UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

The University of Iowa is an urban university located in Iowa City, Iowa. It is one of the nation’s leading land-grant universities. The Iowa City area community includes Coralville, North Liberty, Solon, and other small towns with a total population of about 100,000. The University both provides and attracts a wide variety of cultural opportunities, Big Ten athletic events, and a number of business endeavors resulting from scientific and educational research that originated at Iowa. The University owns and operates two steam / electric generation plants, three interconnected chilled water plants, two high voltage electrical substations, domestic water treatment facilities, sanitary sewer treatment facilities, and extensive utility distribution systems.

The Facilities Department at the University of Iowa commissioned the ISES Corporation to conduct a comprehensive utility infrastructure analysis on all of these systems. The following systems were included in this assessment: 

• High Voltage Substation and Distribution System condition, capacity, and deferred maintenance
• Steam / Electric Generation Plant condition and capacity 
• Chiller Water Generation / Distribution condition and capacity 
• Sanitary Treatment facilities condition and capacity 
• Storm water system condition and capacity 
• Steam / Condensate system (including tunnel network) condition and capacity 
• Site lighting condition and capacity  
  

This study included an assessment of load versus capacity, condition, life cycle modeling, energy conservation opportunities, and financial estimates of the backlog of deferred maintenance, capital renewal, and plant adaptation requirements.