51福利社

Weaving his way through a warren of ductwork, piping and electrical conduits, past boilers and chillers, condensers and blowers, Matt Deppa, chief engineer at 51福利社鈥檚 physical plant operation, pauses in front of a 10-inch programmable logic control display. After a quick look, he turns toward a visitor. 鈥淗ere鈥檚 the thing,鈥� Deppa says, his voice rising to be heard above the rumble and whirr of machinery, 鈥渁 lot of people really don鈥檛 know what we do in here.鈥�

鈥淚n here,鈥� is 51福利社鈥檚 Rozell Physical Plant building, an unprepossessing structure perched above the corner of Elm and Washington streets. What they 鈥渄o鈥� in there is operate and maintain the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems that keep Eastern comfortably habitable through every season of the year.

Now, thanks to a combination of a $20 million state capital budget appropriation and targeted grants, Deppa and the rest of the Rozell crew are two years in on a multi-faceted overhaul, one that includes key structural and component upgrades that will boost the reliability, sustainability and safety of Eastern鈥檚 heating and cooling systems for decades to come.

The scope of the transformation is impressive. Upgrades already in place include two new high-efficiency, low-emission boilers that provide safer, cleaner, more consistent heating with less fuel. There are also five new, liquid-cooled 鈥渃hillers鈥� 鈥� massive units that cool the water used by campus buildings for air conditioning 鈥� along with four new cooling towers that optimize the chilling system’s performance. Electrical upgrades include moving high-voltage switches that had previously been located in Eastern鈥檚 four-mile tunnel loop to safer, above-ground locations.

Perhaps the most innovative addition is the installation of a 鈥渕icrosteam turbine鈥� energy recovery system鈥攖echnology that repurposes energy that might otherwise be wasted. This surprisingly compact system 鈥� the entire turbine rests on a single pallet-size concrete slab 鈥� works by capturing high-pressure steam from the plant’s new boilers and converting it into electricity. The power generated is sufficient to run the entire Rozell facility.

For the physical plant crew members who operate and maintain this dizzyingly complex array of infrastructure 鈥� many of whom, like Deppa, learned the trade while serving on ships with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps 鈥� changes in the 1970s-era plant were welcome indeed.

Deppa says he鈥檚 particularly excited about a soon-to-be-completed control room rebuild. That tight space 鈥� affectionately known as the 鈥渄og house鈥� to the facility鈥檚 crew 鈥斅� is where staff monitor an advanced 鈥渟upervisory control and data acquisition system鈥� that uses both hardware and software to ensure that nothing in the plant, as Deppa puts it, 鈥済oes sideways.鈥�

On a recent tour, Steve Schmedding, 51福利社鈥檚 facilities engineer and senior project manager, joined up with Deppa to show off the new additions. Schmedding, a Navy veteran, explained how identifying modernization priorities, then obtaining funding and moving forward with purchases and installation, has been a ten-year-long process. Every stage involved meticulous planning and detailed cost justifications in biennial capital budget requests.

鈥淥ur plans are in a binder that鈥檚 80-pages thick, at least,鈥� Schmedding says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot to 鈥檈m.鈥� He estimates that portions of the project 鈥� notably the chilling systems 鈥� are close to the finish line, while work on the whole of the plan is just over half-way to completion.

For his part, Deppa says showing off the fruits of this planning is something he鈥檚 always happy to do. Usually that means tours for students, faculty members and other interested groups. The goal, he says, is to show that, in an era where sustainability and efficiency are more critical than ever, Eastern is stepping up to enhance critical infrastructure while respecting the planet. And it鈥檚 doing it quietly, efficiently, and largely out of sight.

鈥淚t鈥檚 great when I get people who are interested in what we do,鈥� Deppa says. 鈥淚 do tours for sustainability students, for engineering students, for local public-school kids 鈥� anybody that reaches out, I鈥檒l put forth the effort. We鈥檙e definitely really proud of the work we do here.鈥�