Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

University of Kentucky Integrates New Cleaning Technology

  • By Matt Jones
  • 04/24/25

The University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky., recently installed a new cleaning system designed to improve cooling efficiency on campus, according to a news release. The Facilities Management’s Utilities and Energy Management Unit installed new chiller tubes into two of the chillers at the university’s Central Utility Plant. The technology deploys small rubber balls into the condenser’s water flow every 20 minutes, the news release reports, reducing the manual labor required to keep them functioning.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to sustainability and energy efficiency, the installation of this technology represents the latest step toward optimizing energy use on campus,” said Mary Vosevich, the university’s vice president for facilities and chief facilities officer. “By streamlining maintenance processes with this technology, we’re not only saving valuable resources but also reinforcing UK’s role as a innovate leader in facilities management.”

According to the news release, the university uses district cooling, which produces chilled water at a network of central plants and sends it miles away through underground pipes to university buildings. Scale and dirt can accumulate on the inner walls of the tubes, decreasing energy efficiency over the course of a season. The current cleaning process requires shutting the system down and sending a brush through about a thousand tubes.

The new system automatically injects small rubber balls into the water flow to scrub away the scale or dirt without manual labor or deactivating the system.

“Having a system that can keep the tubes clean year-round helps us fix the long-standing challenge of losing efficiency through the year as contaminants build up in the tubes,” said Carter Whitton, the Facilities Management team’s utilities systems manager. “Achieving those improvements will be a tremendous energy saver and have a substantial sustainability impact.”

According to the news release, the Helios Tube Cleaning System is expected to save the university tens of thousands of dollars per year.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Campus Safety Requires Using Every Resource Available

    Across the U.S., school and campus leaders are facing a security landscape that has changed dramatically over the past decade. Incidents on school property have increased in recent years, with several consecutive years setting record totals. According to analysis of data by CNN, dozens of shootings now occur on school grounds annually across K-12 and higher education environments.

  • Montclair State University Starts Construction on $120M STEM Building

    Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., recently broke ground on a new $120-million Interdisciplinary Science Building, according to university news. The university partnered with HoK Architects for the project’s design, and it’s scheduled to open in time for the 2028–29 academic year.

  • Classical building columns display digital data streams

    The Campus Nervous System: Why Facilities Risk Is Now a Leadership Issue in Higher Education

    Facility performance now intersects with safety, compliance, on-campus experience, institutional reputation, and financial resilience. That places it firmly on the leadership agenda.

  • GeoCam and UCLA: Modernizing Campus Accessibility Mapping

    In early 2025, UCLA partnered with GeoCam to capture and modernize its pedestrian infrastructure data. The goal was ambitious but clear: to produce a high-accuracy, imagery-backed digital map of every sidewalk, pathway, ramp, and ADA-related feature on UCLA’s 419-acre campus.