A 42,000-square-foot addition to UF's Davis Street Science Building was "unveiled" in June 2012. Added to the original 60,000-square-foot building purchased in 2006, the new section houses the biology program and serves students taking biology-based courses in the College of Sciences, Health Professions, Pharmacy and Forensics.
The new science addition is the first UF new construction incorporating
extensive green technologies. The new build features:
- 19 science laboratories
- Four classrooms
- 112-seat lecture hall (largest on campus)
- Computer lab
- 15 faculty offices
- Conference room
- Student lounge
Green initiatives include:
- Geothermal heating and cooling system (Will take only 5.6 years to pay for itself in energy savings.)
- High level of insulation, including masonry block outside walls
- "Light harvesting" technology utilizing computerized sensors
- High efficiency light bulbs
- Laboratory fume hoods with sensors
- Air handling system maintaining a level of 10 percent fresh air at all times
- Rainwater runoff control calculated to handle a 100-year rain
Campus Ripple Effect
- Labs and offices vacated by the biology program in the original Davis Street building are now available to the College of Pharmacy, allowing it to meet accreditation standards for square footage.
- Biology classes and labs that were housed on the second floor of Brewer Science Hall are now being used for physics and geology classes and labs.
- Frost Science Center has consolidated chemistry classes and labs on the second floor.