I am publishing a series of posts on the Destiny USA Debacle — the federally sponsored Green Bonds project that has failed to incorporate promised green building features. To read all of the posts, you can select the Destiny USA tag to review all of the published posts on this topic. Or check back later … Continue Reading
I am publishing a series of posts on the Destiny USA Debacle — the federally-sponsored Green Bonds project that has failed to incorporate promised green building features. To read all of the posts at once, you can select the Destiny USA tag. In this post, I planned to describe the proposed Destiny USA project … Continue Reading
I have been working tirelessly to understand the intricacies of the Destiny USA dispute. It is quite a mind-bender, which I hope to illuminate for you in the coming days. But I am sure of one thing: This is easily the most important green building policy story to date. The dispute centers around a … Continue Reading
Up until yesterday, the biggest green building dispute I had come across was Shaw Development v. Southern Builders. That case involved $635,000 in damages because a project did not obtain the LEED certification necessary to qualify for state tax credits. That is chump change compared to the Destiny USA green building dispute that is … Continue Reading
I have been amazed at the immediate interest generated by the International Green Construction Code (IGCC). Despite the fact that the IGCC is still in its infancy, there are a number of states and municipalities closely studying it for adoption. We have already discussed Rhode Island’s adoption of IGCC for public buildings. More significantly, … Continue Reading
You remember the $100 million dollar lawsuit against the US Green Building Council, right? It’s back in the spotlight, and it has taken a new form through an amended complaint filed by multiple Plaintiffs. No longer is the Plaintiff asking for $100 million. No longer is the Plaintiff asserting a class action lawsuit that … Continue Reading
Every year, as the calendar turns over, a host of new regulations take effect. In California, January 1, 2011 marked the introduction of CALGreen, the California green building code. The California government has produced a guide to CalGreen, which I found informative: “The 2010 California Green Building Standards Code is a code with mandatory requirements … Continue Reading
I continue to ponder the importance of the release of the International Green Construction Code public version 2.0 (IGCC). I recently asked Bob Kobet, LEED Faculty member, to provide his thoughts on IGCC. It’s good to see that I am not the only one who thinks the new code is a big step for green building. … Continue Reading
Back in October 2010, Doug Reiser and I co-presented on the topic of substituting LEED for traditional building codes. As we were finishing our presentation, I reiterated our primary theme that LEED standards should not be used as a building code. One of the audience members raised her hand and asked why weren’t we discussing … Continue Reading