Doral Glades Park Nature Center - Green Building Initiative

El Centro de Naturaleza de Doral Glades Park apoya a la comunidad y al medio ambiente con Green Globes

Doral, FL • Sustainable Performance Solutions

A new nature and recreation center covers a lot of bases for the residents of Doral, Florida. The 9,000-square-foot building houses a community e-library, meeting rooms, and a multi-purpose room for classes and events. In addition, the center has a nature exhibit and a projection room showcasing the history of the Everglades, situated just west of the center. “Nature is a big part of who we are as a city, but before this center, we didn’t have anything that focused on the Everglades,” says Barbara Hernandez, Parks and Recreation Director at the City of Doral.

The Doral Glades Park Nature Center had to meet green initiatives and energy efficiency goals identified in the city’s comprehensive plan. Green Globes certification proved that the center achieved those objectives. “We wanted to show the community independent verification,” Hernandez says. “Green Globes was a great choice because it offered that credibility, but it was less expensive and easier to understand than the alternatives.”

A 25-acre park surrounding the center offers an array of outdoor amenities, sporting activities, and an artificial lake. More than a recreational attraction, the lake provides approximately 170,000 gallons of water each week for landscape irrigation. Inside the center, the nature exhibit explains how groundwater flows back into the artificial lake for reuse.

The center and its surroundings also uphold environmental stewardship through:

Passive building design with an energy-efficient roofand windows that reduced energy consumption by 59% compared to the baseline model.
Preservation of perimeter trees, shrubs, and undergrowth during the site’s landscape development.
Exclusive use of LED lighting with occupancy sensors throughout.
Sensors on water features in and around the building, with predictions of annual potable water savings of 43.3% compared to a baseline case.
Low- and no-VOC paints, adhesives and sealers.

Relevant Criteria

“One of the things that makes Green Globes so manageable is that you only have to address items that are applicable,” says Larry Clark, principal of Sustainable Performance Solutions. “If something wasn’t relevant, we didn’t have to work around it, replace it, or chase points that don’t matter to make up for it.”

‘‘With Green Globes, we’re clear on how things will go even before the walkthrough.”

Although this was Clark’s first park facility to achieve a Green Globes award, he’s ushered many other projects through Green Globes certification. Having access to the Assessor’s input from the beginning of the process is an area he finds highly beneficial. “I like that we can resolve a lot of questions and missing information with the Assessor up front,” Clark notes. “It’s much better than having an anonymous review committee where credits can get rejected and then you have to buy an appeal. With Green Globes, we’re clear on how things will go even before the walkthrough.”

Those early conversations made for an uneventful and pleasurable walkthrough at Doral Glades Park Nature Center. The Assessor made suggestions to enhance the project both before the walkthrough and in the final recommendations. “As with any public project, there are financial constraints, but we implemented the items we could, and I learned a lot from working with the Assessor.”

Despite its strict budget, the Doral Glades Park Nature Center received an award of Two Green Globes under New Construction, and Hernandez is pleased with the result. “Green Globes is more in line with our city’s green initiatives, and it’s likely that we’ll recertify under Green Globes for Existing Buildings in the future,” she says.