The call to commit to sustainable building and renewable energy sources has been prevalent for decades. In recent years, much sought-after progress is starting to breakthrough. As clean energy sources become more reliable, abundant, and more affordable, the call for change has given way to action. Locally and nationwide, private businesses, energy providers, municipalities, and state governments have all made pledges and taken meaningful steps to protect the environment and access more resilient local energy sources.

Here in Tampa Bay, it has been the municipalities that have led the charge in sustainability and resiliency. In 2016, the City of St. Petersburg became the first city in Florida to sign on to the Sierra Club’s Ready For 100 Campaign. Since then, the City of Largo, the City of Dunedin, and the City of Safety Harbor have also committed. They have joined 173 cities and eight states in committing to 100% clean energy within a specific year.

The phrase clean energy conjures an image of rooftop solar panels and sprawling wind farms. While energy generation is a part of sustainability, another core part is energy reduction. New and preexisting buildings can drastically reduce energy use in various ways, including new energy-efficient lighting systems and appliances, improved insulation, and efficient energy recovery HVAC systems. Architectural design that can reduce a building’s carbon footprint (greenhouse gas emissions) include expanded green space, buildings that can capture and use natural light efficiently, reflective colors that dissipate heat, and design that reduces exposed asphalt.

To meet their commitment to clean energy, the City of Largo, working with ASD|SKY and Biltmore Construction, is moving forward with design and construction of their new sustainable City Hall. Several environmentally friendly features are under consideration to maximize environmental sustainability and long-term energy savings including a rooftop solar array, geothermal cooling system, daylight harvesting sensors to maximize daylight usage, rainwater harvesting for irrigation and water features, and sustainable materials sourced close to the site.

Ambitious projects that champion sustainable communities like the new Largo City Hall are becoming more frequent. Many states and municipalities are setting more ambitious timelines to reach 100% renewable energy as formally daunting goals look more achievable. As of today, according to the Sierra Club, many cities, including Aspen, Colorado, Burlington, Vermont, Georgetown, Texas, and Greensburg, Kansas, have already reached the goal of using 100% sustainable energy sources, and many more are well on the way. As the paths to 100% clean energy continue to become more accessible, we can expect Florida cities to join their ranks in the coming years.

The City of Clearwater has awarded Biltmore Construction a continuing services contract for a four-year term. We are honored to continue working with the City on these important projects. We have been fortunate to deliver numerous successful projects with the City over the past 50 years including Clearwater’s Centennial Monument, Fire Station 50, Fire Rescue Public Safety Headquarters & Fire Station 45, Pier 60 Repairs, and many others. We look forward to assisting the City of Clearwater with their growth initiatives for many years to come.

With the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicting this year’s hurricane season to be extremely active, we are working on ensuring we can rapidly secure our active construction sites during a hurricane event. NOAA is forecasting one of the most active hurricane season in its 22-year history, with between 19-25 named storms. We know from our years of local experience that a hurricane can move and grow in a moment’s notice and we prepare with the assumption any major storm could be a direct hit. We’re also experts at rapidly mobilizing staff directly after a hurricane to provide emergency repairs. For example, after Hurricane Irma hit we quickly mobilized to perform emergency roof repairs for  dozens of correctional facilities across 10 sites simultaneously.

The City of Largo’s new Wastewater Operations Building has reached the important milestone having successfully been topped out. Currently the project is well over a month ahead of schedule. Our work with the City of Largo remains uninterrupted.

The new 8-million-dollar stand-alone building will house administration offices and laboratory facilities for the City of Largo Environmental Services. The three-story cast-in-place concrete and masonry building is elevated and hardened to be able to resist category-5 level storms, a first for the city.

The onsite team has recently just completed the thermoplastic polyolefin membrane roof.  The team also finished the concrete work on third floor, the second floor is expected to be finished within the next week.

Our team is on track to exceed the project goals and deliver another successful project for the City of Largo.

The Zota Beach Resort has earned a spot in Condé Nast Traveler Top 30 Resort in Florida. Biltmore Construction wishes to congratulate Ocean Properties and The Zota Beach Resort for winning this prestigious award. We wish you continued success!

Biltmore Construction completed this beautiful luxury oceanfront hotel in 2017 which involved constructing a new, six-story tower and lobby connecting to an existing five-story tower including all amenities: pool, restaurant, banquet and meeting rooms, administration/staff offices, luxury spa and an elaborate, multi-tiered, outdoor waterfall feature.

Biltmore Construction has been serving the hospitality and resort industry since 1954. We are fortunate to have completed many successful projects such as the Clearwater Beach Hotel, Sheraton Sand Key Resort, Loch Ness Recreation Complex at InnisBrook Resort, the Sea Stone Resort and Suites and the Sirata Beach Hotel. We enjoy being a construction partner that our hospitality facility owners can depend on and look forward to building more award winning facilities in the near future.

 

To see more of our commercial real estate work please visit our website at https://biltmoreconstruction.com/commercial/

 

Beginning March 16^th staff at Biltmore Construction will begin working remotely for the duration of the COVID-19 health risk. We are doing this to ensure the safety of our clients, employees and subconsultants by reducing the chance of spreading the virus.

Our proactive strategy prevents interruptions to day-to-day operations and we expect business to continue as normal.

We are proud of our long successful relationship with the Florida Department of Health and applaud them for the work they are doing during this difficult time. Biltmore has converted lab facilities during various health scares and stands ready to assist during COVID-19. Our quick response is proven during a crisis. For example, during Hurricane Irma, the Department of Corrections deployed us within 24 hours to repair 70 roofs in a very short period of time.

On March 31^st Plantation Key School will be having their official ribbon cutting event. Biltmore has been proud to serve as the construction management firm for this unique school. We are excited to see what the future holds for this campus and its students.

Plantation Key School is a State-of-the-Art school providing a 21^st century learning environment for the local community. This specialized facility is a two-story, cast-in-place structure designed to withstand Category-5 storms. The new school houses many new and unique features such as a marine-science lab, waterside amphitheater, flexible learning spaces and a “Science-On-a-Sphere” lab which uses a global display system to project real time information from all over the globe.

Our work also included site redevelopment. The outdoor ball fields, basketball and tennis courts, physical education and gymnasium structure as well as three new playgrounds and amphitheater were all phased on an occupied campus while the new school was built and the existing school was demolished.