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University
of Florida McGuire Center for Lepidoptera/Gainesville,
Florida
USGBC LEED® Certified
Architects
Kha Le-Huu & Partners
Orlando, Florida
Owner
Florida Board of Education/Tallahassee, Florida
Size/Cost
46,000 sf/$11 million
TLC Services
M/E
 
This
research center/classroom building/public exhibit features
a 6,400-sf Butterfly Rainforest: a screened enclosure
with waterfalls, walking trails, subtropical and tropical
trees and plants, and 2,000 living butterflies. Designed
with energy-efficient, environmentally friendly mechanical
systems, the building is LEED certified for sustainability
by the U.S. Green Building Council. Serving the different
types of spaces are variable-air-volume air handlers with
variable frequency drives. The library and museum spaces
are served by a system that keeps keep humidity low and
prevents sudden swings in humidity levels, both of which
are critical for preventing formation of mold and mildew.
The open-air conservatory is not air conditioned. In the
laboratories, fume hoods exhaust potentially hazardous
chemicals. The hoods maintain a constant volume of exhaust
when they are on and are equipped with a manual control
switch.The building’s direct digital controls system
enables the user to optimize the operational hours and
energy consumption of the systems. Opened in August 2004,
the center is already poised to become one of the top
lepidoptera exhibits in the world. |
