The City of Miami is doing everything it can to counter the urban heat issue it has experienced in recent years. City leaders have implemented specific green initiatives related to sustainability, green building renovations, and more. In addition, with the help of beautification and green revolution projects like Miami green walls, the city is steadily becoming the center for green living. By adopting these vertical gardens into major city areas such as restaurants, hotels, commercial buildings, museums, and new real estate developments, urban pollution will decrease, and green living will be the standard.
Green Initiatives in Miami
As a city striving to be as environmentally conscious as possible, Miami has several green initiatives in place that stretch from as far as the Everglades to iconic Miami Beach. Some initiatives consist of green building codes, beach laws, food regulations that call for seafood to be sustainably sourced, recycling programs, and planting more trees.
The Green Print Program
One program that is at the forefront of Miami’s green living initiatives is the Green Print: Our Design for a Sustainable Future Program, which outlines a collaborative process among stakeholders of the community. With county staff, community groups, business experts, and leaders in education coming together, more than 100 public meetings have been held, and about 360 new and existing initiatives have been evaluated.
Throughout the years, the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners has made serious commitments to prepare the city for a sustainable green future. One specific example is the U.S. Cool Counties Program, in which Miami-Dade County agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050.
The Sustainable Buildings Program
With high-rise buildings and other real estate developments taking place in almost every part of Miami, the city leadership has also implemented a Sustainable Buildings Program. This program calls for integrating materials and construction methods in building design that promote environmental quality, economic vitality, and social benefits through sustainable best practices. Overseeing this program is the Miami-Dade County Office of Resilience (OOR) within the Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources (RER).
Miami-Dade County is committed to green building design and construction standards to safeguard the environment, enhance the quality of life, and promote sustainable development in communities within the city. Embedded in the Sustainable Buildings Program is a green building initiative titled “The Green Building Expedited Plan Review Program” that encourages energy-efficient and environmentally friendly construction with certain criteria construction projects need to abide by. This initiative applies to commercial, industrial, residential, and green building-certified projects.
Some Examples of Green Buildings in Miami:
- The recently remodeled LEED-certified Aventura Branch Library is the County’s first “green” library because of the sustainable materials and eco-friendly construction practices used in its design.
- The Miami-Dade County’s Children’s Courthouse which features a green-roof patio and a high-efficiency water system.
- The Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science that has been awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Certification for its outstanding practice in the design, construction, and operation of a sustainable and energy-efficient facility.
- The Miami Beach Convention Center that has been awarded a silver LEED certification for the use of recycled materials throughout the building, with more than 20 percent of materials sourced locally in Miami and Florida.
