Grand Student Union At USF Comes With Lofty Utility Bill

[Sunil]

I know this will be moved.. but thought everyone should take a look first...

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/nov/10/grand-student-union-usf-runs-utility-bill/news-metro/

Grand Student Union At USF Comes With Lofty Utility Bill

By ADAM EMERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 10, 2008

TAMPA - It may be the campus crown jewel, but the new Marshall Student Center at the University of South Florida is a drag on utility costs.

Electric, air conditioning and water bills have collectively quadrupled from this time last year, according to university records. And if energy costs continue to increase, administrators may seek a larger share of student fees to pay for them.

The new 233,000-square-foot student union opened in late August and is double the size of the old Marshall Center.

Its popularity with students has exceeded expectations, said Jennifer Meningall, the university's vice president of student affairs.

It takes a lot to electrify all that square footage and cool all those students. USF paid $103,506 for electric, air conditioning, water and sewage needs in September, the first full month the student center was open. That's a 388 percent increase from the $21,211 the university paid at the old Marshall Center in September 2007.

Air conditioning costs alone increased nearly eightfold to $62,159.

For a university forced to cut hundreds of jobs in a souring economy, those expenses couldn't have come at a worse time. Administrators cut $50 million in the summer to make up a shortfall of money it received from the state, and they don't expect the cuts to stop there.

The university supports the Marshall Student Center with the activity fees students pay annually. Administrators last month asked trustees to increase those fees by 52 cents a credit hour, which tacks $7 on an average student's tuition bill each semester.

But that money only generates a half-million dollars, and it won't be collected for months. Meanwhile, if energy costs continue to climb, the university may seek a greater share of student fees to support the center, which means other student activities will lose out.

"It's a major emergency if we have to go there," Meningall said.

[Cow Pie]

;D Well at least they are not going to cut faculty and staff like they did last time they screwed up like when they built way too many parking garages and had a huge deficit... the funny thing is most faculty & staff don't make enough to use the lots.

At least this one makes since... for example if they build a new OC stadium and it consumes more utilities than tickets would go up to pay for it.

[Superfan]

Install solar panels! That would cut electricity. And while your at it try to make future buildings green.

[nobull.Bulls]

Get the school of engineering on it asap

[twillybull]

Install solar panels! That would cut electricity. And while your at it try to make future buildings green.

Gimmicks like solar panels that don't ever provide a payback won't make a building more environmentally friendly.  That money can be spent in better ways to make a building more "green".  Don't worry, USF and the engineers are way ahead of the ballcurve with green buildings.

[Jihme]

Install solar panels! That would cut electricity. And while your at it try to make future buildings green.

although there are a lot of ways to save money with green technology, almost all of it costs more up front, which is why it's hard to get it installed in the first place.  you are right, however, it would be the best solution, aside from the initial costs.

[Sunil]

I think an important factor is missing from the original article. How much money was budgeted monthly for these expenses? If they expected it to cost this much...then the point of the article is that they should have made attempts to bring the cost down. If it was unexpected, then it was indeed a major oversight.

The writer simply  makes it sound like the university was incompetent and caught off guard...

[cmhatter]

ouch...

[Compute-a-bull]

It took me awhile, and for a ****** reason, to finally see the new Marshall Center, but it's real purdy. It's pretty obvious that the utility costs would be much higher than the previous one though.

[BrandonUSFSig]

The new Marshall Center looks like an airport terminal. Strange floorplan, floors floors that look like they came from Publix, cheesy green and brown retro color combination. The architect/design firm should have been fired based upon the plans.