Dunham Hall window replacements expected to save in energy costs

Window replacements on Dunham Hall are expected to save SIUE between 50 percent and 70 percent in energy costs, according to Bill Retzlaff, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Window replacement construction began last month on Dunham Hall and are expected to be completed by early December. Photo by Kari Williams

“The expectation is that we’re going to have significant energy savings and we’re going to be able to over there moderate the conditions in the offices,” Retzlaff said. “So you can imagine in the dance studios right now with single pane windows it can be really cool or really hot… It’s a lot of energy to maintain the temperature in that space… But with the double-pane windows and the new insulation and the new soffit outside the building, we should be all good.”

Retzlaff said construction began Oct. 18 on the northwest wall of Dunham Hall to replace the current single-pane windows with double-pane windows. It is “essential” the single-pane windows are replaced, according to Retzlaff, to conserve energy when heating and cooling the building.

That portion of the replacement is expected to be completed in early December, according to Retzlaff, while replacements are expected to begin in January on the windows by Dunham Hall Theater. Because double-pane windows are not made as large as the current windows in that location, there will be modifications to the size.

“They’ll do the same thing they did over in Rendleman [Hall] in that lower level,” Retzlaff said. “They put some extra framing in and did it, so it’ll look a little different, but it’ll still be a full curtain wall of glass.”

For that part of the upgrade, Retzlaff said a semi-permanent wall will have to be constructed inside Dunham Hall so there is a “lobby to host shows in.”

“They’ll actually board it all up on the inside and put sheet rock up just like they did in Rendleman [Hall] in there so that there’ll be entrances to the lobby through the area and we can have shows …,” Retzlaff said.

Faculty offices will be adjusted to move back three feet so temporary walls can be installed, according to Retzlaff.

Other than entrances to the building closing on an “as-needed basis,” Retzlaff said “there should be no disturbance” to mass communications or theater and dance classes with the exception of “a little noise.”

“We’ve provided the contract with schedules in the dance studios and they’re not to be working in there when those classes occur,” Retzlaff said.

The project is funded by a state appropriation and the Capital Development  Board in Springfield is managing the project, according to Rich Walker, vice chancellor  of administration.

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