Extreme heat: Cooling curtailed on main campus

A Stage 1 and Stage 2 Chilled Water Curtailment, affecting building cooling in many campus academic buildings and offices, is being implemented on the main Stanford campus this evening, Wednesday, August 14, that is expected to be in place at least through Thursday evening.

Campus buildings are cooled by a chilled water system. Due to the unusually high current temperatures, along with expected high overnight temperatures, the Central Energy Facility (CEF) chilled water must be curtailed.  A chilled water curtailment is required to reduce load and restore chilled water storage to normal levels.

Under Stage 1, cooling is reduced in many offices and other parts of the campus not involved in medical, research, data processing and other facilities. Temperatures in occupied spaces are allowed to exceed campus guidelines. A complete description of the impact and a list of affected buildings can be found in Land, Buildings & Real Estate’s chilled water curtailment guide.

In addition, the campus will transition into a Stage 2 curtailment during that period, which will allow temperatures in teaching, research or commercial operation spaces to exceed the campus guidelines, resulting in short-term impact to teaching research and commercial operations. A complete description of the impact of Stage 2 and a list of affected buildings can also be found in the chilled water curtailment guide.

The reduced load will help us make it through this heat wave. The duration of the curtailment is unclear at this time. Updates will be posted here on Thursday morning and whenever there is further information.

During this cooling curtailment, managers should encourage precautionary measures and have discussions with employees about alternate work arrangements if needed due to the temperature in their location. If your manager is not available, please contact Human Resources for assistance.