Table of Contents

Green Building

The county’s comprehensive plan outlines several green building policies and programs in three separate elements. The Land Use and Planning Element identifies the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) certification as a tool for supporting resiliency to natural hazards (Policy BMSD 2.1.8). The Housing Element addresses the develop and implementation of green building incentives based off the standards of the Florida Green Building Coalition, LEED, and other certification systems (Policy H4.1).  The Climate Change Element highlights the need to review current codes, regulations, and policies to align with sustainable community development practices outlined in LEED-ND and STAR Community Index (Policy CC2.2). 

It mentions Broward County’s Green Building Policy, which mandates that all County-owned and operated building must achieve a minimum LEED rating of “LEED Certified”. The comprehensive plan also highlights the County’s Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program.

solar energy

The county comprehensive plan's Climate Change Element builds on the recommendations provided by its Climate Change Action Plan. In support of its objective to mitigate climate change causes while providing for cleaner energy solutions, it sets policies to encourage research for increasing the proportion of renewable energy source generation from technologies including solar (Policy 19.1.2), and to promote and support the expansion of renewable energy for residential, commercial, and municipal properties by working with municipalities to reduce regulatory hurdles and develop incentives (Policy 19.1.3). The plan also calls for encouraging greener construction practices by encouraging building officials to gain CEU credits in energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies (Policy 19.3.1.d), and encouraging the development of "green" industry through supporting renewable energy production through innovative financing (Policy 19.8.2).