University of North Florida Social Sciences Building/Jacksonville, Florida
USGBC LEED® Certified

Architect
Smith-McCrary Architects/Atlantic Beach, Florida

Owner
Florida Board of Education/Tallahassee, Florida

Size/Cost
70,000 sf$10.2 million

TLC Services
M/E

The new Social Sciences Building is the first building at the University of North Florida to be certified through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. The three-story, 70,000-sf building has theater-style and traditional classrooms, teaching labs, offices and an auditorium, all with state-of-the-art technology. The building is approximately 34% more efficient than the requirements of ASHRAE Standard 90.1. It also uses 31% less water than a standard building and uses no potable water for irrigation, resulting in an annual savings of 800,000 gallons of potable water. Other green elements of the project include:
•Waterless urinals, low-flow toilets and automatic faucet controls for lavatories.
•CO2 sensors and outside air controls maximize indoor air quality and minimize energy use by varying the outside air drawn into the building based on the number of occupants inside.
•50% of the building materials were manufactured within 500 miles of campus, reducing the environmental impact of long-distance transportation.
•20% of the building materials were recycled
•A construction IAQ plan was implemented to protect the health of the construction workers and the occupants of the building.
•Low VOC Materials
•When the old Social Sciences Building was demolished, approximately 98% of the demolished building materials were recycled and the site was turned into green space.
TLC also provided LEED consulting and commissioning.