Davie, FL (March 20, 2018) — The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) South Florida Region has announced the winners of its 2018 GalaVerde LEEDership and Green Awards Program.
The nonprofit organization’s eighth annual GalaVerde celebration recognized and honored those outstanding projects, inspirational businesses, dedicated volunteers and individuals, and instrumental USGBC Florida members who are LEEDing the way to a more sustainable built environment in the South Florida community. More than 100 guests attended the awards ceremony on March 3, 2018, at the LEED Gold Certified Young At Art Museum in Davie, Florida. Winners were:
- Most Outstanding Green City Hall — Key West City Hall
- Most Outstanding Green Recreational Facility (Small) — Doral Recreation Center
- Most Outstanding Green Recreational Facility (Large) — Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science
- Most Outstanding Green Transit Facility — South Florida Regional Transit Authority Operations Center and Tri-Rail Station
- Most Outstanding Green Fire Station — Lauderhill Fire Station 110
- Most Outstanding Green Police Station — Miramar Police Headquarters
- Most Outstanding Green Office Building (Large)— 1515 Sunset/Sunset Office
- Most Outstanding Green Office Building (Small) — Royal Caribbean Innovation Lab
- Most Outstanding Green Residential – Multi-Family — Grove at Grand Bay
- Most Outstanding Green Residential – Single Family — Villa Verde
- Most Outstanding Green Student Housing — Florida International University Bayview Housing
- Most Outstanding Green School – Higher Education — UM – Life Science Seawater Research Building
- Most Outstanding Green School – K-12 — Alexander Montessori School Ludlam Road
- Most Outstanding Green Interior Design (Large) — Valley Forge Fabrics World Headquarters
- Most Outstanding Green Interior Design (Small) — n2 architecture + design
- Most Outstanding Green Existing Building — Office Depot Global Headquarters
- Most Outstanding Community LEEDer — Pandwe Gibson
- Most Outstanding Green Business — West Kendall Baptist Hospital
- Most Outstanding Green Elected Official — City of Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert
- The Rob Hink Volunteer of the Year Award — USGBC South Florida Region — Jesse Rittenhouse
- Volunteer of the Year — Treasure Coast Branch — Niki Norton
- Volunteer of the Year — Palm Beach Branch — Robin Blakeman
- Volunteer of the Year — Broward Branch — Gary Pirtle
- Volunteer of the Year — Miami Branch — Katherine Roth
- Volunteer of the Year — Keys Branch — Johnnie Yongue
“Throughout the year, our volunteers work tirelessly to host creative and exciting events to educate the South Florida community on such topics as sustainability, climate change and resiliency. We demonstrate that sustainability is more than just checklists, solar panels, and LED lighting — it’s a culture, and way of life,” noted Chi Chi Truong, PE, Chair of USGBC South Florida. “We feel that it is important to take a moment each year to celebrate the many building industry leaders and our amazing volunteers for their great work, projects and achievements at our annual GalaVerde awards. They are the ones paving the way for a greener and healthier South Florida for us all. Congratulations to the winners of these coveted awards!”
In addition to the awards presentations, GalaVerde included a pre-event sponsored reception, dinner stations, networking (we call it GREENworking) with industry professionals, and a mobile-bidding, online auction. As the Region’s sole fundraising event, GalaVerde raised funds to support educational activities and initiatives held throughout the year.
LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) is a green building certification program that recognizes best-in-class building strategies and practices. Created and administered by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED is a voluntary, consensus-based national rating system for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. To receive LEED Certification, building projects satisfy prerequisites and earn points to achieve different levels of certification. LEED addresses all building types and emphasizes state-of-the-art “green” strategies in five areas: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials and resources selection, and indoor environmental quality. LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED APs) have demonstrated a thorough understanding of green building techniques and the LEED Green Building Rating System.
Sponsors for the evening were:
Abney + Abney Green Solutions The Spinnaker Group
Pirtle Construction PGAL
Burke Construction Group n2 architecture & design
Moss & Associates EcoTech Visions
Tangible Green Foliage Design Systems
Calvin, Giordano & Associates
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The U.S. Green Building Council Florida Chapter, a nonprofit (501[c][3]) organization, embraces innovative building practices that conserve land, energy, water, resources and materials. Its Mission is to transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life. USGBC Florida has nearly 15,000 members, volunteers and friends providing educational programs and market transformation services to the Sunshine State from seven Regions — Central Florida, Florida Capital, Florida Gulf Coast, Heart of Florida, Northeast Florida, Northern Gulf Coast, and South Florida. Contacts: Lee Cooke (Executive Director, 561-373-7367, lcooke@usgbcflorida.org) and Sarah Boren (Director of Policy and Programs, 904-535-0055, sboren@usgbcflorida.org).