The Illinois Natural History Survey Fish Collection is a nationally recognized research museum. The Collection contains approximately 1.3 million fish specimens and is housed in six rooms in the basement of the Natural Resources Building (NRB) on the UI campus. The NRB was built in 1939 and all exterior windows in the basement are original, single-pane windows. The NRB does not have central air conditioning (AC) and climate control is achieved with window-mounted AC units. Because of the older, inefficient windows and AC units in the rooms housing the Fish Collection, the building is forced to run the AC units for nine months of the year to reduce the room temperatures and humidity levels. Additionally, drainage around NRB is extremely poor and mold growth is a constant threat. To keep mold growth in check, the building requires to continuously run six industrial-size dehumidifiers. To reduce energy consumption in Fish Collection rooms, this project proposes to:

1) Remove old window AC units;
2) Install new interior window inserts that will increase the R-value of the windows;
3) Install new external AC units with ductwork that will go through the walls of NRB.

This proposal directly funds:
1) Insulating window inserts: $120,000.00
2) Personnel & wages: $51,600.00
3) Removal of window AC inserts and installation of replacement glass
4) Installation of window inserts
5) Estimate from F&S, estimated at 10% of the project budget