Carolyn Mitchell, a landscape architect with the architecture and design firm Zyscovich in Miami, started the South Florida chapter of the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council three years ago.

''I've been blown away by the interest, even within the last six months,'' Mitchell said. ``There are about 30 [proposed buildings] in the pipeline, up from zero six months ago.''

The council has devised standards that qualify a commercial building to be green. Just this year, the Council has developed home and neighborhood standards, and certification is gaining in popularity. The Council calls its certification program LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Points are given for various mix-and-match elements that can be included in five categories: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

It costs $675 to have a building certified through the LEED program, but various discounts are available. For information: www.usbc.org

A second certification system within the state was established in 2001 by the Florida Green Building Coalition called FGBC certification.

Mike Houston, an Orlando architect heading the coalition, says that nonprofit group, begun in 2000, has a green checklist for homes that includes site orientation, low water use and energy conservation, plus needs specific to Florida: impact-resistant glazing on all windows; noncombustible materials on exteriors in case of wildfires and designs to inhibit termites.

An application fee for FGBC certification begins at $100, and is reduced if builders are members of the Florida Home Builders Association, the Florida Green Builders Coalition or if a number of homes are being built. To hire a certifying agent may cost $400 to $1,000.

Nearly 1,500 homes certified by the coalition are in Southwest and Central Florida, Houston said, where large developments still are going up. Most of the southeastern coast is already developed, and Houston predicts retrofitting green will be a big movement within 10 years.

For more information, go to www.floridagreenbuilding.org

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