convincing physical plant on need for climate control

[Dennis Johnson]

       I do not know what kind of climate system your building has, but I
have been wrestling with this problem for several years. The good news
though, is that the humidification element of the large heating system is
very simple and cheap. All it is is a wand that sprays mist into the hot
air duct. This wand however, regularly clogs due to build up etc.. and must
be cleaned. Each section of the buildings system has its own humidifier
wand and unfortunately access to them is apparently more difficult than the
service. I finally pressured them into servicing these last year and it
made an enormous difference. This year though, it is the same old story
again. Of course they are understaffed, so am I, but this is not the
insurmountable problem they might like you to believe that it is. On the
other hand, air conditioning is expensive, the problem in summer is that
they like to turn the air completely off after business hours. Once I was
even told that "we spent a lot of money on the computer that automatically
turns the system on and off. We couldn't just not use it."


Dennis Johnson
St. Olaf College
johnsond@stolaf.edu
djohn@skypoint.com