FGBC Board Approves
Florida Green Commercial Building Standard
The Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC) announces the release of it's new Green Commercial Building Designation Standard.  This pilot version will be presented at the upcoming GreenTrends Conference in Jupiter, Florida (May 4 and 5) by Paul Shahriari, FGBC Green Commercial Buildings Committee Chairman.

The Florida specific standard was developed to provide an economical method for an owner or developer of a commercial building in Florida to demonstrate their dedication to incorporating green and sustainable strategies in their project.  The standard requires an independent third-party evaluation of the project and provides the recognition of having achieved a high level of environmental stewardship.

Just like FGBC's Home Standard, the Commercial Building Standard is organized into seven major categories:  Energy, Water, Site, Health, Materials, Disaster Mitigation, General.  There are a total of 100 possible credit points.  To become certified, a project must achieve a minimum of 50 points overall, and achieve the minimum credit points required in each category.  There are also prerequisites in each category that every project must achieve.  In order to minimize confusion, the standard maintains a similarity to the U. S. Green Building Council's LEED certification program while incorporating Florida specific requirements and submittal requirements.

The standard should be available on the FGBC website by the end of May.