A reflection on South Florida’s climate resilience efforts and how local innovations connect to global movements reshaping construction, materials, and sustainable infrastructure.
Climate resilience is becoming a defining issue for communities around the world, and nowhere is this more evident than in South Florida. After attending a Miami Herald panel on Climate Resilient South Florida, it became clear that the challenges we face locally resonate globally—from innovative building materials to climate-smart urban design. The blog below shares those insights and places them within the broader international shift toward sustainable infrastructure.
I recently attended a panel discussion on Climate Resilient South Florida hosted by the Miami Herald, our local news source that continues to spotlight sustainability and the environmental challenges shaping our region.
The panel consisted of four speakers representing key sectors: a real estate agent, a representative from the Miami Beach government, a developer, and the managing director from Renco, a company developing an innovative concrete-free building system using modular composite blocks.
Of particular interest was Renco’s approach to sustainable construction. Their system replaces traditional concrete with interlocking blocks made from a proprietary composite material that is lighter, cleaner, and more resilient. That not only helps reduce the carbon footprint associated with cement production, but also enables faster, more resource-efficient construction. Their ongoing developments in Palm Beach County are designed to satisfy strict building standards while using fewer materials and generating less waste.
During the discussion, the panelists agreed that resilience must be integral to every project. They emphasized that adapting to climate change demands more than technology. It also calls for political will, community engagement, and long-term vision that prioritizes sustainable outcomes over short-term convenience. Renco’s journey is illustrative: it took over ten years to navigate approvals and regulatory challenges. Their persistence shows what innovation often requires, not just engineering, but perseverance in the face of institutional inertia.
At J & J Green Paper (JJGP), that lesson is familiar. As we developed JANUS®, our plant-based coating intended to replace plastics in paper packaging, we encountered our own institutional hurdles. Like Renco, our goal is to demonstrate that sustainable innovation can meet market demands without compromising environmental integrity. Both endeavors reflect a broader shift: redefining the very materials that underpin modern infrastructure and product systems.
These ideas discussed in South Florida echo developments worldwide. In Stockholm, the Stockholm Wood City project in Sickla is already underway. Spanning 250,000 square meters, it is the world’s largest urban development built primarily from wood. It includes plans for 7,000 office spaces and 2,000 homes, combining residential, commercial, retail, and green infrastructure in one connected district. Construction began in 2024, with the first buildings expected to be completed by the end of 2025. The project also features rooftop solar panels, underground energy storage for heating and cooling, and a layout that shortens commute distances; all designed to lower emissions and improve quality of life.
At the same time, innovators are rethinking the materials that make up the foundation of construction. One example is LC3, a new kind of cement that blends clay and limestone to reduce the emissions associated with traditional concrete. This approach can cut carbon output by as much as 30 to 40 percent, making it a promising alternative for building stronger and cleaner infrastructure around the world.
While the conversation may have started in South Florida, its relevance is truly global. Whether you live near a coastline, in arid deserts, tropical forest zones, or temperate plains, the pressures are similar: rising temperatures, resource constraints, extreme weather, and the need for resilient infrastructure. Real climate resilience isn’t a local problem, it’s a shared global responsibility.
Renco and JANUS represent examples of how innovation, persistence, and collaboration can reshape our built environment. By reimagining how we build and produce, we are not just responding to climate change, we are helping to define a more sustainable and resilient future for communities everywhere.
This blog draws on insights from Miami Herald’s article This South Florida company builds homes without concrete, AL.se’s article Sickla/Stockholm Wood City, and LC3-TRC Africa’s article About LC3, which discuss concrete-free building systems, the Stockholm Wood City development, and the LC3 low-carbon cement alternative.