Rinker Hall is home to the University of Florida’s College of Design and School of Building Construction, providing classrooms, construction teaching labs, and administrative facilities for 1,600 students and faculty. The new building incorporates a range of green building features and in 2004 became the first building in Florida to achieve a LEED Gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. Located on the site of a former parking lot, Rinker Hall was designed to maximize daylighting, collect rain water (used for flushing toilets), and features a white roof to reflect heat instead of absorbing it.
For the school of building construction, great care was taken in the selection and procurement of materials for the new building. Material selections were based on stringent prerequisites, including: proximity of manufacturing, recycled content, renewable-resource content, durability, low-maintenance attributes, low toxicity, and potential for recycling and reuse at the end of the building’s life. A material proximity and “optimum pathways” exercise involving construction students supported the design team in the procurement of building materials.
When an existing building on the campus was demolished, its wall brick was carefully recycled for reuse on the new building. The brick salvaged from the demolished Hume Hall provided historical significance and a rustic appearance in addition to low cost. Salvaged brick is about $30 to $70 less expensive per 500 bricks than the cost of new bricks. The other main advantage to salvaging brick is the reduced volume of waste that otherwise goes to a landfill.
For bricks to be effectively recycled, they must be properly cleaned. If old mortar is not completely removed from a brick’s surface, the new bond can be negatively impacted. Removing bricks in mortar can be easy or difficult, depending on how hard the mortar is. Typically, bricks at least fifty years old are used; otherwise the mortar is too difficult to remove. For the Rinker Hall project, students volunteered their time to clean the bricks and store them on pallets for later use. Walls made from salvaged brick are generally less durable than those composed of new brick masonry. A lime mortar rather than one of Portland cement is recommended for laying reclaimed brick. Lime mortar is composed of lime and sand and is generally low in salt content that can cause efflorescence on the brickwork. Lime mortar is also highly plastic and more likely to achieve a good bond with porous brick. Reused brick on the project was utilized in retaining walls and other non-critical load-bearing elements of the structure. The project allowed students to gain first-hand experience in sustainable construction principles as applied to planning, design, and reconstruction of the built environment.