A green group unveils its list of Florida’s top 15 builders of sustainable homes; two are in Central Florida.

Florida Green Building Coalition unveiled on Tuesday a statewide list of its top 15 builders of sustainable homes.

“These builders are being recognized for their conscientious green building efforts in creating healthier and safer homes and a more sustainable Florida,” said Suzanne Cook, council executive director.

Rankings of the 15 will be announced at the council’s GreenTrends Conference Nov. 12 and 13 in Orlando, which will mark the organization’s 15th anniversary.

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U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system for environmentally friendly construction and design, the Florida Green Building Coalition has established a scoring system that ranks new homes and buildings as bronze, silver, gold or, at the highest, platinum.

Commercial construction has long been involved in green building. Gaining momentum are multifamily projects.

One of the 15 is ContraVest Development Partners of Altamonte Springs.

President Mark Ogier said his company followed the bronzecertification standard when it built a $43 million complex of 330 apartments in St. Petersburg. “It’s been our conclusion that there is a marketing advantage to it, and if you are doing it and your competition isn’t you can certainly sell that to your prospective residents,” Ogier said.

Ogier, past president of Florida Apartment Association and Apartment Association of Greater Orlando, said reasons for going green with multifamily housing vary from region to region, but typically “you see it more in urban, infill environments.”

The state coalition tailors its certifications according to Florida climate and other factors specific to the state. The group has certified more than 10,500 homes and the top 15 builders were selected according to their number of certifications.

The other 14 are: Alantic Housing Partners of Winter Park; FLF Holdings of Jupiter; Florida Home Partnership of Ruskin; K. Hovnanian Homes and William Ryan Homes of Tampa; Kimball Hill Homes of Bradenton; Minto Communities of Coconut Creek; Neal Communities, Lee Wetherington Homes and Taylor Morrison Homes of Sarasota; Premier Construction & Development of Tallahassee; Southern Crafted Homes of Land O’ Lakes; WCI Communities of Bonita Springs; and ZOM Development of Ft. Lauderdale.

kspear@tribune.com