Things will soon get a little less foggy for students around campus.
Facility Services, along with the state’s Office of Facility Planning and Control, is working on the steam lines that run near Acadian Hall and the area surrounding the 459 Commons.
Funding for the more than $1 million project came from a federal grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that the University received in 2011, according to Jim Mayne, associate director of utility services for Facility Services.
Tammy Millican, manager of communication and grants for Facility Services, said in an e-mail that the federal government awarded $4.17 million for eight energy-saving projects across campus, including Acadian Hall.
Mayne said the insulation in the pipes has deteriorated over the years, which causes the steam to leak.
In addition to the leaks, Mayne said many of the pipes are insulated with asbestos.
The majority of the eight ARRA projects have been completed or “substantially completed,” according to Michael Guillory, director of facility systems with Facility Services.
Guillory said some of the eight ARRA projects have included replacing interior and exterior lights around campus that are more energy efficient and improving the University Powerhouse’s boiler feedwater system.
Originally budgeted to cost about $3 million, Mayne estimated that the eight projects have totaled about $2.5 million.
Mayne said the leak along the steam lines currently costs the University about $150,000 per year. He said the University pays to produce the steam and the money is lost along with the billowing steam.
“If you think of steam like a utility — gas, water — it’s got to be produced,” Guillory said.
 
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Contact Kevin Thibodeaux at [email protected]