From Miami Vice to Green Building in the Tropics
I gave a “green development” workshop yesterday for the South Florida chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council in Coral Gables, next to Miami. I learned there are severe water shortages hindering new development in that area. And, of course, everyone is concerned about global warming, since a relatively minor rise in sea levels, along with more severe hurricanes, would make a lot of south Florida uninhabitable. Even in early March, the issues of humidity, mold and indoor air quality are clearly evident. Nonetheless, there is strong interest by Miami’s mayor, Manny Diaz, in greening the city, including possibly requiring LEED Silver certification for all buildings over 50,000 sq.ft. Other incentives may be added to this proposal. (This is an early-stage but serious proposal, according to my sources.) As for the current status of green buildings in South Florida, my host, Carolyn Mitchell, a landscape architect with one of Miami’s leading architectural firms, Zyscovich, Inc., reports that “there is only one certified project in South Florida - it is a precertified LEED-CS office property called Brickell Financial Center…there are a few registered projects close to certification - MTV Latin America HQ (LEED CI-pilot) and two public buildings in Broward County….Our firm is working on a LEED-registered school in Palm Beach County, soon to start construction.”
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