Planning ensures infrastructure capacity meets future expansion needs

Building space on the MU campus has grown by an average of about 2 percent per year over the last 20 years, requiring prudent planning of utility supply and infrastructure capacity upgrades to meet increasing campus needs.

Power Plant capacity upgrade

Electric generation capacity added in 2001 should meet campus needs for 15-20 years, but a Combined Heat and Power upgrade project, replacing an existing boiler, is needed to meet campus steam needs for another 15-20 years. The new boiler is designed to burn greater quantities of renewable fuels, such as wood chips. Several other Power Plant projects in design include replacing cooling towers and fuel-handling systems that will facilitate the use of renewable fuels and improve energy efficiency.

A major steam capacity upgrade project — included in the campus capital plan for several years and scheduled to begin this summer — will add needed capacity for future utility needs. Built in the early 1920s, the last upgrade to this system occurred in the mid-1950s.

Utility distribution

As in all areas of campus, utility production and distribution capacity is a “50-year” planning decision. Computer modeling is used to identify needed capacity improvements in electric, steam and water distribution systems, critical to campus growth.

Future campus growth areas

Two major, long-term growth areas of the campus, the Southeast Gateway and the East Campus, have sufficient steam distribution system capacity to accommodate foreseeable building expansion. Upgrades in distribution lines will eventually be necessary to serve the long range “build-out” capacity of these areas, based on projections of appropriate building density and use.