The Capital Renewal Program is the campus’s major annual investment program to address deficiencies in campus facilities, especially building systems that are at the end of their life cycle. The program prioritizes projects that address life safety, accessibility, infrastructure performance, resource efficiency, and renewal of critical building systems (e.g. electrical, plumbing, HVAC).
The capital renewal program’s mission is to develop a long term, multi-year plan for an ongoing, strategic reinvestment in the campus facilities. The program identifies projects and allocates funds through a transparent process that embodies these following principles:
- Implement a multi-year investment plan that ensures the ongoing renewal of critical campus systems and, over time, reduces the campus’s renewal backlog to within 15% of the campus’s operating budget.
- Maximize the energy, water, and other resource efficiency of campus buildings and equipment.
- Improve accessibility of campus buildings and grounds.
- Renew the campus general assignment teaching spaces with physical upgrades and modernized technology every 5-7 years.
- Renew campus environs including pathways, landscape and lighting systems to meet code and safety requirements.
- For newer buildings constructed and occupied after January 2007, evaluate their operations at regular intervals to confirm optimized performance, to prevent additional burden to renewal backlog renewed on or before the end of their useful lives.
Program oversight is provided by the Capital Renewal Committee (CRC) comprised of administrators and faculty who guide program priorities. The CRC approves an annual program of projects and initiatives and is advisory to the campus Capital Planning Committee.
Since its inception in 2011, the Capital Renewal program has included over 312 projects that successfully renewed facilities, utilities and the campus environs including repairing steam lines, upgrading chillers, renewing landscaping, replacing switching stations, replacing roofs, upgrading fire alarms and fire sprinkler systems, renewing elevators, improving accessibility, and renewing classrooms throughout the campus.
An annual capital renewal survey will be conducted by Regional Managers to identify any new renewal needs. An annual program of projects is developed for review and confirmation by the Capital Renewal Committee (CRC) with the information from the Regional Manager survey in addition to projects identified in the 10-year strategic plan. Once the CRC provides initial approval, the annual plan is referred to the Capital Projects Committee for final approval, usually in June of each year.