When the renewed Fayerweather Hall reopens in June, it will be connected to a new hot water and chilled water distribution system that is creating a modern and efficient network for campus heating and cooling and replacing the outdated and costly steam system that in places is more than a century old.
At the same time, work to install a distribution piping vault under Crosby Street—a key connection point for pipes that will carry water for heating and cooling to several locations across campus—is on track for completion by the end of 2026.
These are the latest milestones in Dartmouth Climate Collaborative’s $500 million energy transition effort, which aims to reduce campus emissions by 60% by 2030 and 100% by 2050.
“Laying miles of pipe underground is not glamorous and can be disruptive, but this work is essential to Dartmouth’s sustainable future,” says Rosi Kerr ’97, director of sustainability. “This is a major collaborative effort with the town, project managers, contractors, and Dartmouth staff across campus. We are so grateful to have community support for this massive undertaking to transform our energy system.”
The renovation of Fayerweather—a 120-year-old undergraduate residence hall that when complete will be able to house 263 students—is part of Dartmouth’s commitment to add a total of 1,000 beds for students, faculty, and staff while revitalizing existing residence halls. Together, the energy transition and the housing initiative are the largest investments in infrastructure in Dartmouth’s history, Kerr says.
As of late March, Dartmouth had installed 3.5 miles of new piping throughout campus, and another 3.5 miles are planned within the next three years. Twelve buildings have been converted from the old steam system to the more efficient hot water heating system, with 11 more in progress and eight additional conversions expected over the next four years. The hot water distribution system and related building conversions are expected to improve the buildings’ energy efficiency by approximately 20%. When the distribution and conversion work is done, Dartmouth will be able to retire 7,400 linear feet of aging steam pipes and serve the entire Athletics and East Wheelock neighborhoods with the new system.
Connecting Fayerweather to the new system alone has involved laying 0.5 miles of underground hot water pipe from the north to the south end of the building, across East Wheelock Street, and connecting them to a new steam-hot water heat exchanger in the Dartmouth heating plant, which will serve as a bridge solution as longer-term energy sources are developed.
Russo Hall—the first of the new residence halls for undergraduates being built on West Wheelock Street—will open in September, fully connected to the distribution network that feeds the West End academic buildings, including the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society and the Class of 1982 Engineering and Computer Science Center.
Ultimately, the transition to water for the distribution of heating and air conditioning will allow Dartmouth to incorporate more sustainable energy sources such as high-efficiency heat pumps, waste heat capture, geoexchange, and thermal storage, to name a few.
The initial energy transition plan called for developing the geoexchange supply system and the distribution system simultaneously. But while both are important, the complex technical challenges of the geoexchange project have led the immediate focus to shift to the distribution side—what Kerr calls “the backbone of the system.”
“We are continually refining our approach as we learn from the work underway, and as we got into the project it became clear that we needed to replace the distribution piping more urgently,” says Kerr. “Building out the distribution network means we will have something to serve when we do build the supply.”
Meanwhile, work continues on other components of the energy transition, particularly in the Athletics District. On May 4, the indoor basketball courts and second-floor track in the Lewinstein Athletic Center will close for the summer for renovations that will include the installation of new solar hot water collectors, radiators and hot water piping. Other parts of the building will close in mid-June.
“We are modernizing the systems in the building to work with the new hot water distribution network,” says Frank Roberts, associate vice president of energy and utilities, of the Lewinstein project, which is expected to continue throughout the summer, with facilities reopening in mid-August.
Other recent energy projects include the installation of solar hot water collectors, and photovoltaic panels on the Brace Commons pergola, which took place over spring break to minimize disruptions to residents. Brace Commons reopened in fall 2024 after a renovation that renewed the East Wheelock house center as well as Zimmerman and Andres Halls.
Dartmouth is also installing efficient lighting upgrades throughout campus and has invested in a new central energy management system that provides a diagnostic metering tool that allows Campus Services engineers to analyze building data in real time, allowing problems to be solved proactively.
