While businesses and individuals increasingly look to save electricity, recycle and generally work with more environmentally friendly methods, the building industry has also started to get involved. Real estate investors, both domestic and international, have noticed this trend and are also looking for more green homes in which to invest. The Florida Green Building Coalition (www.floridagreenbuilding.org) is a group of builders, suppliers and architects who have established standards to certify homes and buildings as green, or environmentally friendly.
Florida is helping to lead the way, and in particular the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, for green building. The Green Building Coalition recently announced that the city of St. Petersburg achieved Green City designation, the first city in Florida to do so. It joins the surrounding area of Pinellas County, the first county in the state to be designated green. To obtain these designations the city and county had to undertake a number of steps to promote environmentally friendly practices and goals. These include tracking energy and water use, having green beaches, educating the public about reducing energy and water use and the city’s designation as a Tree City USA from the National Arbor Day Foundation.
In addition to the government designations, several homes in the area have taken steps to become green buildings. The model unit at the Color Key cabana homes, facing the Gulf of Mexico, is the first home in the county to be certified green. The developer has indicated he will construct any new units to meet green standards if that’s what the buyers want. This includes increased insulation, instant hot water system, compact fluorescent bulbs and reflective metal roof, among other features.
Darren Brinkley, a former native of London, is also constructing a green home in St. Petersburg. His home will have much of the same energy saving devices as the Color Key model, but it will also use a solar water heater, Structural Insulated Panels and a geothermal cooling system.
Both of these homes were recently highlighted in the St. Petersburg Times newspaper (www.sptimes.com). The articles note that the Tampa Bay housing industry is moving towards green homes in general. The Tampa Bay Builders Association showcase homes for the past two years were certified green. Also, a number of local builders have indicated they are going to start building exclusively green homes in the future.
For those looking to invest in environmentally friendly homes and an attractive year round location, the Tampa Bay area is a great place to look