Rise in heating costs forces U. to lower temperatures

Reacting to record-high natural gas prices, the University will be lowering temperatures in certain campus buildings as part of an overall effort to cut back on energy costs. In the past several months, gas prices have skyrocketed, potentially costing the University several hundreds of thousands of dollars. Over the next few weeks, the University will drop the thermostats of between 20 and 30 buildings across campus to 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Until now, the thermostats had been kept at a steady 70 degrees. "An institution of higher learning ought to be at the leading edge of energy conservation," Vice President for Facilities Services Omar Blaik said. The measure has already caused headaches for some Penn researchers, and the chilly temperatures could ultimately reach student dormitories. Seven of the University's buildings -- including the Biomedical Research Building II and the Medical School buildings -- will be affected as early as next week. The settings were implemented in the Franklin Building last week. Within 10 days, the plan will affect anywhere from 20 to 30 of the University's 128 buildings, with the exception of animal research laboratories and some hospital facilities. "We had the option of raising tuition or lowering maintenance services, but the conservation of energy seemed to be the best way to deal with the crisis," Blaik said. Temperatures will drop further and lights will be turned off at night and during weekends when offices aren't inhabited. According to Blaik, the lower temperatures will not reach the student dormitories. But he added that the University may eventually examine the possibility of lowering dormitory thermostats if current cost-cutting methods aren't enough. The University had planned to implement the conservation plan this summer, but rapidly rising energy costs forced officials to put the plan into effect six months ahead of schedule. "In all likelihood there will be people complaining," Blaik said of the imminent colder temperatures. "At the end of the day there will be some level of discomfort," he added. If University officials find this initial phase insufficient in lowering costs, Blaik said the temperature change might be applied to more buildings. Though the plan excludes animal facilities, Blaik said laboratories will be treated as "office spaces." An employee of the Regional Laser and Biomedical Technology Lab said that the plan will affect the laser-sensitive research. "It is a big headache," he said. "It will not work well for the lab." According to the employee, who wished to remain anonymous, this plan will prevent researchers from working on weekends when the temperature settings are lowered even further. Researchers will also have to wait hours for the temperature to stabilize on Monday mornings, he said. An employee for a University research laboratory expressed concern about the lack of uniform heat settings and unstable temperatures in the laboratories. "I am concerned about the fluctuations and the fact that it was done without letting people know," the employee explained. In the second and third phases, the University will look at lowering the thermostats of other buildings, and will eventually raise the temperatures during the summer months to cut back on air conditioning costs. The University currently spends $45 million annually on utilities, $12 to $15 million of which is payed to Trigen, the University's heat provider. Blaik said that the University's monthly bills to Trigen have skyrocketed to four or five times what they were four months ago. "The impact on our budget is just tremendous," he said. Unless energy is used more efficiently, the rising gas prices could cost the University hundreds of thousands of dollars and possibly reach the million dollar mark by the end of the fiscal year, according to Blaik. At the end of December, Trigen switched from the production of natural gas to oil, which also affected the University's energy bill, Blaik said. A Trigen spokesman said that the price of the raw commodity has risen at least 200 percent over the last year. The plan's third phase will be enacted this summer when thermostats are raised to 75 degrees, up from the 70 degree room temperature usually held constant. Also, the energy conservation effort will include an educational campaign to encourage people to conserve electricity, placing stickers near light switches urging people to turn off lights. "[The plan] is an educational campaign to get people's support and to let them worry about [energy conservation] as much as we do," Blaik explained.