Air conditioning reported at normal levels

Campus air conditioning is running at normal levels in buildings across UW–Madison, facilities officials reported Friday morning.

After mechanical failures earlier in the week forced officials to shut down air conditioning to some buildings, facilities officials have worked around the clock to restore comfortable conditions and will monitor the system closely to determine if further adjustments are required.

Thursday updates on cooling

10 a.m., Thursday: Rec Sports officials announced that all of their facilities will be open on Friday. Currently, the SERF and Nielsen Tennis Stadium have reopened and the Shell and Natatorium are closed.

8 a.m., Thursday: Campus facilities officials reported Thursday morning that they were able to meet the cooling needs of UW–Madison overnight and that the air-conditioning situation appears to have returned to near-normal conditions.

With the heat wave continuing, officials are closely monitoring the system and will make adjustments, if needed, based on campus priorities.

Since the campus encountered chiller problems late Sunday, officials have continued to provide cooling to critical operations, including UW Hospitals & Clinics, as well as buildings or rooms that house animals or involve temperature-sensitive experiments and essential computer server rooms.

Wednesday updates on campus cooling

4:05 p.m., Wednesday: Rec Sports officials say that the SERF and the Nielsen Tennis Stadium will be open on Thursday, but that the Shell and the Natatorium will remain closed until further notice.

1:45 p.m., Wednesday: Facilities managers report that demand for chilled water continues to exceed capacity, and they are adjusting chilled water supplies to buildings.

Chilled water flow to the affected buildings is being reduced to allow for partial relief, but it won’t be shut off completely. Heat and humidity in affected buildings are expected to be much more tolerable than Tuesday.

7:20 a.m., Wednesday: All Rec Sports facilities will remain closed on Wednesday due to the inability to control heat and humidity. John Horn, director of recreational programs, says that while the temperature in the buildings is coming down, humidity levels are still high. That could make footing on basketball courts, for example, unsafe. To get more updates on schedules for the rest of the week, click here.

Relief, in the form of cooler and less humid air, was delivered Wednesday to the 47 campus buildings that went without air conditioning early this week.

As Madison struggles through a stifling heat wave, campus facilities officials were able to restore cooling capacity to the affected buildings and most workers and students returned Wednesday morning to find cooler, more comfortable conditions.

With the exception of a few isolated areas, the added air conditioning was reducing both temperatures and humidity levels. Facilities officials reported that temperatures in most of the affected buildings had dropped to between 72 and 75 degrees Wednesday morning.

But officials — who have worked around the clock to manage this difficult situation — cautioned that there is still a campus-wide shortage of chilled water and that, in some cases, the level of cooling may be less than ideal.

They also say that the soaring outdoor temperatures, which are forecast to hit 99 degrees on Wednesday, may also affect building temperatures.

Tuesday updates on campus cooling

4:15 p.m., Tuesday: The partial restoration of air conditioning is expected this evening for most of the buildings across the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus that have been operating without it, offering some relief for those working and studying in those areas.

Due to reduced air-conditioning capacity and the ongoing heat wave, however, temperatures in the affected buildings will remain warm and will cool only gradually.

By early Tuesday afternoon, a partial supply of cool water had been restored to 20 of the 47 buildings that were without it. The rest of the 47 buildings will start receiving a cool water supply by early Tuesday evening.

Campus facilities officials are that hopeful building temperatures can be brought down to the upper 70s for Wednesday.

3:30 p.m., Tuesday: The Morgridge Center for Public Service announced it is closing until Thursday due to the heat.

11 a.m., Tuesday: The Division of Recreational Sports has closed all of its facilities — including the SERF, Nat, Nielsen Tennis Stadium and the Shell — until air conditioning resumes enough to safely operate them.

Also, campus Transportation Services is temporarily relocating some operations due to the air-conditioning situation in the WARF Building. Customer service will be provided at the Welcome Center office at 21 N. Park St., 608-262-7707, and the American Family Children’s Hospital in room E004 at 1675 Highland Ave., 608-263-4003.

9:30 a.m., Tuesday: Occupants of about 40 buildings across the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus continued to experience uncomfortably warm conditions Tuesday, as air-conditioning capacity slowly increases.

But because of the extended hot weather, the warm conditions are likely to continue for several days as air-conditioning demand continues to outpace supply, facilities officials say.

Repairs were made to a chiller unit at the West Campus Cogeneration Facility by late Monday afternoon, which helps to restore campus air-conditioning capacity. Another chiller at the Charter Street Heating Plant will be down for at least two weeks. Due to the heat wave, however, temperatures in the affected buildings will remain warm and will cool only gradually.

Air conditioning capacity will be added to the affected buildings in an attempt to to prevent temperatures from rising, officials say.

The Memorial Union, Union South and the Memorial Library will be kept cool for use by employees from across campus, if needed.

University officials have continued to provide cooling to critical operations, including UW Hospitals & Clinics, as well as buildings or rooms that house animals or involve temperature-sensitive experiments and essential computer server rooms.

Monday updates on campus cooling

5:20 p.m., Monday: MG&E crews have repaired a broken chiller at the West Campus Cogeneration Facility, which will eventually help restore air-conditioning capacity to campus. However, facilities officials caution that, because of the heat wave, air conditioning demand may still outpace the supply on Tuesday. That means that some buildings may not be fully air conditioned. More details will be available on Tuesday.

3:45 p.m., Monday: Campus officials are optimistic that at one of the damaged chillers may again be functioning by Tuesday. If that does not happen, and warm conditions continue in non-priority buildings, the Memorial Union, Union South and a handful of libraries will be among common areas kept cool for employee use.

Also, the Division of Recreational Sports, closed cardio and weight rooms at the SERF because of rising temperatures. Rec Sports is monitoring temperatures in other areas to determine if facilities need to be closed.

11 a.m. Monday: As a result of mechanical failures at campus power plants, campus buildings are beginning to experience cooling issues.

Cooling priority will be shifted to essential operations: UW Hospital, animal care, research and server rooms.

Repairs are under way, but the situation is likely to affect campus throughout this week.

10 a.m., Monday: Air conditioning in a number of buildings on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus will be affected as officials work to repair damaged chillers.

Sunday evening, MG&E experienced a failure with one of its chillers at the West Campus Cogeneration Facility. In addition, UW–Madison has another chiller at the Charter Street Heating Plant and one at the Walnut Street Heating Plant currently under repair.

These incidents, combined with the hot and humid weather conditions, have created a shortage of chilled water for the campus.

As a result, the university must curtail use of chilled water, where possible, to ensure the most critical operations of the campus are adequately cooled. Buildings are generally cool now, but spaces with reduced chilled water flow will heat up as the day goes on.

The most critical operations include UW Hospitals & Clinics, as well as buildings or rooms that house animals or involve temperature-sensitive experiments and essential server rooms.

Buildings or rooms that have operable windows that can be opened in majority of rooms to provide ventilation, and have no experimental activities that would be affected by high temperatures, will be among the lowest priority when it comes to cool air.

This means human comfort will not be a top priority in chilled water distribution until the chillers are back to full capacity.

The university is working to designate cool zones where students, faculty and staff can find comfort; more information about those areas will be available later today. For more information and updates on the cooling situation, visit the university’s home page.

Technicians are working quickly to make the repairs necessary to bring the chillers back to capacity.

Facilities officials also suggest that people in affected buildings reduce heat generation by turning lights off, putting computers and printers on “power save” mode and using window shades and blinds to screen out sunlight.