Campus expanding in every corner

By Elise Sakievich, Scroll

JARED MOOTE | Scroll Photography Above is construction outside of the Jacob Spori Building to reset the rebar grid
underneath the sidewalks. According to a press release from BYU-Idaho, the heating plant is set to be complete in 2016.

REXBURG - After the announcement that Brigham Young University-Idaho would become a
four-year institution in June 2000, the Facilities Planning and Construction Department began
planning for expansion.
Rulon Nielsen, Facilities Planning and Construction Director, said, Since the
announcement, weve done something to almost every building on campus.
Some of the long-range plans made in 2000 are now in the process of finishing.
Nielsen said the projects that have and will take place fall under two categories: those
that maintain the campus, and those that expand and renovate it.
Every summer, we do a concrete renovation project. During the fall and winter we go
around looking at all the concrete on campus, identifying the areas that could become a safety
hazard, Nielsen said.
Nielsen estimated there are 30 sights theyll remove and replace this summer.

This process is repeated every year because during the winter frost heaves occur. Water
gets under the sidewalk, freezes and expands. It lifts up the concrete and separates it.
Nielsen said a rebar grid is set under the concrete to prevent this and to hold against the
vehicles that travel on campus.
Steel bars that are designed to give the concrete strength keep it from bending and
cracking, Nielsen said.
He said the largest project, visible by the closure on 1 West, is BYU-Is boiler
replacement. Because of new coal emission standards set by the government, the school needs a
more environmentally friendly energy source.
Were replacing our coal fired, steam generating facility with a gas fired one, Nielsen
said. The old boilers are pretty used up. Even before we knew the environmental regulations,
we planned to do something with them this year.
These new emission standards were set by the United States Environmental Agency
(EPA) in September 2013 in order to reduce carbon pollution, according to EPAs webpage.
Nielsen said the road closure on 1 West will be moved before the end of the month.
Theyll have to dig up the road at intermittent times, working section by section.
The road closure is due to the electrical co-generation plant. We have to run cable all the
way to the substation, Nielsen said.
A co-generation plant can harness 88 percent of the fuel energy, rather than the 33 percent
from a conventional electric power plant, according to the UCONN Office of Environmental
Policy.
This facility uses a cleaner fuel, natural gas, to generate electricity and steam for heating
and cooling, according to UCONNs webpage. It also requires less facilities that burn fuel.
It will have essentially a jet turbine that will turn the electrical generator, Nielsen said.
We can run the campus during the summer with just that one engine.
Theyve also just replaced the chiller in the David O. McKay Library because last
summer, it had no air conditioning.
It was miserable, Nielsen said. But it will be good this year. Its running well already.
Nielsen and his team work to accommodate the students needs, especially as the
enrollment population grows. Nielsen said theyre building new dorms that will be open in
September 2015.
Well have 154 units and room for 850 students, Nielsen said. It will be a combination
of apartment styles: two-bedroom, three-bedroom, and four-bedroom.
Because many workers from different backgrounds are brought to BYU-Is campus,
Nielsen asked students for support by offering civility and patience.

Because of the lifestyle of some of the workers, we need to love them for who they are,
not what they smoke, he said.
Nielsen said most students are very kind, and several people who have come to BYU-I
for construction work have been touched by the Spirit.
Nielsens team is now working on solving the problem of housing faculty. Nielsen said
there is classroom space for the students, but no space for their teachers.
We are working toward the goal of providing education to the largest amount of people
possible, Nielsen said.