Like most other past winters in Champaign-Urbana, a cold front hit campus hard in January 2025, causing temperatures to plummet to around 0 degrees Fahrenheit for days on end.
That’s when the F&S Temperature Control shop does some of their most important work, bringing the heat to buildings, or parts of buildings, that may start suffering from cold. Most impressively, a combination of efforts helped ensure portions of Swanlund Administration Building got back to acceptable levels of comfort.
First, F&S needed to examine the situation and find the source of the problem. Folks were dispatched to the building to look at the heating system, in this case it was a boiler that wasn’t up to the highest possible temperature.
Then, of course, something had to change. There were changes made to keep the warm air flowing, even during off hours.
The F&S control center is a room of screens and computer systems that is connected to every building on campus. Here, temperature control specialists can find which fans are running (or not) and schedule when systems turn on or off, based on building usage.
Within just over a day of notification, temps rose at Swanlund. Those who worked on the project were Eli Remington, Doug Winkler, Tim Clifton, and temperature control foreperson Travis Huls.
Dear Facilities & Services Team,
I want to express my sincere gratitude for your efforts in addressing the cold temperatures in Swanlund, particularly in my office. Your responsiveness and clear communication throughout the process have been truly appreciated.
It’s reassuring to know that we have such a dedicated team working to ensure our work environment remains comfortable and conducive to productivity. Your prompt attention to this issue made a real difference.
Thank you again for all that you do!
Julie Shaffer, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Q&A With Travis Huls
Q: What’s the importance of your shop as temps change from hot to cold (or cold to hot)?
A: The seasonal transition time can somewhat of a challenge with the older campus buildings that use steam heat, our group ensures building occupants are comfortable during those transition periods.
Q: In what way is your job “green” – like, to help the campus save money on energy costs?
A: Our team is heavily involved with energy conservation work and containing energy costs on campus, our technicians are always looking for ways to make systems and buildings work better while focusing on energy efficiency. We are currently involved in multiple projects to upgrade hydronic heating and cooling control valves that will perform better and increase efficiency. We’ve also currently working on Variable Air Volume (VAV) control upgrades that will save energy by reducing air flow and heating hot water consumption.
Q: What exactly do you have to “do” most often?
A: Our most frequent task would be responding to room level hot/cold calls. Many of the larger buildings have hundreds of room level controls such as thermostats, VAV’s, and control valves.
Q: What could a homeowner learn from your work, and use as a ‘tip’ in their own house HVAC system?
A: Keep up with the equipment maintenance such as replacing air filters and cleaning the outdoor unit. Hire a reputable mechanical contractor to do yearly preventative maintenance on your furnace or boiler.
Q: What’s an important or big job your shop completed recently?
A: We are a few weeks away from completing a large control upgrade project at Nick Holonyak, Jr. Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory that replaced an obsolete building automation control system. This is a large scale project that was started in late 2023 which has utilized Ameren energy conservation grant dollars. The building now has an updated control system with some newer and more efficient hardware as well.