High-rise development is not usually associated with eco-friendliness, but the University’s Clinical Research Building has broken new ground in a Miami push for energy-saving, healthful-living communities.

“You can see that this is a big facility, the largest ever built by the University of Miami,” President Donna E. Shalala says of the 15-story, 350,000-square-foot structure that opens in January. “But its environmental footprint is much smaller than other buildings of this size.”

The $90 million Clinical Research Building at the Miller School of Medicine—home to important clinical trials and medical research designed to speed discoveries from the lab to the bedside— employs numerous “green” technologies. These include: double-paned, argon-filled glass windows that stay cool in the South Florida heat; a white roof that reflects sunlight; low-energy lighting fixtures that turn themselves off when no one’s inside; a raised floor system for better indoor air quality and energy efficiency; internal materials made from recycled and recyclable products; and a chilled water loop system for cooling. There are multiple building projects planned for the medical campus that will embrace similar environmentally friendly features.

“When we try to recruit champions of medicine—leading physicians and scientists from around the world—having these types of facilities will be a tremendous attraction,” says Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., senior vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Miller School of Medicine.

The Clinical Research Building, which includes a 1,400-car garage and a 60,000-square-foot wellness center, is part of the Miami Civic Center area, which has recently been renamed the Miami Health District. Two years ago the City of Miami and the University of Miami forged the Miami Partnership, an effort to revitalize the area and bring new housing, offices, restaurants, and retail shops to the district.

The proposed rebirth is more than concrete. Under Miami Mayor Manny Diaz’s “Green Initiative,” a special Miami Green Commission will develop strategies to restore and expand the city’s tree canopy, promote “green” construction, clean up waterways, develop greenways, retrofit existing city buildings with “green” fixtures, and add hundreds of hybrid vehicles to the city’s fleet.