Adam RollinsThis story was originally published in the Government Contracting Pipeline newsletter from Strategic Partnerships, Inc. To have the latest government contracting news stories from across the country delivered straight to your inbox, click here to subscribe.
The University of Wisconsin (UW) System will allocate $16.9 million to resolve critical utility issues across six campuses. These projects will prioritize building central plants and renovating utility systems. Construction is expected to begin in August 2028.
UW-Stout will build and expand its central chilling plant by 1,600 square feet, allowing it to hold up to an additional 1,600 tons of water. The university will replace the current plant controls, equipment and distribution lines while extending the primary electrical service and chilled water distribution duct bank. In addition, UW-Stout will build a new heating and cooling plant to provide redundant thermal utilities for north campus facilities.
UW-Madison will focus on updating its heating plant. This includes renovating the plant’s electrical utilities, installing power features that can start up the plant after losing power and offset critical loads. Once completed, the improved utility infrastructure will have access to additional fuel sources, emergency generators and continuous power generation.
The heating plant will also receive a chiller and thermal energy storage system addition. As part of the project, the university will augment and/or replace chilled water production equipment and build a thermal storage system. The new system will provide additional capacity, supplementing outdated equipment with modern configurations.
UW-Oshkosh will build a chiller plant addition. The project will contain two 2,500-ton chiller units, supplemented with control modules, a chemical distribution center and an electrical room. The university will install electrical feeder cables, main transformers, breakers and switches alongside roof-mounted cooling towers to provide additional capacity. The project will replace select boilers in the heating plant to provide more boiler steam capacity. The modernized boilers will be designed for natural gas and fuel oil.
Plans include increasing the heating plant boiler capacity, repairing the building’s envelope and renovating the electrical utilities at UW-Platteville. The project will start with relocating two of the old boilers to make room for the installation of new steam boiler capacity, equipment and controls. The university will build an exhaust stack and fix any issues with the plant’s exterior envelope.
In addition, the university will replace an outdated campus electrical substation. The project will install a 14 kilovolt (kV) electrical distribution circuit loop, including 1,440 feet of duct bank and approximately 2,000 feet of electrical conductors to serve the west side of campus. The finished project will provide extra capacity to support future demand loads.
UW-Parkside will replace the 3,000-ton cooling tower and 1,200-ton chiller at its heating and chilling plant. The replacement equipment is expected to be of a similar capacity to the old facilities. The university will also upgrade the pumping and piping systems, controls and modernize the refrigerant leak detection systems.
Finally, UW-La Crosse will increase the capacity of its heating plant boiler and install associated equipment and controls. Plans include building an exhaust stack and modifications to ensure the facility can accommodate the new boiler.
Photo courtesy Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
