Sketches of the new Brickell Financial Centre in Miami

The new Brickell Financial Centre Feb. 25, 2007 - The sketches of the new Brickell Financial Centre that will soon begin to rise in downtown Miami depict two fairly conventional-looking commercial towers. They have no avant-garde angles or sexy curves; they’re mostly just massive blocks of glass and steel. But their design is cutting-edge in countless other ways. The glass will have a “low-emissivity” coating that will allow light to filter through but will block out solar heat. So-called "punch" windows will be set in 12 inches from the exterior to provide physical shading. The cooling system will circulate chilled water through the building rather than more inefficient refrigerant. Low-flow urinals and dual-flush valves (one for solid waste, another for liquid) will cut down on potable-water use. And large cisterns will collect storm water for irrigation, with any excess pumped back into the aquifer. “One of our priorities was to design as efficient a building as possible,” says Loretta Cockrum, chairman and CEO of Foram Group, the project’s developer. Brickell Financial Centre is at the forefront of a green-building movement that’s slowly gathering steam in Florida. It’s the state’s first building to be pre-certified under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, the industry’s de facto standard. What that means: that before any ground has been broken, the building has gotten a seal of approval for its expected efficiency and sustainability (formal certification comes when the project is completed). The LEED system takes into account everything from building materials to energy use to indoor environmental quality. Unlike some developers who worry that green buildings are too expensive, Cockrum sees plenty of advantages. They lower operating costs and create a healthier—and more productive—work environment. Moreover, tenants are increasingly clamoring for them. “I didn’t want a building that in 10 years would have to compete with will all the new buildings that are LEED-certified,” she says. The Brickell project Brickell Financial Centre — which will include office space, a hotel, luxury condos and a public plaza—incorporates green elements throughout. Builders will rely on materials with high percentages of recycled content and will try to obtain as many of them as possible within a 500-mile radius to reduce transportation costs. They’ll avoid adhesives, sealants and paints with “volatile organic compounds,” or VOCs, that emit greenhouse gases. “You won’t smell much when people are painting in this building,” says Brenda Morawa of BVM Engineering, a consultant on the project. The planners also want to encourage tenants to behave like good green citizens—to use recycled carpeting, for instance, or to bike to work (special storage facilities will be provided). The goal of all this: to achieve a LEED gold rating, one rank below the highest designation of platinum, based on a complex point system. Among the project’s most significant elements is the plaza. Though it too features green elements, it’s mainly a contribution to the public, an attempt to tie the complex to the surrounding area. It will be designed by Sasaki, a Boston-based landscape architecture firm that’s master planning the Olympic Green in Beijing for the 2008 Games. Featuring two zones—a hardscape comprising masonry and other non-plant elements, and a garden oasis divided by a curved wall of cascading water—the 30,000 square-foot space is envisioned as a place for performances, rotating art exhibits and just plain people-watching. “It’s about the scale of Rockefeller Plaza in New York,” says lead architect Rod Henderer of RTKL in Washington, D.C. “It’s being designed to create a meaningful public space on Brickell Avenue where there isn’t one now.” Green building is relatively new to Miami, compared to cities like Portland, Ore., and Austin, Texas. Elsewhere in Florida, places like Sarasota and Gainesville have promoted sustainability more energetically, by requiring developers to pursue environmentally sound practices. But statewide, the government doesn’t offer incentives, like tax rebates, for green building. One possible explanation: it’s taken a while for people to realize that buildings aren’t simply inert structures but that they have an impact on the environment, says Carolyn Mitchell, a landscape architect with Miami’s Zyscovich firm and head of the South Florida chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. But things are changing in Miami. Mayor Manny Diaz has embraced green building heartily. He has convened conferences on the topic and is hosting Al Gore at an April forum on sustainability. He created a green commission to tackle issues like the city’s tree canopy and energy efficiency. And he’s preparing a package of legislative proposals that would require new buildings to be LEED-certified and create incentives for developers who incorporate additional green principles into their plans. “One of the challenges is convincing the development company that this is OK, that it’s not going to cost a zillion dollars,” he says. Gradually, they’re coming around. New environmentally friendly projects, like the Miami Green office building, are increasingly cropping up. “We started a little behind,” says Mitchell, “but we’ve caught up.” The city and its residents may soon breathe a little easier By Arian Campo-Flores Newsweek