Tagged: Bob McMains

Purdue is benefiting from being energy efficient. The university received a rebate check for $81,000. It comes from an Energizing Indiana program in conjunction with Duke Energy as an incentive for businesses to make system improvements.

Vice President of Physical Facilities Bob McMains says the money will help the university become more energy efficient.

Purdue is closing its construction inspection department in March. That means the elimination of 22 jobs. Instead, inspections will be the responsibility of the architects and engineers.

The university expects to save 10% to 15% – or about $75 million – over five years based on expected construction projects.

Other changes include aligning Purdue’s building specifications with current industry standards. Officials say that should lead to more competitive bids.

Those changes to Purdue's new construction specifications will include:

Purdue is moving forward with plans for a Thermal Energy Storage Tank.

The Physical Facilities Committee agreed to install it on the south side of campus near the Wade Power Plant.

Vice President for Physical Facilities Bob McMains a redesign of previous plans makes the location a better fit than others.

"We just felt like we had to push the water further so that would be more of a cost.  But, as we designed the tank, we could come up with a better, more efficient tank on the south side to cover the cost for the extra piping we'd need to push the water up,” he said.

The Purdue Board of Trustees is signing off on the construction contracts for three projects. Those are the cornerstone for the university's Life and Health Sciences Park along Harrison Street on the  south side of campus.

The university is building a drug discovery facility for $28.7 million. That’s more than the original estimate of $25 million.

Vice President for Physical Facilities Bob McMains says the increase is needed to finish more of the project than first planned.

Purdue is taking money once set aside for one project and using it for others.

The university is planning to use more than $33-million to move away from coal powered energy and toward natural gas.

The money comes from what was supposed to be used to build a clean-coal boiler, but that project was canceled last year.

Vice President of Physical Facilities Bob McMains says Purdue will now focus on natural gas projects, which are more viable for the future.