The race to build Miami's first green office building is heating up, although no one is quite sure how green or who will be first.

Green projects are getting the greenlight in Miami but there is a race to get away from the light first.

As green fever takes hold, developers are vying for the coveted boast of building Miami's first green building.

The first complication in this matter is that no body has the monopoly on designating a building as green - the Florida Green Building Coalition is just one example - although most developers are looking to the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council for guidance.

The council provides a leadership in energy design (LEED) rating that allows developers to clock up points depending on the amount of environmental elements they incorporate into construction.

The process is lengthy. Certification at one of four levels is not finalized until a building is completed and here lies the rub: Who will win the race to build the first green project in Miami?

Among the contenders is the Brickell Financial Centre at 680 Brickell Ave. The Foram Group, based across the street at 777, claims its two-phase, 1 million-square-foot complex will be the first green building in Miami as it obtained pre-certification for a project that breaks ground April 19. It applied and received approval in August under the green building council's pilot for core and shell construction.

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