FORT LAUDERDALE
Broward County's convention center has become the first such facility in Florida to earn LEED certification. It ended up certified with LEED gold, better than the silver level it sought from the U.S. Green Building Council, executives said.
The green initiative took nearly four years to complete and cost roughly $3 million, according to officials. That investment already is paying off: more energy-efficient lights and chillers have helped cut the center's electric bills from nearly $1.2 million per year to about $700,000 per year. Plus, the volume of trash hauled off is down more than half, axing costs for waste removal, said Mark Gatley, general manager for the Greater Fort Lauderdale-Broward County Convention Center.
To earn LEED gold, the 21-year-old center overhauled many systems. It installed new fixtures to cut water use in bathrooms. It switched to native plants and micro-drip sprinklers to trim water use outdoors. And it boosted recycling from 8 percent to 58 percent of waste, including about 150 tons of brochures, plastic bottles, batteries and other items.
But no change seems as endearing as "Diana the Digester," the nickname given to the $38,000 kitchen machine that tumbles 100 pounds of organic waste per hour with wood chips and enzymes to convert the food into water that is flushed down the drain.
Courtesy of the Sun Sentinel
