GREEN BUILDING HAS TAKEN OFF IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD: NEW YORK, CALIFORNIA, EUROPE. BUT THERE ARE SIGNS THAT SOUTH FLORIDA IS FINALLY STARTING TO CATCH ON.

Loretta Cockrum says it's not a noble effort, just business. In April the developer plans to break ground on the largest green office tower in Florida. Called Brickell Financial Centre, the building is to rise 40 floors, comprise 601,000 square feet and be LEED-certified.

To date, not a single building in South Florida has won LEED certification, a designation granted by the U.S. Green Building Council. But Cockrum says they aren't going green to win plaudits or "do good," she says simply it is the future of building. "We don't build and then sell; we will keep this building," says Cockrum, chairman and CEO of Miami-based Foram Group. "So we need to build now for what the new buildings will be in ten years."

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