The UNF Field House was awarded the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. The building becomes one of 14 others on UNF’s campus committed to ensuring environmental quality for the university and the land it resides on.

The Field House, formerly the Aquatic Center, is used for recreational and intramural sports, in addition to student activities and small events.

“Discussions were being held about an NCAA outside pool to replace the Aquatic Center, so money was received from the state to convert the it into a field house,” said Director of Campus Planning Zak Ovadia. The building was designed using the latest, environmentally-sensitive materials in the construction according to Ovadia. It’s designed to safeguard the environment by using recyclable and recycled materials.

“At the same time [as construction] we brought the building up to energy codes,” said Ovadia. “We obviously did the right thing because we got the Silver Certification. We increased the insulation in the roofs, we recycled a lot of materials, we strengthened the roof and made the walls waterproof.”

The Field House is estimated to last for another 30-40 years as a result of the environmentally-conscious construction.

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