It's 75 degrees outside; students are sunbathing and napping in the shade. Inside, sunlight is gleaming through open windows.
But the air conditioning is still running full-blast.
Air conditioning is kept running to maintain indoor air quality, said Eric Cochran, associate director of operations at the UF Physical Plant.
UF's air conditioning is used in part to control humidity levels in labs and classrooms.
"Rooms must be dehumidified to avoid mold growth," Cochran said.
If rooms are too humid, mold will grow on walls, in electrical sockets and in other hard-to-reach places.
And mold removal would cost more than what would be saved by keeping the air conditioning off, Cochran said.
UF spent about $41 million last year on electricity, and roughly 65 percent of the university's electrical use is spent on air conditioning and heating each year, Cochran said.
The air conditioning is controlled centrally from the university's physical plant and is comprised of several designs.
Large buildings on campus, such as the Reitz Union, use 44-degree water to cool the air down to 55 degrees. When the air is cooled this much, it releases most of its moisture. However, 55 degrees would be uncomfortably cold for classrooms, so the air is reheated with steam.
The air conditioning is turned off occasionally when the temperature drops below 80 degrees, but only at night when most classes are not in session. Turning off the air conditioning at night is called a set-back, wherein the air conditioning will only come on if the outside temperature reaches a certain point, usually 84 degrees, Cochran said.
Air conditioning or no air conditioning, students flock outdoors when the weather turns cool.
"It kind of hit me by surprise," said James Folker, a UF senior, about Wednesday's cool afternoon. "I tried sitting out here the other day. It was just too hot."
