Miami-Dade County - Sustainable Buildings Program

Summary

In 2005, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners passed a resolution to incorporate sustainable building measures into county facilities. In 2007, Ordinance 07-65 created the Sustainable Buildings Program in the County Code, and Implementing Order 8-8 established specific guidelines for county facilities. A subsequent Implementing Order (IO) 8-8 ordered in 2022 an update to the previous program.

IO 8-8 (2022) supersedes the previous IO (2007), ongoing projects must comply with the previous IO until they are completed. Any future renovations, additions, or upgrades to ongoing projects must comply with the new IO. All projects must adhere to the nationally recognized standards designated by the Sustainability Manager. The Sustainability Manager must select a nationally recognized system of green building practices, which may include but is not limited to, the Leadership in Energy and Envrionmental Design (LEED) rating system or the Envision Rating System. When using the LEED or Envision standards the minimum rating for all construction covered by Sec. 9-75 of the Miami-Dade county code is Silver certification (Previously certified).

Public Projects Definition

Infrastructure or building projects where the county either:

• Provides $1,000,000 or more in financial support,  either directly through a contract with the architect, construction contractor, engineer, developer or any similarly situated entity, or through a grant agreement;
  
• Enters into an agreement where a private partnership develops county-owned land or buildings and cost is $2,000,000 or greater;
• The county is the user, tenant, operator, or otherwise has  contractual rights to develop on non-County owned land or Building and cost is $5,000,000 or greater;
• The county owns or will own the infrastructure or building, regardless of cost;
• Is a Public-Private Partnership, regardless of cost.

Maximum Measures Definition

• These are best practices that can be incorporated into all project
  phases to provide the maximum long-term life-cycle sustainability and resiliency benefits for a project that cannot meet the LEED, Envision, or other third-party sustainability certification pre-requisites. Maximum Measures are determined by the Office of Resilience with departmental staff during project planning and design phases.
  

Standards for a Building that is a Public Project

New Construction Public Projects must attain a minimum LEED Silver rating and follow the Prescriptive Path requirements outlined below.

Public Projects that are not New Construction but meet LEED
prerequisites must attain a LEED Silver rating and follow the Prescriptive Path requirements outlined below.

Public Projects that are not new construction and do not meet LEED
prerequisites as determined by the Sustainability Manager, must adhere to Maximum Measures and follow the Prescriptive Path requirements outlined below.

PRESCRIPTIVE PATH: REQUIRED ELEMENTS

The Prescriptive Path elements described below are required for all Public Projects that fall under IO 8-8. By complying with these Prescriptive Path elements, Public Projects will earn certain LEED or Envision credits that would otherwise be optional ways to earn LEED or Envision certification.

• Cool Roof: A Cool Roof is required for all Public Projects covered by this IO, to the extent that the Public Project includes any work related to a roof of a Building or roof of Infrastructure. With respect to commercial low slope roofs, verified Cool Roof Rating Council ratings of (1) a minimum three-year aged solar reflectance of 0.63 and a minimum 3-year aged thermal emittance of 0.75 or (2) a minimum three-year aged solar reflective index of 75 shall be required. For Projects that do not involve commercial low slope roofs, an equivalent standard shall be required, and the Office of Resilience should be contacted for guidance regarding equivalent ratings. LEED credits that may be earned include the “Heat Island Reduction” credit under both LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations (v4.1) as well as LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (v4.1).
  
• Benchmarking Energy and Water Use: Public Projects must continuously track energy and water consumption using the County’s existing ECAP software platform and a Benchmarking Tool. LEED credits that may be earned include the prerequisite creditsof “Building-Level Energy Metering” and “Building-Level Water Metering” under LEED  New Construction and Major Renovations (v4.1).
  
• Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations: Public Projects that involve parking or parking facilities must install electric vehicle supply equipment in at least 2% of all parking spaces used by the project. LEED credits that may be earned include the “Electric Vehicles” credit for LEED New Construction and Major Renovations (v4.1) and the “Alternative Fuel Vehicles” credit under LEED for Communities: Plan & Design (v.4.1).
  
• Life Cycle Cost Analysis: Life Cycle Cost Analysis of the Public Project’s structure, enclosure and equipment is required. Life Cycle Cost Analysis is an analysis that determines the most cost-effective option among different competing alternatives by including all direct and externalized costs associated with processes, materials, and goods (more than initial costs are considered) when estimating the actual total cost of an investment. LEED credit that may be earned is the “Building Life-Cycle Impact Reduction” credit under LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations (v4.1).
  
• Solar Feasibility Checklist and Solar Water Heating Systems: Any projects that are new construction or any work related to a roof where the cost is equal to or exceeds 50% of the roofs replacement cost, A solar feasibility checklist is required to be submitted to the Sustainability Manager prior to 30% design completion, and if a project uses or will use more than 1,000 gallons of hotwater per day, a solar water heating system that provides at least 65 percent of hot water needs is required.