Media Relations
Press Release:
MEDIA CONTACT: Maggie Gunther
954-762-5275, mgunther@fau.edu
FAU to Celebrate Dedication
of Davie West Building
DAVIE, FL (November 10, 2010) –Florida Atlantic University dedicated its Davie West building today, a facility that will be shared with the University of Florida on FAU’s Davie campus. The 75,000-square-foot building was designed to meet U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification.
“Davie West represents the future of FAU as the Davie campus continues to expand and build new partnerships,” said FAU President Mary Jane Saunders. “This new building will serve as a place where classroom learning will go hand-in-hand with research in science, as well as the arts and humanities.”
The $30 million building, funded entirely by Public Education Capital Outlay (PECO) allocations from the Florida state legislature, was constructed on land transferred to FAU from the University of Florida. It is shared between FAU’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. The building houses faculty offices for both of FAU’s colleges, five classrooms, including a 100-person tiered classroom, and state-of-the art labs for Everglades restoration and environmental science for both FAU and UF.
Speaking at the event along with Saunders was Joyanne Stephens, Ph.D., vice president of FAU’s regional campuses; Nancy Blosser, chair of FAU’s Board of Trustees; Joseph Joyce, Ph.D., UF-IFAS executive associate vice president for agriculture and natural resources; and Daniela Russo, Broward governor of FAU’s Student Government.
“The FAU community is so proud of everything this building stands for,” said Stephens. “From our partnership with UF, to environmental sustainability, to the learning that will take place in the classrooms; Davie West is poised to be a remarkable academic and scientific research facility.”
The
following are characteristics of Davie West, which promotes
environmental quality and resource conservation through sustainable
design, green architecture and recycling:
- The building location does not include sensitive site elements and restrictive land types. The four-story design of the building also minimizes site disruption.
- The building will reduce pollution and land development impact from automobile use by providing bicycle racks and changing rooms for the building users, and showers for researchers.
- The building will maximize water-efficiency by reducing the burden on municipal water supply and wastewater systems. It will utilize low-flow fixtures and indigenous landscaping that will require little or no irrigation. The facility also will reduce its water consumption by a minimum of 20 percent.
- The building incorporates a building envelope and highly efficient HVAC systems that maximize energy performance. A minimum goal will be to reduce the energy consumption of the building by 14 percent.
- During construction, contractors diverted at least 50 percent of the site waste from landfills.
- Twenty percent of the construction material cost consists of recycled material, and 20 percent of all building materials will be recovered or manufactured locally.
- A minimum of 50 percent of all wood-based materials in the building come from certified forests.
- All materials are low-emitting materials, reducing the quantity of indoor air contaminants that are odorous, irritating or harmful to the comfort of installers and occupants.
- Seventy-five percent of all occupied spaces will utilize natural lighting.
Davie West was designed by architect SchenkelShultz and was built
by Pirtle Construction. For more information, contact Maggie
Gunther at 954-762-5275 or mgunther@fau.edu.
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FAU-
About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University opened its doors in 1964 as
the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University
serves more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students on
seven campuses and sites. Building on its rich tradition as a
teaching university, with a world-class faculty, FAU hosts 10
colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters,
the College of Business, the College for Design and Social
Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of
Engineering & Computer Science, the Graduate College, the
Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt
College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing
and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. For more
information, visit
www.fau.edu.
