[Today we are highlighting the what is, in my opinion, the most important green building legal story of 2009. With the launch of LEED v. 3.0, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) announced it would revoke certification of projects that failed to meet minimum requirements. The possibility of LEED de-certification creates new liability issues … Continue Reading
2009 was my first full year blogging at Green Building Law Update. It was a difficult year for the construction industry, but the green building movement continued to grow. I recently went back and reviewed the Green Building Law Update stories from 2009. Below are some of my favorite quotes from my favorite posts. If … Continue Reading
Geothermal heat pumps continue to gain popularity as an alternative energy source. This energy technology doesn’t come without uncertainties though. In fact, as ENR recently described it, there are significant problems with the geothermal industry: “[M]any of these systems are not performing as touted, especially cleverly hyped geothermal heating systems that are plagued with inflated … Continue Reading
Well, that did not last long. Two weeks ago, we wrote about Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to require retrofits of existing buildings. After vehement opposition, Mayor Bloomberg has backed off of his plans to require retrofits: "The plan, which the owners said was too costly, called for all buildings of 50,000 square feet or more … Continue Reading
It’s always amazing to me the unexpected consequences that result from apparently benign activities. As new green building and energy innovations and materials are incorporated into projects, there is always the possibility of an unexpected consequence. Take for instance a geothermal energy project in California. Geothermal projects involve mile-or-more-deep wells drilled into underground reservoirs to tap … Continue Reading
On December 7, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a finding that greenhouse gas emissions pose a danger to human health and environment. The finding sets the stage to allow the EPA to regulate these emissions. What impact will this endangerment finding have on the green building industry? In my view, the endangerment finding … Continue Reading
We previously reviewed a green building contract that can be used to manage the architect-owner relationship. But what about contractors? As a member of the AGC ConsensusDOCS committee, I had the pleasure of collaborating on the ConsensusDOCS 310 Green Building Addendum, which was recently released: On Nov. 10, ConsensusDOCS released the construction industry’s first and … Continue Reading
In order to manage risk associated with a design and construction project, it is important to draft an appropriate contract. There are a number of standard contracts available for the construction industry. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) publishes the AIA construction contracts to manage the architect-owner relationship. The Association of General Contractors (AGC) has … Continue Reading
The future of green building regulations usually starts in big cities. Cities like San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and New York City were some of the first to incorporate green building certification into regulations and building codes. The next frontier in green building regulations will be energy performance and New York City seems to be at … Continue Reading
