March 29, 2024

SWCC proposes chiller improvement project

Southwestern Community College will install a new air-conditioning system in the 100,000-plus-square-foot instructional center, according to a proposed plan.

SWCC’s Board of Directors will hold a public hearing on the proposed plans, specifications and form of contract for the instructional center chiller improvement project 8 a.m. Thursday in the president’s office at SWCC.

The proposed project will replace the air-conditioning unit that cools the entire instructional center from a single location.

According to SWCC Vice President of Economic Development Tom Lesan, the unit that air-conditioned the instructional center began having problems in July 2006.

At that time, SWCC purchased a portable condenser unit and hooked it into the air-conditioning system in order to maintain air conditioning while the unit was being worked on.

“Once we tore into that old system, we found it was not going to be repairable,” Lesan said. “It was going to be more cost effective to do something new.”

So, the college purchased the portable unit that had been temporarily hooked into the system for $37,000.

“It was a 1993 unit. We thought we’d use it for a couple of years while we develop a plan,” Lesan said. “Here it is 2017 and, up until last summer, we’ve used that portable unit. It worked fantastic. It was a great deal for us. I see them for sale right now for $8-10,000. We’ll get the new one in and have this one for sale and really only have $27,000 in multiple years of service to us.”

Lesan said the reason for replacing that 1993 portable unit is its efficiency isn’t great and the college knows it’s running on borrowed time. A more permanent solution is needed.

At a pre-bid meeting last week, four companies showed interest in bidding on the project, so Lesan hopes to get a good price on the installation of the new system.

The estimated cost from the engineer came in at approximately $350,000, but Lesan said he’s hoping it’s closer to $300,000.

According to Lesan, the new unit will be bigger than what the college needs, which means it won’t have to run constantly to keep the 100,000-plus-square-foot instructional center cooled. Plus, the new unit will be 93 percent efficient, whereas the 1993 portable unit was 80 percent efficient or less.

“We should see some savings in energy use and should see some more comfort,” Lesan said. “We have it in to Alliant Energy to look at possible rebates. I believe we’ll get a nice rebate check on that. It’ll be using less power, so it won’t cost us as much and they won’t have to produce as much power. That’s a win-win for everybody.”

Installation

The plan, if the SWCC Board of Directors chooses to approve it Thursday, calls for the piping for the air-conditioning system to be installed the week of spring break.

Installation of the piping is the only part of the project that would disrupt instruction. The piping will run to the boiler room, which is located on the backside of the auto mechanics lab.

“We don’t want workers in there disrupting student learning, because that program goes through the end of June,” Lesan said. “All the other work is in the boiler room or at the condenser outside.”

Deadline for completion of the project is May 12. SWCC normally switches over from heat to air conditioning May 10 each year.

“We keep track of that so we know when we do it every year,” Lesan said. “This year may be a little earlier than that. Last year was earlier. Even with as warm as it was last year, it was after May 1. We’re hoping to be done, ready to go to switch into the new system May 12. Then all we have to do is sell the old unit. This will be one of the quicker projects we’ve been involved with.”