UK earned nearly $300,000 through a Kentucky Utilities (KU) Energy Rebate Program — an achievement that highlights the university’s ongoing commitment to efficient operations. The effort, led by Henry Walke, an environmental and sustainability studies and economics senior and lab sustainability intern, focused on documentation and verification of maintenance on critical cooling infrastructure across campus.
University of Kentucky Facilities Management is taking steps to improve power reliability by addressing an increasingly common challenge: wildlife interfering with electrical infrastructure on campus.
When a critical piece of equipment suddenly failed inside the University of Kentucky’s Central Utility Plant (CUP), the Utilities and Energy Management (UEM) team quickly activated contingency plans to ensure uninterrupted service of heat and hot water to campus.
When tens of thousands of fans pour into Kroger Field on a Saturday to cheer for the Wildcats, few realize the coordinated effort that helps keep every light on, every restroom clean and running, every lawn trimmed and every walkway safe. Behind the roar of the crowd during the football season is a team of nearly 100 Facilities Management employees from groundskeepers, electricians and custodians to plumbers and technicians, whose behind-the-scenes work helps make game day possible.
From logistics to labor, signage to sustainability, and everything in between, the Facilities Management team made a lasting first impression for thousands of Wildcats and their families.
From fiscal year 2017 to ’25, while the university’s campus grew by 13.6%, energy use per square foot has decreased by an impressive 19.2%.
The University of Kentucky’s Utilities and Energy Management team in Facilities Mangement was honored with a Grand Award at the 2025 Engineering Excellence Awards.
As spring takes hold across the Bluegrass, the University of Kentucky’s Facilities Management division has been hard at work preparing campus for a season of renewal and transformation.