Green Building Law Update

Environmental Law and Sustainability for Business

Archives: IgCC

First State to Authorize Use of the 2021 IgCC

Maryland is on the cusp of being the first state in the country to authorize use of the new 2021 edition of the International Green Construction Code … Continue Reading

45L Energy Efficient Home Tax Credit Extended for 2021 by Covid Relief Bill

By Stuart Kaplow on January 10, 2021 Posted in Energy, Federal, Green Building, Green Globes, IgCC, LEED

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, H.R. 133, signed into law by President Trump on December 27th, extended the 45L energy efficient home $2,000 tax credit, which had been scheduled to expire last year, to cover qualified new energy efficient homes sold or leased through 2021. And yes, regular readers of this blog will notice that … Continue Reading

EPA Releases Draft National Recycling Strategy

By Stuart Kaplow on November 29, 2020 Posted in Federal, IgCC, LEED, recycling

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a draft National Recycling Strategy and is seeking public comment through December 4, 2020, with the goal of finalizing it in early 2021. Maybe not since Plato wrote about the value of reusing waste in the fourth century BC has recycling faced the challenges that we are seeing right now. … Continue Reading

2018 IgCC to be Adopted in Baltimore City

By Stuart Kaplow on October 18, 2020 Posted in City, Green Building, Green Globes, IgCC

Last Monday evening an ordinance was introduced in the Baltimore City Council to adopt the 2018 International Green Construction Code. In the realm of green building this is a big deal. In the more than 4,400 code adopting jurisdictions across the country only the town of Gaithersburg, Maryland has adopted the 2018 IgCC. It is … Continue Reading

2018 IgCC Poised to be Adopted for the First Time

By Stuart Kaplow on August 9, 2020 Posted in Green Building, IgCC, LEED, Local Government

Montgomery County, Maryland is on the cusp of being the first to adopt the 2018 International Green Construction Code. The proposed Executive Regulation 12-20 appeared in the Montgomery County Register on August 1. A public hearing will be held on proposed regulation on September 3. And written comments may be submitted until October 5. Montgomery … Continue Reading

The New and Improved 2020 ICC 700 National Green Building Standard

By Stuart Kaplow on May 10, 2020 Posted in Green Building, Green Globes, IgCC, LEED

The 2020 version of the ICC 700 National Green Building Standard (NGBS) is now available for free download and public use. You care about this because the NGBS is the most used green building standard in the United States. As of April 1, 2020, more than 216,000 residential dwellings have been certified to the NGBS … Continue Reading

2018 IgCC is Not in Use Anywhere. A Detailed Analysis of Why?

By Stuart Kaplow on December 1, 2019 Posted in Green Globes, IgCC, LEED, Local Government

The 2018 International Green Construction Code was released on November 8, 2018 but more than a year later, it has not been adopted anywhere. The 203 page document available from the ICC for sale to the public, .. click here for a free read only copy of the 2018 IgCC, is an entirely new standard … Continue Reading

Maryland Reverting to Certifiable In Lieu of Certified Green Building

By Stuart Kaplow on June 9, 2019 Posted in Green Building, Green Globes, IgCC, LEED

In response to an act of the Maryland legislature in 2018, the state is proposing a watershed revamp of its current mandatory green building requirements for new public school buildings. The public is being invited to comment on the proposal. Existing State Finance and Procurement Section 4-809(f) was amended adding new section (6), providing in … Continue Reading

2018 IgCC – A Fast Paced Deep Dive

By Stuart Kaplow on November 25, 2018 Posted in Green Building, IgCC

The 2018 International Green Construction Code was released on November 8, 2018 by the U.S. Green Building Council, International Code Council, ASHRAE and the Illuminating Engineering Society. Make no mistake, the 203 page document unveiled by the coterie of trade group authors and available from the ICC for sale to the public (.. click here … Continue Reading

Greenbuild Clearly Showed the State of LEED is Strong

By Stuart Kaplow on November 18, 2018 Posted in IgCC, LEED

The Lorax Partnerships team at Greenbuild

This post is a compilation of the highlights from the just completed Greenbuild International Conference and Expo that took place last week in Chicago. Possibly more accurately stated, this is a report on the state of the LEED green building rating system. The state of LEED is strong. It is a given that each year … Continue Reading

Local Laws Stop the Setting Sun on Solar Installations

By Stuart Kaplow on April 8, 2018 Posted in Energy, IgCC, Local Government, Solar Panel

Two bills pending in the Montgomery County Council aim to increase the use of renewable energy in the suburban Maryland County. At a time when the number of households installing solar panels on their roofs declined last year, the first annual decline since 2000, and a decline by more than 15% when compared with the … Continue Reading

50 Shades of Green in Montgomery County

By Stuart Kaplow on October 1, 2017 Posted in Codes and Regulations, IgCC, LEED

Green building will remain mandatory for new construction in Montgomery County, Maryland and effective December 1, 2017, the International Green Construction Code 2012 will be a permitted alternative. Montgomery County was among the first local jurisdictions in the country, in 2008, to adopt a mandatory green building law for private building, requiring most new construction … Continue Reading

The Second Best Way to Mitigate Your Risk in Green Building

By Stuart Kaplow on September 24, 2017 Posted in Green Building, IgCC, LEED

The best way to mitigate risk in your green building project are properly drafted contract documents prepared by this law firm or by another attorney with green building experience. That may sound self serving, but it is true. As I posted in this blog less than a year ago, Less than 20% of Green Building … Continue Reading

Is the 2018 IgCC Doomed to Fail?

By Stuart Kaplow on May 14, 2017 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Green Building, Green Globes, IgCC, LEED

Last week the ICC and ASHRAE issued joint news releases on the status of the “unified green building code that could become the foundation for LEED certification” that will be published as the 2018 version of the International Green Construction Code. This blog regularly advances the postulate that green building is the ideal means of … Continue Reading

Apply to be a Member of the ASHRAE Committee for Standard 189.1

By Stuart Kaplow on March 5, 2017 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Green Building, IgCC, LEED

ASHRAE is looking for new members to serve on the ASHRAE Project Committee for SSPC 189.1 Standard for the Design of High Performance Green Buildings Except Low Rise Residential Buildings. The deadline to make application for Project Committee membership is March 15, 2017. Standards produced by ASHRAE are consensus documents developed and published to define … Continue Reading

Green Building Transactional Due Diligence

By Stuart Kaplow on January 15, 2017 Posted in Green Building, Green Globes, IgCC, LEED, Local Government

As ever larger numbers of green buildings are bought and sold, due diligence related to the green features of commercial buildings takes on an increasing importance. But apparently most real estate due diligence checklists are stuck in the 1980s and while they address matters ranging from title and zoning to tenants and leases, as well … Continue Reading

Trump Election Can Make Green Building Great Again

By Stuart Kaplow on November 10, 2016 Posted in Energy, Environmental, Federal, Green Building, IgCC, LEED

Election day 2016 in which Donald Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States and Republicans control both houses of Congress portends huge business opportunities for green building. As the Executive and Legislative Branches look to arrest existing environmental and energy policies while driving up growth and lowering taxes, enabling voluntary green building … Continue Reading

The Ramifications of this IgCC Enactment are of National Import

By Stuart Kaplow on October 23, 2016 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Energy, Green Building, IgCC, Local Government

Update. On November 15, 2016, the Montgomery County Council adopted Resolution 18-669, voting to extend time until June 30, 2017 for Council action on Executive Regulation 21-15, Adoption of the 2012 International Green Construction Code (IGCC). A Planning, Housing & Economic Development Committee work session will be scheduled at a later date. On September 28, … Continue Reading

Junk Science And Heat Island Effect Revealed at Greenbuild

By Stuart Kaplow on October 5, 2016 Posted in Environmental, Green Building, Green Globes, IgCC, LEED

Among the most interesting exhibitors at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo this week in Los Angeles (.. and okay, the virtual reality experience from the View glass people is pretty wild) may be the Asphalt Pavement Alliance challenging what we thought we knew about urban heat island effect with peer reviewed research from Arizona … Continue Reading

Less than 20% of Green Building Contracts Properly Drafted

By Stuart Kaplow on October 2, 2016 Posted in Green Building, IgCC, LEED, Sustainability

In a recent review of contracts involving green building construction projects, less than 20% had properly drafted provisions addressing green building matters. 100 contracts involving green building construction projects were reviewed. The methodology was admittedly unscientific, if only in that the sample was too small given the large number of sustainable building being erected across … Continue Reading

City of Rockville Implementing the IgCC

By Stuart Kaplow on January 31, 2016 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental, Green Building, IgCC, LEED

The City of Rockville, Maryland has adopted the International Green Construction Code 2012 as mandatory for all commercial and multi family building. But what may be most telling about this enactment is that before the change in law the USGBC listed Rockville as having more LEED projects than any U.S. city with a population below … Continue Reading

Montgomery County to Abandon LEED Mandating IgCC for All Building

By Stuart Kaplow on December 6, 2015 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental, Green Building, IgCC, LEED

Montgomery County, Maryland has proposed adopting the International Green Construction Code 2012. At first blush this might sound like a good thing, until one considers that Montgomery County has long had mandatory green building laws for public and private construction, and the County today also offers significant incentives for green building. Many hundreds of LEED … Continue Reading

Opportunities Shine in Community Solar

By Stuart Kaplow on October 25, 2015 Posted in Environmental, Green Building, IgCC, LEED, Sustainability

People across the United States are seeking alternatives to conventional energy sources. Motivations vary from concerns over global warming to increasing energy independence, and hedging against rising fuel costs to because it is chic to be green. Advances in solar technology have made photovoltaics a much sought after energy alternative. But a 2008 study by … Continue Reading