Mechanical Plant Underway at UM
Newest project to support chilled, heated water in academic buildings, housing
OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi is building a new mechanical plant north of Kinard Hall to support chilled and hot water demand for heating and cooling in that area of campus.
The new facility will provide additional capacity to support new facilities for housing and academics, said Chad Hunter, associate university architect. The project is scheduled to get underway January 2024 and be completed by September 2025.
“The new mechanical plant will also provide greater campuswide system redundancy, geographic and utility source diversity, increased energy efficiency, greater flexibility to transfer load across the loop, and eliminates low-pressure zones within the loop,” he said.
Ian Banner, director of facilities planning and university architect, has served as director of the Office of Sustainability since 2012. He also stressed the importance of thoughtfully managing the university’s resources.
“We don’t want to be wasteful,” Banner said. “Our No. 1 goal is to use all our resources wisely and as prudently as we can.”
Faculty and Staff Permit holders with offices in Kinard and Sam Gerard Hall will have access to the Kincannon surface lot and the Residential Garage for the Spring semester, said Samuel Patterson, director of parking and transportation. Many of the reserved parking spaces in the back will be relocated to a new location in the front."
Faculty and staff can park in any lot designated Commuter Red or Commuter Blue, provided they have a permit, Patterson said. They can also park in the Jackson Avenue Center lot and take the Bronze shuttle, which leaves every 10-15 minutes and drops off at Baxter Hall.
For more info about the bus lines, check out the campus map and click on the Parking and Transportation and Oxford-University Transit tabs.