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Sustainable Florida Best Practices Awards Program
Sponsored by The Council for Sustainable Florida
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Green Building Best Practice AwardBonita Bay Group
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Bonita Bay Group has championed sustainable development and environmental stewardship since the company’s inception in the 1980s, creating communities that preserve and enhance a site’s natural attributes. But the timing of its plans for a new development presented an opportunity for the company to take its commitment to the next level with a project called Verandah.
Verandah’s land plan started with a detailed assessment of the site and ecosystems as well as a look at the property’s past, including a historic flow way that was interrupted by prior agricultural use.
They created a series of “Green Commitments,” that called for responsible site development, conservation and green building. That commitment included steps for conservation (letting 70% remain in open space, transplanting more than 200 oak trees and preserving 1.75 miles of river frontage), water (using drought-tolerant landscaping, maximizing the principles of xeriscaping and using treated effluent when possible), wildlife (preserving 128 acres of foraging habitat), and health (nine miles of walking trails and pathways that link to a shopping center, a much-needed commercial component).
The commitment extended to its builders. All of the development’s single-family homes must meet Florida Green Building Coalition standards.
Designing Verandah to exceed new green land development standards resulted in a community that minimizes its impact on the environment, conserves energy and water usage and protects and enhances natural habitat.
What can you do?
- Discover and preserve the most valuable environmental land to
protect habitat and water. - Instead of building on the water, use linear parks to provide access to all.
- Require green building for residential and commercial projects.
- Create sustainable places with higher density and thoughtful design.
