CBRE study gives Miami green thumbs up

Miami might have been slow to embrace more sustainable and energy-efficient building standards, but according to a new study, the city has raised the bar for green commercial real estate.

The study, which was conducted by CBRE Group and Maastrict University, reported that 19.4 percent of Miami’s commercial real estate is certified as green, putting the city ninth overall in the U.S. Minneapolis ranked first nationally, with 77 percent of its buildings achieving U.S. Green Building Council LEED certification or Energy Star labels.

Miami currently has 79 buildings totaling 21 million square feet of office space certified as green.

According to Miami’s municipal code, all new private development over 50,000 square feet must obtain LEED Silver certification. The South Florida Business Journal reported that since 2005, the number of LEED certified buildings has increased more than 1,000 percent nationwide. [South Florida Biz Journal] – Kerry Barger