South Miami Designated a Florida Green Building Coalition 'Florida Green' City

MIAMI - Nov. 19, 2019 - PRLog -- The Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC), the first and leading certifier of local green governments on the state, has presented South Miami with their Silver level certification for being a "Florida Green" city.

"The FGBC Green Local Government program is truly unique within the country.  It creates an environment of communication and coordination amongst different departments," said FGBC Executive Director C.J. Davila, who made the presentation to the city. "This collaboration streamlines processes, decreases redundancies, and generates new approaches toward sustainability and resource preservation."

The City of South Miami, with a population of almost 13,000, achieved 31 percent of its 304 applicable points, earning them Silver-level designation.

The Florida Green Building Coalition was formed in 2000 and is the leading certifying agency for green building within the state of Florida having just surpassed 20,000 projects.

South Miami is the first city in Florida to require owners of new homes to install solar panels by city ordinance. This is the first certification for South Miami. Jennifer Languell was the FGBC evaluator.

The success of the FGBC local government program emanates from the fact that there is a sizeable and compelling return on investment for any municipality thus reducing the cost to taxpayers. To date 78 Local governments have participated in the program.

The green certification program scores the city in terms of categories.  These categories include: Energy efficiency, Water, Economic Development, Tourism, Emergency Management, Planning and Zoning and many more.  In each category there are points that can be achieved.

Some highlights from the City of South Miami include:

•          Pace Program for Solar Financing

•          Solar Photovoltaic Ordinance

•          Single Use Plastic Restrictions

•          Sustainable Mosquito-Control Strategies

•          Offers Incentives for Green Redevelopment

"The designation demonstrates exemplary leadership by Mayor Philip Stoddard, Vice Mayor Walter Harris, Commissioners Luis Gill, Josh Liebman, Robert Welsh and City Manager Steve Alexander who provided the framework and support to move forward with the certification," added Davila.

Going Green? In Florida you have a choice. For more information call (407) 777-4914, email info@floridagreenbuilding.org or visit www.floridagreenbuilding.org.