I'm not sure how the upgrades are funded, but most of the housing budget comes from student fees, from things such as summer conferences. In answer to Bill's question about wiring in the dorm rooms, housing has some input, but generally that is handled by Kristen Scott and Resnet. They take care of the student end. The only housing outside of the dorms that has wiring is River Village. We'd like to wire the others, but it would be a huge expense.
All new structures come with digital control systems.
When we get deferred maintenance money, we replace the other systems. We have the same problem as IT - salaries are not competitive. We recently had to privatize elevator maintenance on campus because the starting salaries for elevator maintenance workers in the private sector is more than the director at UW makes. We can no longer get training for new people due to changes in the elevator maintenance guidelines in the private sector. In response to Bill's question about how the work order system was funded, we have a rainy day fund that comes from utility money.