In November, The Spectrum reported that Greiner Hall – the newest state-of-the-art and environmentally friendly sophomore-only dorm at UB – was without hot water.
Students reported that it took anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes for the water to warm up, and even at the hottest temperature, the water was still only lukewarm.
A new semester has begun, and students have seen this problem corrected.
"The problem persisted for most of the first semester of this year," said Gabe Miller, a sophomore communication major and a Greiner resident who complained about the lack of hot water. "It is not still recurring. Fortunately, the water has been very hot."
Other students also noted the return of hot water to their showers. Frank Fonesca, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, said he now risks scalding himself if he turns the dial more than three-fourths through the "red" section, and notes that this is not a complaint because he can now find a comfortable temperature.
Others' experiences differed, albeit slightly.
"The problem rarely still occurs, and sometimes it's hard to get a ‘warm' temperature. Sometimes it's just really hot or really cold," said Alexandria Trujillo, a sophomore pre-pharmacy major.
In November, Andrea Constantino, the interim director of Campus Living, told students and parents that Campus Living was taking complaints very seriously. She said the building's contractors – LP Ciminelli, D.V. Brown, and Cannon Design – worked to repair problems found during non-invasive spot tests to piping.
"There were a number of changes to piping in the basement and mechanical spaces during the semester break, after further consultation with the building engineer," Constantino said in an email. "Certain system components were altered, and some were replaced. The system is now currently delivering the desired temperature of hot water in an acceptable time frame."
Hot water now is able to reach any part of the building within 60 seconds, according to Constantino – much faster and more reliably than reports from students back in the fall.
The changes to the piping system were not invasive or extensive, as university officials and the contractors feared when outlining the plan, according to Constantino.
Constantino said Campus Living had not heard any recent complaints from Greiner residents, and she believes students to be satisfied with their living environment.
"I am now satisfied with Campus Living's response," Fonesca said. "I wasn't really dissatisfied with their efforts last semester; I didn't think they were putting it off or slacking. I just figured there was nothing more they could do while people continued to live in the rooms. I suspect a full service was not really feasible while students were living there."
Trujillo added that a lack of hot water is not "life-threatening," and that she thought the problem was handled in a timely matter from her initial complaints.
Yet some students were not happy with the time Campus Living took to respond to the problems.
"I had to go months without a consistently hot shower," Miller said. "Most days, it was very, very cold, and other days, it was lukewarm. And sometimes, if you waited about half an hour to 45 minutes, the water would start getting warm. But sometimes, you really don't have that kind of time in the morning because you needed to get to class."
Miller also added that the heating in Greiner is an issue. He noted that he isn't able to control the heat from the thermostat in his room, and he says his resident adviser and members of the custodial staff told him that the heat in the building is monitored from a central location.
"They told me that when it gets cold outside, it gets hot inside, but that doesn't seem to be accurate," Miller said. "It would be cold weather outside and I wouldn't feel any warmer in my room."
Constantino responded that students are able to control the heat in their rooms; they can regulate the temperature in a normal range between 68 and 72 degrees, and this is individual to each room.
Residents who have concerns can contact the Resident Life staff available in every building, according to Constantino. In addition, Greiner Hall has two full-time tradespeople who maintain the building and relationships with local service providers, which are contacted in case of emergencies.
Residents of Greiner have banded together through the issues that come with living in the new hall. The Greiner Hall Council, which has designated a color to each wing of the hall, is organizing an event in which the wings will compete against each other in different games.
"I recently received my Greiner Inaugural T-Shirt," Miller said. "It has funny things on it for people who live in Greiner. On the back, it says, ‘You know you live in Greiner Hall when…' and there's a bunch of inside jokes about the different issues that we've had to deal with in Greiner."
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