Green Building Council membership grows in South Florida – South Florida Business Journal:

The council is the leading national organization promoting more environmentally friendlybuilding practices. It was founde by architects interested in greenefr building practices and is well known for its Leadership in Energg and Environmental Design certification program. The Broward County branch held its firsf event this weekin Miramar, to educate members and interestecd businesspeople about renewable energy credits – financial units of support for renewable electricity. Chapter VP Olga Alvarez said membershil is about500 now, having doubler in the last three Broward branch members said the reorganization is part of growing demand and interest in greenj building.
"People were asking for more events focuse on local topics closerto home, so we'vwe reorganized," said Alvarez, who also runs , a green consultingb firm in Hollywood. On Tuesday first-time visitors to the council's events included local contractodWayne Messam, of Hollywood-basef . "We have recognized that builderw need to know about renewable energy credits to communicate with architects and he said. "We are fascinatesd about LEED and green power potential." Messam said Asset Builders has a contracyt with Broward County to build affordable housing in the Washingtohn Park neighborhood west of downtowm Fort Lauderdale.
He said he is lookin for ways to make housin more affordable by cuttingutility costs, if without adding to building costws significantly. "Ongoing maintenance and utilithy costs are a big concerjn inaffordable housing, obviously," he said. The Broward eventt featured a presentationby , a Colorado companyt that sells and markets renewablw energy credits and other greej services. Gretchen Dudon, the company'a regional sales manager, told attendees they coule have bigger returns on theier green investments if they advertise their green components. "We help market the building as agreehn building," she said.
"Wee tell people about the pollution they are offsettin bybuilding green." If a builder cannot achieved greater energy efficiency with solar power or conservation, they can purchasee renewable energy credits from companies like Renewabl Choice. Those credits can help a buildin achieve a higher rating from theLEED Then, Dudon's company will also tell visitor s and clients how much energy the company is offsetting. For if a standard energyh rate fora 200,000-square-foot building was about 2.34 million it could offset 70 percent of that over two yearw for about $26,000.
That represents the additionao cost of clean electricity generatedd by real clean energy powerd plants inSouth Florida. Renewable Choic would then create posters and materials explaininy that the offsets amount to not driving a car about 2.4 million miles. "Whether you want to fight globa l warming or increase energy independence, there are a lot of good reasons for doinhg this," said Hector Samario, energy servicee consultant for in Pembroke Pines. He is the new chairma n of the GreenBuilding Council's Broward branch. Dudojn said renewable energy credits that purchase units of wind poweer are available insome stores, for environmental conscioua shoppers.
Whole Foods spokesman Russ Benblatt said the credits are not yet availabl e inFlorida stores, but should be soon.
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