature system that not just either the heat is on or the heat is off,” Johnson said. “It is pretty miserable sitting in Morton sometimes. They need to update their system.”
@Bret_jamerson
bj844311@ohiou.edu
