University of Miami residential community honored with Dream Green Reality Award

CORAL GABLES, FL (September 18, 2009)--Smathers Four Fillies Farm, a residential community of 30 single-family homes built for the University of Miami faculty and located in the Village of Pinecrest, south of the University of Miami campus has taken the top prize of a regional award that recognizes sustainable development, the Urban Land Institute's (ULI) Woolbright Dream Green Reality Award.

Awarded by the institute's Southeast Florida/Caribbean district, the honor recognizes projects that have a minimal environmental impact and improve the comfort and health of residents through strategies such as low-impact and regenerative site development, energy and water conservation, use of sustainable or renewable materials, and improved indoor air quality.

"It was a great honor just to have Four Fillies Farm considered for this prestigious award," says Patrick E. Burbank, assistant vice president of development for Miami Asset Management Company (MAMCO), the wholly owned UM affiliate that developed the community. "Winning the award is a culmination of the hard work and passion so many talented people put into this project and an acknowledgement that environmentally conscious development is an attainable reality."

Burbank, along with MAMCO's president, Michael Katz, accepted the award August 27 at the ULI Southeast Florida/Caribbean's 2009 Vision Awards Dinner, held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Florida.

Green building materials used in the construction of Four Fillies Farm have helped the homes exceed Florida Energy Efficiency Code standards by 20 to 30 percent. Among the homes' many eco-friendly features: walls coated with paint containing low levels of volatile organic compounds; Energy Star appliances that help slash utility bills; dual-flush toilets that reduce water usage; landscaping designed with native and drought-tolerant plant life, which reduces water demand; and healthy insulation and enhanced air filtration.

The new residential development is consistent with the University of Miami "Green U" initiative to become more sustainable through the procurement of environmentally responsible products and environmentally sound maintenance and operations procedures for existing and new buildings.

The neighborhood is situated on 11 acres in the center of the 32-acre Smathers Four Fillies Farm estate, which was donated to UM 16 years ago by philanthropist and longtime trustee Frank Smathers Jr., who used the land for a fruit farm and home for his Arabian horses.

The remaining 21 acres of the estate have been left intact and are being maintained and protected by Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.

Source: University of Miami