The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) leads the national conversation on sustainability in building practices through LEED. LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the most widely used green building rating system in the world. USGBC Central Florida hosts its annual awards event on March 6, 2020 (11am to 2pm) at Embassy Suites Downtown Orlando – honoring the best projects and community champions in Central Florida and showcasing exceptional examples of green building projects and the change agents leading the way. The ticketed event attracts municipality leaders, developers, architects, builders, designers, and industry professionals from around the six-county USGBC Central Florida region.
During the event the project team responsible for the Seacoast Bank Building, located at 250 North Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando, (formerly First Green Bank) will be awarded the USGBC’s Innovative Project Award for Central Florida. The award recognizes all members of the project team including: The Collage Companies, FCM Engineering, Little Diversified Architectural Consulting and TLC Engineering Solutions. When the 250 North Orange Avenue project was completed in 2018 it was celebrated as the first LEED v4 ID&C Retail Platinum project certification in the world.
Rob Maphis, Vice President and COO of The Collage Companies says of the significance of LEED in the construction industry today, “LEED v4 is designed to up the ante with a more flexible, performance-based approach that calls for measurable results throughout a building’s life cycle. It also allows for a more streamlined user experience and more goal-oriented credits.”
The project implemented practical and measurable strategies and solutions aimed at achieving high performance in the areas of water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. The team also focused on innovation in design and, the new component for LEEDv4, location and transportation.
“While many businesses are able to provide sustainability solutions by designing a prototype building and reproducing the same building, this project chose the more challenging route of designing to the needs of an existing building,” said Fred Muscatello, President of FCM Engineering, who served as the LEED Administrator for the project and has worked on other LEED certified projects with The Collage Companies. “By striving for the highest level of certification, the project does more for sustainability than required. Then, you combine that with strict budget oversight and return on investment goals. It’s exciting to work on this kind of challenge. It tests your creativity and real-world experience.”
The Collage Companies is an established integrated services firm with capabilities and expertise in Design Build, Construction Management, and General Contracting. Collage has served Florida and the southeast since 1982 from their headquarters in Lake Mary.