Citigroup CenterThe Citigroup Center is the first commercial building in the USA that receives Leed V5 certification.
As one of the largest commercial buildings on the Miami market, the Citigroup center plays an important role in the city's iconic skyline.
In December 2024, the Citigroup Center strengthened its reputation as Premier Class A. Office Tower when the 42-year property was the first existing office building in the USA that reached Leed V5 certification.
“I support the supervision of Miami for the CP Group, and this was the only (office building in the region) that did not have LEED,” says Ana Castro, General Manager of the CP Group, who knew that the lack of the LEED name could put the building in competition for the application for tenants.
When a new property, a joint venture between Monarch Capital, CP Group and Turmaline, took over the building in 2021, they tried to achieve the name. Leed V5 is the latest version of the building standard of the US Green Building Council, which is supposed to create stronger and healthier buildings.
“This was a great performance, especially for the size of this building,” says Castro of the 34-story tower of 822,000 square meters. “Our property is obliged to create an environment oriented in the hospitality industry that requires a healthy and sustainable workplace.”
Pilot project
Although built over 40 years ago, according to a USGBC press release on Leed V5, it tried to re-position the office tower as a “lifestyle-driven office tower with premium equipment and unsurpassed tenant experience”.
The building was selected to involve the Leed V5 O + M (Operations + Maintenance) rating system as a beta test in 2023, with the Leed Silver certification in 2024 in April 2025.
Leed V5, as described on the USGBC website, focuses on three main areas of activity for buildings:
- Decarbonization by aligning the reduction in the operational, embodied refrigerant and transport emissions;
- Quality of life for the construction of inmates by producing both environmentally friendly and environmentally friendly spaces; And
- Ecological preservation and restoration of ecosystems.
In addition to water views, the Citigroup Center is connected to the Intercontinental Miami Hotel. The property investment of the building in its room includes in the café in the open-air lobby and an inner/outdoor restaurant based on the ground floor on the ground floor on the ground floor on the ground floor and in a restaurant operated in Vancouver on the ground floor.
Facilities such as these were advantages in the context of the Leed V5 credits, which were previously not recognized as part of the previous Leed rating systems.
“The previous version of Leed V5 was much strictly performance -based and less implemented a combination of performance and strategy,” says Barry Abramson, director at Servidyne, the engineering company that consulted with the project. “That was one of the challenges for the Citigroup Center as part of the previous version -as a building on a way to a higher performance, it was not already a top performer across the board and could not even start the Leed Certification process.”
Implement change
When the owner team had its sights on the establishment of upgrades in order to improve the efficiency and sustainability performance as a whole, they dealt with the possibilities of reducing energy and water consumption through HLK, lighting and sanitary system upgrades.
In a multi-year phase, the older HLK systems of the building are replaced by new highly efficient devices that consume 30 percent less energy, and LED lighting residues and lighting controls reduce lighting performance by 60 percent compared to the replaced fluorescent lighting to 70 percent. For water consumption, improved toilets now have a low river and low flush fittings that reduce water consumption by 60 percent to 80 percent compared to older installation adjustments.
In the process, however, broader environmental, social and governance factors (ESG) were also taken into account, all of which contribute to the Leed V5 certification. These practices included aspects such as:
- Perform the workers' security policies and carry out respondents
- Development of a long-term decarbonization plan that contains a roadmap to reduce the CO2 footprint of the building
- Adaptation to changes in behavior such as the reduction of water consumption and the waste of inmates, promoting green cleaning protocols and supporting healthier inner environments
- Treating resilience through emergency preparation plans.
“One of the credits in Leed V5 that the building reached was to prepare a plan that is prepared for forest fire incidents,” says Abramson. “In Miami you would think that there should be no concerns about forest fires, but nowhere before the smoke hike is now certain that the specified methods and materials on site, such as.
An area in which the score of the Citigroup Center shone was in sustainable transport and achieved a perfect 100-for-100 number of points. The building is located next to the Miami Metromover station and is only a few minutes' walk from the Miamicentral Brightline station. Construction companies are also encouraged to use the accessibility of the city center of the city and their cycling routes for work.
“We have a car in the central business district without a fee for users who circulate in the business district,” says Castro. “The Metromover is also free. We have many people who commute from the north and south so that they can take the train to the government station and then a train to different locations in the city center of Miami.”
A tenant survey showed that employees use the commuter options, which helps the Leed score of the Citigroup Center.
“The location of the Citigroup Center offers tenants excellent alternative pendulum options, but that is often not enough to change the habits,” says Jaiko Celka, director of sustainability for service and project managers for the Leed V5 certification efforts. “Based on the poll results, almost 50 percent of the respondents used some form of sustainable transport, regardless of whether it is public transport, carpools, cycling or walking. This is a fairly large performance for every building because most people go to work themselves. The promotion of sustainable pendulum practices was an important part of the project.”
Certification challenges
One of the prerequisites in Leed V5 is to document how much outdoor air enters the building, which was a challenge in the Citigroup Center with almost 80 separate breeds in the entire building. Although this required considerable efforts, it was worthwhile because it enabled the adjustments on different soils to optimize the delivery of the outside air in order to ensure proper ventilation without waste energy.
A tenant satisfaction survey recorded an approval rating of 97 percent for the quality of the interior.
Another challenge was due to the Electric Messing Configuration in the Citigroup Center. Many tenants had their own direct supply accounts that were unusual for the Miami Office Market. The electrical supply company was currently starting to offer customers assembled data to customers that were necessary for the tracking.
“As soon as we arrived the right people, they were very helpful to continuously provide this data,” says Abramson. “You have still worked out considerable kinks in the automated process.”
While the building has reached its Leed V5 certification goal, the work continues so that the facility team continues to achieve more.
The process should never be an immediate facelifting of 822,000 square meters of large unspeakable!
“This recognition is not the finish line,” says Castro. “It is a challenge and an invitation to continue to advance and demonstrate that sustainable practices are not a burden, but an opportunity. An opportunity to strengthen communities to improve life.”
Dave Lubach is the Executive Editor of Facility Market. He has more than 10 years of experience in writing fazility management and maintenance problems.
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