Rising temperatures are causing IU’s Central Chilled Water Plant to cool buildings across campus with a “rolling curtailment,” a process that involves turning off water valves that send cold water to the buildings.

“The bottom line is that for many years we’ve done this,” said Hank Hewetson, assistant vice president for facilities operations. “We’ve done it 60 years off and on.”

On days with hot and humid weather, such as yesterday, Hewetson said the plant will shut off certain valves for up to one hour in order to cool the water – which turns into air conditioning – and return it to the buildings for two hours.

“The last place we try to do that is research or places with classes,” he said. “If you already have a building at 76 or 78 degrees and it goes up a couple degrees, it might be uncomfortable for a couple hours. The good news is we don’t have to do it today.”