Posted on June 25, 2010 by Chris Cheatham

A Brief Green Building Guide to Social Media

What would you tell a green building insider interested in social media and web 2.0? 

I recently had to answer this question, and I thought my answer might be helpful to some Green Building Law Update readers.  I decided to keep it simple.  For me, social media starts with two platforms:  blogs and Twitter. 

A number of tremendous green building blogs are now available and the best way to keep track of them is through an RSS reader.  I prefer Google Reader.  What is RSS?  I like to describe it as an online mailbox where your subscriptions to websites and blogs are delivered.  The video below also does a good job explaining RSS:

What green building blogs would I recommend?  I recommend you start with one blog that aggregates many of the best green building blogs:  Sustainable Cities Collective.  By subscribing to the Sustainable Cities Collective RSS feed, you are subscribing to a handful of green building blogs. 

The next web 2.0 platform I use is Twitter.  The first step to using Twitter is to create a user name -- I highly recommend using your own name (@chrischeatham).  After setting up your Twitter account, you need to start following people and join the conversation.  There are hundreds of green building experts on Twitter, but I am going to mention two to get you started.

  • @kilrwat - This is Rob Watson, the Father of LEED.  He is also the editor at GreenerBuildings.com and is not afraid to share his opinions about green building and the environment.
  • @elaineishere - Elaine Hsieh is on a bunch of LEED committees and is always in the know about the future of green building.  She regularly provides new information and helpful green building links. 
The key to Twitter is to mix it up.  Use the "@" symbol followed by someone's name to start a conversation.  Or re-tweet a link of interest.  If you think there is a problem with the LEED rating system, tell Rob.  I bet he responds.  If you have a question about the best solar strategy in California, ask Elaine.  Do something more than reading through tweets.  I have found that much of the conversation regarding Green Building Law Update occurs in Twitter and not in the comments section of my blog.  Let me know what you think (@chrischeatham). 

Once you are comfortable with Twitter, you can upgrade to power Twitter by using Hootsuite.  Hootsuite allows you to search for key terms, manage all of your online profiles and so much more in one central location.  Thanks to Matt Handal for suggesting Hootsuite. 

That is the green building version of social media. 

What did I miss?

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Posted on December 29, 2009 by Chris Cheatham

My Favorite Green Building Stories of the Year

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 you have a moment, go back and check out some of these posts, as we will continue discussing these topics well into 2010.

  • "'Green' was the buzz word in 2008. In 2009, Green Building Law Update predicts that green buzz words will become more nuanced and the focus will be on 'energy efficiency,' 'retrofits,' and 'existing buildings.'"  Prediction: It's All About the Retrofit

 

  • "A security instrument guaranteeing LEED certification is the unicorn of the green building industry."  The Green Building Unicorn

 

Thanks for taking the time to read Green Building Law Update this year. On Wednesday, we are going to look at the most important green building legal story of the year and on Friday we will look at the green building legal story that will have the most impact on the industry in 2010.

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Posted on February 2, 2009 by Chris Cheatham

Top 5 Things I Learned at Green Building Law Symposium

Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking at the William and Mary Environmental Law & Policy Review symposium "It's Not Easy Building Green."  The students did a fantastic job and the audience was large and engaged. 

In particular, Mark Pike organized an interactive web 2.0 experience for the symposium that was quite impressive.  Many of the symposium participants used Twitter to discuss the event.  Additionally, Mark set up a blog (in less than 12 hours!) and live blogged each of the presentations.  From what I have heard, the event was even taped and should be made publicly available. 

In addition to the technology, there was plenty of substantive discussion about green building law.  Here are five things I learned at the symposium:

1.  Stephen Del Percio correctly pointed out that state legislation may run afoul of antitrust law if it only incorporates one green building rating system, like LEED.

2.  North Carolina's green building regulations focus on two specific green building strategies -- energy efficiency and water usage -- instead of requiring certification through a rating system.  This seems like a good idea to me. 

3.  If I am going to describe techniques to reduce water usage, I should be able to list more than just "low flow urinals."  Furthermore, I should not emphasize the awkwardness by repeating the word "urinal" and then pausing.  Thanks to everyone for pointing this out to me.

4.  Darren Prum described a ridiculous scenario in Nevada surrounding a property tax abatement that went awry.  Essentially, the property tax abatement that was provided to projects achieving LEED certification almost bankrupted the state. 

5.  There is a Property Tax Reduction regulation in Virginia for projects that achieve LEED certification or certification under another energy preferred standard.  You will definitely be hearing more about this at Green Building Law Update. 

Green Building Law Update will be looking at these issues in more depth in future posts.  Thanks to all of the symposium participants for their hard work and important ideas.

Related Links: 

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Posted on January 12, 2009 by Chris Cheatham

All A-Twitter About Green Building Law

If you are reading this blog, you are likely well-versed in social media or have at least heard of Twitter.*  Through Twitter (follow me here), I have had some amazing conversations about green building and the law and I would like to share one of them with you that really highlights how quickly a green building project can go bad. 

Sara Sweeney is an architect in New Jersey specializing in sustainable building research and consulting.  She is also a twitter user and recently started a blog.  The following is an actual conversation she and I had on Twitter: 
sarasweeney: Working on LEED application. Totally confused myself. Had 1 pt down for LEED Energy & Atmosphere Credit 1, when we had 6. Phew. All is right with world again.
 
chrischeatham: Glad you fixed that. Makes me wonder what happens when someone doesn't actually catch this type of mistake...
 
sarasweeney:  Yes, was wondering what I was going to tell the client for about 15 minutes. Um, we actually are Silver now...
Sara is smart and, thankfully, she caught her mistake.  But this short conversation demonstrates how easy it is to make a mistake that costs a project LEED certification.  For every 100 consultants or architects correctly filling out LEED applications, there will be one that does not.  One mistake, like what Sara described, could result in a project obtaining LEED Silver certification when the owner was anticipating LEED Gold certification.     

*If you would like to learn more about twitter, watch this video.  You can also follow my twitter stream here.  Twitter is going to be all the rage in 2009, you should jump on board now.

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