Northern Illinois University’s main campus in DeKalb is comprised of 7.6 million square feet of building space (108 buildings), and spans 762 acres of land. The oldest building is Altgeld Hall which opened in 1899 and was rededicated in 2004, and the newest buildings are the Yordon Center which opened in 2007, and a new East Chiller Plant which opened in 2010.
Heating for the campus is generated by high pressure steam boilers in the west and east heating plants. Cooling is provided by primarily by chilled water generated by chillers in the West Heating Plant and new East Chiller Plant.Buildings are currently being connected to the new plant in stages. Steam and chilled water piping systems supply the buildings through utility tunnels throughout the campus. Air handling units in each building provide building ventilation.
Energy Conservation Measures
and Sustainability:
• Building Automation Control Systems
• Building Envelope Improvement
*Hover over a building to view improvements
West Heating Plant (WP)
- Lighting
- Installed two 1200 ton chillers & pumps
- Installed one 1400 ton cooling tower module
- Replaced roof
- Replaced decarbonator with reverse osmosis makeup water system
- Provide steam and gas flow meters
- Boiler burner management and oxygen trim control upgrade
- Drum level and automated surface blow
down controls
- Replaced window and doors
- Provided boiler gas and steam meters
tracked by BAS
- Auto boiler blow down controls
- Exhaust fans on roof
- Economizer on 1 boiler
- Water heater for chiller maintenance
- Non-chemical cooling tower water
treatment system
- Structural repairs for mezzanine area
- Spirotherm air removal and filtration for chilled water system
- Recommisioning Boiler #2 and provide
boiler economizer
Convocation Center (CV)
- HVAC
- Controls
- AHU-1 economizer
- DDC control upgrades
- Non-chemical cooling tower water treatment system
- Provide gas meters
East Heating Plant (EP)
- Lighting
- Replaced roof
- Decarbonator with reverse osmosis makeup water system
- Provided steam and gas flow meters
- Boiler burner management
- Oxygen trim control upgrade
- Drum level and automated surface blow down controls
- Replaced window and doors
- Installed boiler gas and steam meters tracked by BAS
- Auto boiler blow down controls
- Deaerator replacement
Anderson Hall (AN)
- Lighting
- Solar heating plant for pool water
- Replaced window and doors
- Repaired masonry
- Pool cover with Automatic deployment
- Upgraded Building Automation Systems
- Repaired and re-coated roof
Douglas Hall (DD)
- Lighting
- Replaced Chilled Water 3-way valves with 2-way valves and controls
- Retrofitted existing faucets
- Urinals water closets and shower heads with low consumption fixtures
- Pulsafeeder controls for Kitchen
cooling towers
DuSable Hall (DU)
- Replaced windows and doors
- Masonry repair
- Replaced Chilled Water 3-way valves with 2-way valves and controls
Gabel Hall (GA)
- Lighting
- Connected building to central chilled water plant
- Retrofitted pump controls and convert vortex control to VFD on five RTUs
- Supply air duct repair
- Solar heating plant for pool water
- Pool cover with Automatic deployment
- Repaired pool gutter drain system
Engineering Building (EB)
- Lighting
- Install VFDs on AHU1-6
- Modified Chilled water system to variable flow
- Modified existing cooling tower to provide free cooling
- Upgraded controls in the old clean room
Grant Towers (GN & GS)
- Lighting
- Replaced Chilled Water 3-way valves with 2-way valves and controls
- Retrofitted existing faucets, urinals water closets and shower heads with low consumption fixtures
- Replaced windows and repair precast concrete panels
- Pulsafeeder controls for Kitchen
cooling towers
Lincoln Hall (LD)
- Lighting
- Replaced Chilled Water 3-way valves with 2-way valves and controls
- Retrofitted existing faucets, urinals water closets and shower heads with low consumption fixtures
- Pulsafeeder controls for Kitchen
cooling towers
Neptune Complex (NC, NE, NN & NW)
- Lighting
- Retrofitted existing faucets, urinals water closets and shower heads with low consumption fixtures
- Upgraded Building Automation Systems
- Replaced small air handling unit
Psychology/Computer Science Building (PM)
- Lighting
- Upgraded Building Automation Systems
- Installed humidifiers
- Connected chilled water to East Chiller Plant and very chilled water flow
Stevenson Towers (SN & SS)
- Lighting
- Installed chilled water piping to Stevenson
- Install two P&F heat exchangers
- Replaced Chilled Water 3-way valves with 2-way valves and controls
- Retrofitted existing faucets, urinals water closets and shower heads with low consumption fixtures
- Pulsafeeder controls for Kitchen
cooling towers
Code - Building Name
AN - Anderson Hall
CV - Convocation Center
DD - Douglas Hall
DU - DuSable Hall
EB - Engineering Building
EP - East Heating Plant
Code - Building Name
GA - Gabel Hall
GN - Grant Towers North
GS - Grant Towers South
LD - Lincoln Hall
NC - Neptune Central
NE - Neptune East
Code - Building Name
NN - Neptune North
NW - Neptune West
PM - Psychology/Computer Science Building
SN - Stevenson Towers North
SS - Stevenson Towers South
WP - West Heating Plant