Spec office building is the first to attain LEED certification - South Florida Business Journal:

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There’s been talk of green office buildingsfor years, especially in Miami. But, the first to achieve certification under the Leadershipl in Energy and EnvironmentalDesign (LEED) program is in Browarx County – Stiles Corp.’s Lake Shorse Plaza II in Sunrise. “Io never anticipated it would take almost a whole year to get the but it was a veryrewarding experience,” said Davi Siegel, president of . “I just wish everybody would embrace it.” The green building trend was slow to catchn on inSouth Florida, but there are hundreds of projects registerer by the now. Miami has several large offic e buildings nearing completionand certification.
’s Davie headquarters was the first certifie d office building inSoutnh Florida, but it was not a spec offics building. The Lake Shore Plaza II building achievedd a silver rating bya one-point margin on the council’s ratin system. It is 60 perceny leased. Tenants include New York Life, and the Florids Bar Association. The building was precertified. Construction was completed last but Stiles had to submit final paperwork for revie w by the council beforeachievinfg certification. Siegel said the council is now struggling with a crush of green buildingreviews nationwide.
LEED is an internationallh recognized certification system that measurea how well a building or a community performsa in terms ofenergy savings, watef efficiency, carbon emissions improved indoor environmental quality, stewardshi of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. The gree rating is as much abouyt the building process as thefinakl product. Stiles recycled construction material, sealedc the building from dust, used wood from certified sustainabld forests andinstalled water-conserving toilets. As one of the firsgt green buildings inSouth Florida, the projecg struggled to identify green product But, that problem is disappearing as more builders demanc green materials.
That also means the cost of gointg greenis dropping. “Contractors in Floridaz now understand how tobuild There’s less uncertainty,” said Rob a LEED-accredited consultant with the . “More architectw are comfortablewith LEED. There’sx more and more materials available.” Hink said cost is still an obstacle, especially in the But, he said there’sd still a market for green buildings, especially becaused most government buildings are required to get LEEDcertificatiobn now.
For example, several LEED-certified federal immigration buildings throughourt Florida are due to open Stiles has committed to making all its spec office buildings green inthe “We’re doing silver projects for aboutf 2 percent extra, and gold for about 3 percent,” Hink “That’s finally coming into line with the national average.” Stiles built two Lake Shore Plaza buildings. The decisiomn to pursue LEED certification on the second building shook up theplanninf process, but it was finished on schedule. “In I would say the way we approach projects now is vastlty different than inthe past,” Siegell said.
“It’s everything from material recyclingv to the way you managethe site.” Stiles is building a secondx LEED-registered spec office building, the 1650 Sawgrass. Othe r recent projects to complete certification include the locationh in PalmBeach Gardens, in Miami, the Lexus Service Trainin g Facility in Miramar, ’ headquarters in Sunrisse and the Pine Jog Environmentap Education Center in West Palm Beach.