The Florida legislature recently took a step towards creating a more sustainable future for our state. On May 27, 2010, Governor Crist signed into law House Bill 7179, which created Florida’s version of the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program. Florida’s PACE bill enables local governments to levy non-ad valorem assessments to fund improvements related [...]
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Florida local governments continue to take action to adopt sustainable development provision (including green building, low impact development, and renewable energy/energy efficiency) into their comprehensive plans and codes. Originally compiled in 2009, the index was updated in Summer 2010 to include new provisions including Leon County’s PACE ordinance. Click here to view the updated Index [...]
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As a professional in the solar power industry, I’m frequently asked why Florida, the “Sunshine State,” doesn’t have an abundance of solar panels on its rooftops. While the sun’s rays fall generously on the state, our legislature and utilities have prevented the development of a renewable energy industry in Florida that would spur economic growth, [...]
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Submitted by Lisa Colon Heron As “Green Building” initiatives gather steam, the insurance industry is responding to creating insurance products that respond to the risks associated with building green. The insurance industry has been slowly responding to the needs of owners, developers, and design professionals who are building green. Builder’s Risk Products The Firemen’s Fund [...]
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Cisco has presented an interesting integrated information technology model in its Cisco ® Connected Real Estate solution. [http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/docs/trec/Cisco_AAG.pdf]. The system has overlap with green goals, and encompasses a similar conceptual shift away from the operational separation of traditional tenants in a building (each with their own communications, internet, and other systems) to shared building-wise infrastructure, [...]
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Despite predictions that the construction industry would be inundated with green building lawsuits, there is a paucity of reported lawsuits relating to green building projects. One of the first reported cases involving green buildings is Southern Builders, Inc. v. Shaw Development, L.L.C., Case No. 19-C-07-01145 (Circuit Court of Somerset County, Md. 2006). This dispute arose [...]
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Perhaps the biggest loophole in the LEED certification process is the fact that there is little incentive for owners to ensure that buildings maintain efficient performance post-certification. Under the previous LEED rating systems, once a building obtained a LEED certification level, it would not be downgraded if actual building performance deteriorated or did not live [...]
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Recently, Nicole Kibert of Carlton Fields, P.A., compiled an Index of Green Building Provisions in Municipal Codes. The article is an excellent resource for Florida green building practitioners because it identifies the local green building requirements and incentives. The following excerpt from Kibert’s article highlights state a local efforts to mandate and encourage green building practices [...]
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What’s old will not only be new again but if all goes right, green and LEED certified! The Coral Gables Museum will be housed in the city’s original police and fire station located at 285 Aragon Avenue. The building was constructed in 1939 by architect Phineas Paist, one of the original designers of the City [...]
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PURETi is a surface treatment that uses UV-PCO (ultraviolet photocatalytic oxidation) with ultraviolet light to transform treated materials into self-cleaning surfaces. Benefits include reducing the water, chemicals, and energy used in cleaning by at least 50%, plus significantly reducing air pollution. Light energy from the sun (or fluorescent lamps) energizes a mineral called anatase titanium [...]
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