FLGreenLiving

Mayor Manny Diaz is proud to announce Miami’s 1st annual Gateway to Green event being held April 7th-8th at Jungle Island.  Along with the City of Miami, Diaz has made a commitment to improving our city’s sustainability and green practices.

More than 50 exhibitors will be on hand to display their green products.  In addition, there will be speakers and panels that will address third-party green certification, selling green products and green financing.  The event is open to the public with a nominal fee.  This fee provides access to the exhibit hall, the speaking/educational sections, parking, and lunch!

Bike Miami Day is finally here, so strap on your helmet and bring the kids for a fun filled event!

If you have no idea what Bike Miami Day is all about- where have you been?  Mayor Manny Diaz proclaimed March as Bicycle Action Month in the City of Miami.  This month long event is focused on getting people out to support the community and experience the city in new ways– all by means of environmentally-friendly CYCLING.

To learn more, check out their website, add them to your Facebook page or read their blog.  What ever you do, get out and play this Saturday!

Doctors say regular exercise is a must to keep your body fit and trim.  And the simplest form of exercise is walking- something many of us do not get enough of!  Here is a fun site to view how your neighborhood ranks in walkability.  Walk Score has received several awards for its ingenuity. The website states “as suburban home prices decline, there’s never been a better time to live in a walkable neighborhood.”  We at FLGreenLiving believe that walking is just another way to add more green to your life!

Don’t be discouraged because Miami is not on their Top 40 list of the most walkable cities in America; we do have neighborhoods with some great scores!

Enter your address to find out your neighborhood’s score or the one you may be interested in moving to!

The Staples on Biscayne Boulevard is not only the first LEED certified retail building in Miami, it is the first Staples to receive such an accomplishment.  Thanks to Staples for setting such an example to pave the road for all future retail establishments.

Imagine this: buy a home today, and get an $8,000 tax credit in a few weeks!  Yesterday afternoon, President Obama passed the first-time homebuyer tax credit that is part of the $780 billion stimulus package.  This time around, it is an ACTUAL tax credit and not a deduction.  It comes with a few rules, though:

-The deduction is worth 10% of the home’s value- up to $8,000.  

-Income limit to qualify: modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) should be under $150,000 for married couples and single filers’ MAGI should be less that $75,000.  Partial credits may be available for those with slightly higher incomes.

- The tax credit only applies to homes purchased between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009.  After that, you are out of luck!

-Providing the homebuyer keeps the property for at least 36 months and resides in the home, the tax credit does not have to be paid back.

- To qualify as a first-time homebuyer, the purchaser cannot have owned a home within the previous three year period.  Ownership of a vacation/rental home does not disqualify the buyer.

- The tax credit can be claimed on 2008 income tax forms eventhough the purchase took place in 2009!  To do this, home must be purchased before April 15, 2009.

**Please check with an accountant to confirm actual tax credits, before buying.  **

In today’s world of green is in, it is no surprise that green has penetrated our school system too. Those that do not understand the benefits may ask why.  Those that do, will be rushing in to register their children. 

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Day School, in Coconut Grove, unveiled a 3-dimensional model of its newest classroom building at their 50 year black-tie gala last month.  It will be the first private school in Miami-Dade County to pursue the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Silver Certification.  The building has plans to house pre and junior kindergartners, along with a learning space for technology and language. If your children are much older, the first LEED Certified Miami-Dade public school is a high school, slated to open in August ‘09.  It is said to be the prototype of all public schools to come. Check out the school’s progress here-NBC6: Going Green

Aside from the operational cost savings, what makes a LEED certified school so unique is that the building environment maximizes the learning environment.  This is done through natural daylighting, clean indoor air, excellent acoustics and energy efficient windows and lighting.   The USGBC’s Build Green Schools website says that this type of environment makes it  ”more comfortable for students to learn” and it “gives our children a head start for a healthy, prosperous future.”   Something we want for all our children.

$300,000 couldn’t buy you much of a home in 2005.  Now it’s time to wake up because it is 2009 and prices are in a frenzy!  As of today, the MLS shows  22,043 single-family and condos for sale.  There are so many to choose from, it’s hard to decide.  EWM makes it easy with the launch of their new site, EWM Smart Living- a site specially designed for those seeking homes at bargain prices.

Search properties till your hearts content and catch up on the latest financing news/options at www.ewm.com/smartliving or view The Smart Living video at EWM Smart Living Intiative.

The Land Use and Development Committee met previously this month to discuss a green building ordinance.  All commissioners in attendance agreed it was best to encourage developers to build environmentally friendly structures and to get their projects LEED certified versus forcing them to do so.  Miami Beach commissioners in attendance were: Saul Gross, Jerry Libbin, Victor Diaz and Jonah Wolfson.  

LEED or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a certification process upheld by the U.S. Green Building Council.  They grant certifications based on a point system; the higher the points, the more environmentally sound a building is.  The certification process can be daunting, timely and costly, yet, in the end, the building has a “golden seal of approval” that is recognized world-wide. 

Regarding the ordinances, The Real Deal South Florida, stated 

“Once passed, the voluntary green building ordinance will refund any fees developers pay to get LEED Silver certified and allow them to showcase their LEED plaques on their respective buildings. The voluntary ordinance would also put LEED certified projects at the top of the list for review by city land use boards and building inspectors and be publicized in city of Miami Beach press releases and on the website.”

Is Miami Beach really ready to for such a change in mindset?  South Beach resident Erika Brigham believes so.  She said, “making LEED silver certification mandatory would send a strong message to the world that Miami Beach is indeed a “progressive community” that is concerned with climate change and the threat of rising sea-levels caused by green house gas emissions.”

The mandatory and voluntary ordinances will come before the Commission in February.

Okay,  it is not our [Realtors®] fault the MLS is not very GREEN friendly.  Let’s face it, what makes a house green is what’s “underneath” it all.  It’s all about “what’s in it”.  And the MLS could care less about that factor!

There are no special designated areas to put:

What are we to expect?    Obama has only been President for 10 hours!  And, even the President can’t make changes that quickly!

In the meantime, green home searching just got easier with the help of a new website– www.NationalGREENList.com  Here, one can access green homes for sale all over the good ol’ US of A. Granted, the site hasn’t been up too long so listings are a bit scattered, but that will change with time.

I must say I am proud to see Florida has 5 pages of green homes compared to 1 page for California! Hey, what’s wrong with that picture?

Happy GREEN hunting!

Okay.  Reality check.  Miami is so not green– at least not yet.  So what is a greenie to do in a city where Green Street hasn’t hit Main Street?  Where can you call home and feel at peace that your casa not only has better indoor air quality, but is also more energy efficient compared to your vecinos?

Hello Baylights.  The only Miami Beach residential condominium (that I know of) to be environmentally conscious. 

Kim Rodstein, developer and green enthusiast, looked at every aspect of the building process to see where her premier development could reduce its carbon footprint.  Originally, Kim wanted the building to be LEED certified, but due to the enormous costs involved in the certification process, she opted to keep purchase prices down and add luxurious, green finishes.  From the Energy Star appliances to energy efficient air conditioning and LED/CFL lighting, Baylights has everything to keep maintenance fees and rising energy bills low.

                                                         Kudos to BayLights.

Baylights sits right off the 79th Causeway in Normandy Isles, giving spectacular, panoramic views of Biscayne Bay, Miami Beach and the Miami skyline.

This is one building that stands apart from all the others!  Only 12 lucky homeowners will have the opportunity to live the green life; with 8 of them already spoken for!  Will the next one be you?  

Prices begin at only $749,900 for a spacious two bedroom .  Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to buy in the only green, residential building in Miami!