Thousands of energy lighting sensors, hundreds of windows, tens of acres of outdoor lighting, and at least 35 refurbished classrooms—that's just a snapshot of what the UT Knoxville campus will soon see through one-time funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, more popularly known as the Stimulus Act.
Faculty in Henson Hall, Biosystems Engineering and Environmental Science, the Bailey Education Complex, the Jessie Harris Building, and the Health and Physical Education Building are getting the latest teaching tools in technologically advanced classrooms equipped with smart podiums and screen projection systems.
Sorely needed roofs are set for the Alumni Memorial Building and HPER Physical Education building, and the Hill's mainstays—Nielsen Physics Building, Dabney/Buehler Hall, Alumni Memorial Building, and Austin Peay—will be much less drafty once new windows are installed.
Along with providing more time to plan for significant budget reductions for fiscal year 2012, stimulus funds are helping to improve and infuse green infrastructure into facilities, many of which are more than 70 years old.
Approximately $35 million will be spent over two years to improve classrooms, technology, and infrastructure. More than $26 million of that will be invested to reduce future energy costs—the campus's single fastest escalating operating expense.
Given the age of many of the campus's 200-plus buildings, it was easy to compile a list that fit the federal criteria for stimulus spending: improvements that will lower future operating costs and make a difference in the learning environment for students.
The campus community has stepped up to reduce overall energy consumption by at least 10 percent, saving at least $1 million since 2008 through temperature adjustments and changing day-to-day consumption habits.
From campuswide changes in interior and exterior lighting to new utility meters and heating and cooling systems, UT is furthering its goals for national leadership in campus sustainability efforts.
"Stimulus funding has lessened the impact of an expected loss of as much as 30 percent of our state funding," Chancellor Jimmy Cheek says. "We've been able to make strategic decisions and investments that will place the campus in the best possible position to go forward, in spite of these unprecedented economic times."
The capital funds are part of nearly $100 million allocated by the state through the Stimulus Act to restore operating funds to the university during the economic downturn. All funds must be expended by June 30, 2011.
The stimulus-fund improvements are in addition to the renovation and new construction of several campus facilities, including Ayres Hall, the Student Health Center, the Natalie Haslam Music Center, the John Tickle Civil Environmental & Industrial Engineering Building, the Min Kao Electrical and Computer Engineering building, Neyland Stadium, the golf and tennis complexes, the Brenda Lawson Athletic Center, and the Sorority Village. These projects are funded either through existing student fees, private donations, or state capital funds allocated well before state budget reductions began in 2008.
