| About the South Campus Building
Creating an environmentally friendly building was the goal of the architects and designers. From inception, the construction followed green-building practices. For example, extra care was used to recycle materials during construction and sustainable materials and building systems were incorporated into the design of the facility.
The building is slated to earn the coveted Gold LEED certification designation from the US Green Building Council, making it one of only a handful of medical facilities to achieve such a high level of recognition.
In addition, the entire facility is operated by a power plant located on site, with no visible power lines. Shands partnered with Gainesville Regional Utilities to make this power plant a reality – the first national model of a hospital and a power company working together in this way. It means the hospital can create its own energy and can remain online in case of a power failure.
Fast Facts
The cost to build the South Campus building is $365 million.
More than 10,000 truck loads of dirt were removed and 500,000 square feet of concrete slabs were placed in order to construct the building.
Nearly 1,000,000 cubic feet of air – more than 5.6 million breaths per minute – will move through the ducts.
The Shands at UF Cancer Hospital will use 1.2 billion gallons of water each year as coolant - enough to fill 24,000 standard-size swimming pools.
Due to the attention to energy efficiency of the Shands at UF South Campus’ on-site GRU power plant, it is estimated that the site will save about 27 million kilowatt's per year. That is enough to power about 2,250 homes annually.
The Gainesville Regional Utilities South Energy Center will power the Shands at UF South Campus complex and reduce CO2 emissions by 24,866 tons per year. This is equal to the carbon emissions of 4,107 cars per year and the annual carbon stored by 5,124 acres of pine and fir forests.
The new hospital complex is strong enough to resist a Category 3 hurricane winds up to 110 MPH – making it one of the safest major buildings in north central Florida.
The building has 97,000-square-feet of glass surrounding it. |
