Existing Building
        Operations & Maintenance

Snapshots of the projects noted below are in the following format:

  • Project / Location
  • Rating System / Award Level / 
    Date Certified
  • Spinnaker Services -- e.g., Consulting, Commissioning, Energy Modeling
  • Architect / Owner / Contractor
  • Square Footage

University of Miami Business School, Miami, FL 
LEED v4.1 OM / Gold / August 2019
Spinnaker Services: Consulting
University of Miami
163,885 sf

The Miami Business School, located on the University of Miami Coral Cables campus, achieved LEED Gold Certification for Existing Building Operations & Maintenance (EBOM). The project was the first LEED v4.1 OM higher-education building in the State of Florida. The Spinnaker Group provided LEED Consulting, Commissioning and Energy Modeling. 

The challenging project encompassed a structure that had been expanded on several times since its original 1982 opening date. Sustainable design accomplishments included:

  • The building is 30% more energy efficient than the national average of university college buildings.
  • A high focus on student and staff ergonomics and comfort with state-of-the art furniture, indoor foliage, and beautiful views to the outside in nearly every occupied space.
  • Staff and student experience are matched with efficiency with more than 90% LED lighting, in-room air quality sensors, audio/visual and tele-presence technology, and automatic window shading.
  • One of the most visited and high-transient buildings on campus made the focus on waste reduction efforts a priority -- with notable success: an average of 60% of the waste generated is sent to recycling, recovery or reuse. Students, staff and faculty participated in a waste audit that resulted in discovering the 60% diversion rate, which offered a great reward as well as an opportunity for further education and improvement.
  • This project achieved an unprecedented turnaround compared to most LEED for Existing Building projects throughout the country, from an average of 1.5 years to 6 months. Credit for this noteworthy achievement largely goes to the hard work and collaboration of the project team, university staff, and contractors.
  • The University of Miami Sustainability and Energy Teams set the Business School building on a course to continually track and improve its performance. By being transparent and entering building performance data into the Arc Global platform, the continuous efforts to improve the facility will aid in setting the bar for performance standards of buildings of its kind everywhere.
  • The LEED for Existing Building O+M certification process brought together various on-campus departments including Operations, Maintenance, Construction, Catering, Engineering, Purchasing, Janitorial, Academic, and Administration, effectively binding them into achieving the operational goals and standards to excel with sustainable operations.

Regarding this project's noteworthy "first" achievement, Mahesh Ramanujam, President and CEO of USGBC, noted: "Achieving LEED certification is more than implementing sustainable practices. It represents a commitment to making the world a better place and influencing others to do better,” The University of Miami is demonstrating tremendous leadership through the LEED Gold certification of its business school, and the Spinnaker Group continues to set the sustainability bar with each new LEED project it supports."

To learn more about this project, including other noteworthy environmental-footprint accomplishments, visit here.

Sabadell Financial Center / Miami, FL  
LEED EBOM / Gold / 3/26/2014
Spinnaker Services: Consulting
540,000 sf

The Spinnaker Group provided LEED Consulting for this striking 540,000 sf, 31 floor Class A office building. Sabadell Financial Center was an existing building turned LEED EBOM venue located in Miami in South Florida’s major financial district, the Brickell Financial Center. The project achieved LEED for Existing Buildings, Operations & Maintenance (EBOM) Gold certification in 2014. The building, which today is home to investment banks, law firms, technology companies, entrepreneurs and more, consists of more than 95% office space, while the ground floor is dedicated to retail. Designed to enhance the workplace, the owner wanted to promote a healthy work environment, bolster tenant satisfaction, and build a strong sustainable product. The intent of LEED EBOM is to certify the operations and maintenance of a building and create a plan for ensuring high-performance over time. The rating system captures both a building’s physical systems (equipment, design, land use, etc.) and the manner in which the building is occupied and operated by its managers (waste management, temperature monitoring, commuting programs, etc.).