Photos above demonstrate the before and after progress of the Zone Fitness Centre’s flooring.

Blog Contributor: Mikellena Nettos

Brock Badgers are highly anticipating the completion of the Zone Fitness Centre and the progress photos seem to be generating increased excitement throughout the Brock community for use of this state-of-the-art facility! While we are all excited about the completion of the fitness centre, many people may not be aware of all the hard work that went into construction and the teamwork involved in the restoration various facets of the original Zone Fitness Centre, including the reuse of the Nora floor.  

Brock bought the original flooring seven years ago and choosing to keep this floor, instead of replacing it with new flooring during this new construction project has saved the university tens of thousands of dollars, displaying the benefits of sustainable choices and reusing instead of replacing. Using specific chemical cleaners, water, and a sweeping machine (pictured), the Nora floor was beautifully restored. However, it took a lot of elbow grease from multiple members of the custodial staff team, and many hours across many shifts to properly restore the floor to its original glory.  

Nora Floors are made of high quality natural and industrial rubbers making the floors very long lasting. In 2019, Nora announced that their products are CO₂ neutral across the entire product lifecycle! The company is very committed to sustainability overall. Nora also happily assisted in guiding the restoration process by suggestion which materials to use. 

We were interested in highlighting this project for the Brock community because of the importance of reusing products, instead of replacing them. Reusing the floor not only saved money, but it reduced the amount of waste produced by the University. Often times construction can generate mass amounts of waste from the demolition prior to the building, but by restoring the original floor, this significantly reduced our environmental impact.  

Thank you to Bryan Cober’s team (Manager, Structural Services) and the members of the custodial team in Facilities Management who made this sustainable choice and who contributed to making the Zone Fitness Centre an amazing place for all members of the Brock Community to enjoy. We think sustainable choices are the way of the future!