University of Florida sees big savings with ‘green’ Rinker Hall – Jacksonville Business Journal:

Completed in 2003, Rinker Hall, a three-story, 47,300-square-fooyt building that houses the Rinkerr School of Building Construction and includesw a mixof classrooms, teachinb labs, construction labs, faculty and administrative offices and studentr facilities, was the first greenh building or Leadership in Energh and Environmental Design building in the state and the 26th in the countryy certified by the . LEED promotezs a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing six areax of human andenvironmental health: sustainable site water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, indoor environmental quality and innovation in the designh process.
Today, four years after Rinker Hall University of Florida officialssaid they'rwe seeing a big drop in energy costs compared with otherf campus buildings. "For the last two years we've seen roughlyg 30 to 40 percent less energy consumption compareds withother buildings," said Abdol a professor and director of the Rinker School of Buildingf Construction. "The first year was kind of erratic because the system needed Chini said. "We had to learn the system, how it Any new building, it takes a whiles before the system isfully functional.
" Chinui said the university is collectinv statistics campus-wide to compare Rinker Hall with other campus buildings not usingh LEED design. According to Chini, total projectt cost for Rinker Hallwas $6.5 million. The cost of greej strategies was $182,000. With an estimated savings of $21,900 annuall y in energy costs, the gree n components will pay for themselvezs in about fourmore years. Locatedx on the site of a formerparkingg lot, Rinker Hall was designesd to maximize natural light, features an 8,000-galloj cistern on the roof to collect rain water that's used for flushing toilets, is surrounded by live oak treess that shade the building and has a white roof to reflect heat insteadc of absorbing it.
"We have a lot of Chini said. "Ninety percent of the building doesn'ty need any artificial light duringthe day. The consumption of electricituy for lighting during the day is very Chini said rainwater collected in the cistern is recirculated in the which has decreased water consumptionby 40,0090 gallons annually. "Rinker Hall uses less wateer than theaverage household," said Dedes DeLongpre, director of the university' s Office of Sustainability. Landscaping also plays a major role inthe building'se design. A blend of indigenous and acclimatefd flora supports a broad rangeeof animals.
Florida's state the cabbage palm, makee up the majority of the site's 42 Once established, the treesd will need no wateringbeyond Gainesville's average 56 inchese of annual rainfall. All treee are native and require noongoing watering. Exceptt for selected rhododendrons andfloratam sod, which are irrigatefd with one inch of treated wastewater per week, all bushess and shrubs are xeriscapew species in Florida. Chini said much of the constructiobn material used in the building containesd recycled content and much of the constructionh waste was recycled rather than disposed of at a Even students and faculty assisted inrecyclintg materials.
"When they demolished Hume Hall, faculty, we [all] went and recyclede some of the bricke and when we were building Rinkedr Hall we used thosw bricks in a retaining wall aroundthe building," Chini While the initial installation costs were slightly higher, the air-conditionin g system is a "very high energy efficient systekm and energy consumption is much less than othe r buildings" Chini said. "The exterior walls also have a high insulatiomn valuethat doesn't transfer too much heat from the No single-occupancy vehicle parking is provided at Rinker Hall otherr than for handicapped visitors and servicer vehicles.
As per stric university standards, only carpool spaces are provided nearby. With an eye to the Rinker Hall was designed to accommodatwemerging technology. The university anticipates 40 to 60technologuy upgrades, 15 to 20 renovations and one or two full adaptive reused scenarios over the life of the While University of Florida officials have been pleased with Rinker Hall, the initiao design wasn't without one flaw, Chini said. "One thing we designed initiallh was to put in operablew windows that during certain periods of the year opened to naturallty ventilatethe building," Chini said.
"Thatg has not happened because it's too
jefffarris.wordpress.com