Green Building Movement Gaining Ground in South Florida Housing Market

The Hidden Hollow townhomes in eastern Davie look a lot like the other developments popping up around South Florida.

Few people see the fluorescent light bulbs, the energy-saving dishwashers or special air-conditioning filters that help make these buildings among the first truly green homes in the South Florida housing market.

The green movement has taken a long time to spread to homes, because of everything from cost to wariness among both builders and buyers.

But with the rising price of energy and a more crowded Florida real estate market, small architects in South Florida are now banking on green home building as a way to stand out.

“You don’t have to get really exotic,” said Jeffrey Evans, standing in the kitchen of one of the Davie homes. The architect already has the go-ahead for another project in Davie. “All the things that make the development green are readily available.”

Until recently, going green evoked solar-paneled homes for granola-eating buyers. It didn’t help that Florida mortgage costs have risen through the roof, or that the Sunshine State lacks most financial incentives for green building offered in other parts of the country.

Therefore, most advances in green building were for commercial real estate, government-funded projects or academic sites, where costs could be spread out. Any green residential development tended to be in the North or Central Florida housing market.

Now the cost equation is changing.

Green builders argue that although a green home might cost 3-5 percent more upfront, the long-term financial and health benefits are worth it.

They say the extra $1-2 for the monthly Florida home mortgage payment pales next to the 25-30 percent saved on energy and water bills.

Also, some green home builders want an edge in a market where state home sales were down by almost a third in 2006.

“Builders are realizing they need to differentiate themselves to the masses,” said Roy Bonnell, executive director of the Florida Green Building Coalition. “And one way to do that is to go green.”

In August 2005, the U.S. Green Building Council launched a program to certify homes as green, called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

About 345 home builders nationwide representing roughly 5,800 homes are taking part, and 150 homes have received the certification, according to numbers released this week. The program is expected to double within the next six months, acting director Jay Hall said.

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