Iowa State Department of Residence has 23 buildings for housing, with 12 of these buildings having no A/C and one having partial A/C.

According to Meredith Ponder Hanisch, director of communication and marketing for campus life, adding air conditioning is funded by the Department of Residence.

“We have been working on developing a plan, but that is not currently funded,” Ponder Hanisch said. 

In an email statement to the Daily after the interview, Ponder Hanish stated, “In 2019, we completed an air conditioning feasibility study to give us an idea of what this type of project would look like from an implementation and cost standpoint. Since then, we’ve been working to prioritize critical capital projects to determine where a large project like this would fit in. We also have surveyed students to get an idea of where their priorities lie—new bathrooms vs. air conditioning vs. other improvements.”

Ponder Hansich said it is “incredibly complicated” because it’s not just about putting the air conditioning in, it’s the type of air conditioning, the electrical load of the building and the grid impact to the neighborhood.

“Then you’re not even talking about [the] Department of Residence anymore,” Ponder Hanisch said. “We’re talking potentially city of Ames impact [and] the obviously broader university impact. So it’s a huge conversation and an incredible expense — we are definitely working on it.” 

Ponder Hanisch said the funds come from many places and the reason some of the buildings have it and not others is due to age.

“It wasn’t popular back when they were built over 100 years ago,” Ponder Hanisch said.

In the extreme heat, Ponder Hanisch said guidance is provided to those without A/C.  This includes residents closing their blinds during the day, spending time in the air-conditioned dens within their houses or other areas in their halls or checking out fans from hall desks. 

Olivia Smith, a first-year in sports media, said she has air conditioning in her dorm.

“It was really nice, especially at the beginning of the year, it was ridiculously hot,” Smith said.

Smith said her friends live in dorms without air conditioning and they would use box fans. Some of them had air conditioning units in their dorm despite those not being allowed.

“It’s so hot,” Smith said.

Ari Oistad, a junior in accounting, lives in Roberts Hall and said it was miserable.

“There was nothing that would cool us down. And then we would take breaks in the lounge, or the dens,” Oistad said.

Contrarily, Peyton Lehman, a junior in biology, lives in Birch and said it wasn’t terrible living without A/C.

“It’s only bad for like, two, three or four weeks a year,” Lehman said.

Lehman said he didn’t have a preference between living in different dorms and said it’s nice.

“I liked some of the people there [and the] location is not bad,” Lehman said.

Recommendations during the extreme heat can be found here.

Despite the challenges with extreme heat, in the winter, the residence halls have heaters that work well, according to Ponder Hanisch, but the transition from hot to cold is complex.

Heath Main, assistant director for facilities maintenance for the Department of Residence, explained this in an email statement to the Daily.

“Each residence hall functions slightly differently when it comes to heating. Some buildings we have to drain and fill back up, some we have to keep the water in and wait for it to cool before we switch on the air conditioning, others like our newer buildings have a four-pipe system that allows the heating to cooling transition to happen much faster,” Main stated.

Ponder Hanisch said housing and dining are not funded by the university, but instead, they are self-funded with room and board costs.

“Construction expenses change all the time,” Ponder Hansich said.

Ponder Hanisch said they have to balance the air conditioning project with other big investment projects, like updating the residence hall bathrooms.

“It’s just finding the balance between upgrading our spaces but also being the best stewards with the students’ money that we can be,” Ponder Hanisch said.

For information regarding the heating and cooling systems, visit this website.