In a recent survey of local government green building laws across 100 jurisdictions, overwhelmingly the most often granted incentive for a LEED certified building was an abatement of real property taxes.… Continue Reading
With respect to environmental product declarations.. on balance, it appears that LEED v4 has the bleeding edge materials disclosure 'stuff' just about right. And possibly of greatest import, many believe building product and material disclosure and optimization will, in short order, be a bigger business than LEED itself.… Continue Reading
An environmental product declaration (EPD) is a method of quantifying the environmental impacts of a product. It is analogous to the nutritional label on a box of cereal. All of this is new, in particular in the U.S. where EPDs are soon to be crucial in green building because LEED v4 and Green Globes both recognize EPDs.… Continue Reading
With nearly 128 million residential housing units existed in the U.S., if green building is going to mitigate the negative impacts that human activity has on the planet, green building must include houses. And there are opportunities for you to participate in the development of the 2015 version of the ICC 700 National Green Building Standard.… Continue Reading
Owners of building that generate onsite renewable energy, with solar panels or otherwise, and sell the renewable energy credits (RECs) should not claim the building "uses renewable energy." The uncertainty of the solar panel market and the fast changing industry that is in large measure supported by RECs, constantly raises questions about what marketing claims a building owner can make about renewable energy installations on their property.… Continue Reading
There are few, if any laws in most jurisdictions about solar renewable energy credits (SRECs), including the sale of SRECs by third party marketers. There is no national registry of RECs issued. This law firm has given opinions on RECs transactions that RECs are properly accounted for and no double counting has taken place, but it is the Wild West out there.… Continue Reading