The final Green Building Law Update epiphany for the week will come in the form of a headline I came across this past weekend: In the LEED: Green certification will be the norm in a few years Last week, Green Building Law Update focused on how the economic downturn may result in a slowdown of green … Continue Reading
In continuing our week of epiphanies, here’s another one that struck us here at Green Building Law Update: should governments consider getting out of the green building certification process? Yes, I realize this epiphany is out there and that practically every state has implemented some sort of green building regulation. Over the past few months, … Continue Reading
Over the weekend, we here at Green Building Law Update had some green building epiphanies. So let’s start with epiphany number one. As I was driving into my law firm’s office in Tyson’s Corner on Saturday, I looked out at the construction and thought to myself, why am I not writing about that? This isn’t … Continue Reading
Today we are going to take a hiatus from the discussions of green building in the current financial markets and, instead, wrap up what potentially could have been major green building litigation. On October 17, 2008, the Lerner family and the D.C. Government resolved litigation stemming from the LEED-Silver certified Washington Nationals Stadium. … Continue Reading
As part of our review of the economic downturn’s effect on green building, on Monday we looked at private projects that have cut LEED certification due to associated costs. Today, we move from private projects to public projects. Despite this shift, the theme is the same: the economic downturn will result in less public projects … Continue Reading
Previously, Green Building Law Update wrote that the struggling financial sector may impact the number of projects seeking LEED certification. This past weekend, an article highlighting this point came across my desk that I had to share. Gazette.Net profiled numerous green building projects in Maryland that, despite initially incorporating numerous green building strategies, will not … Continue Reading
Green Building Law Update would be remiss if it did not comment on the recent financial struggles and the impact these events will have on the green building industry. Simply put, here at GBLU, we anticipate scaled back green building efforts as developers struggle to obtain financing. A recent article in Globe and Mail (Canada’s … Continue Reading
Last week, Green Building Law Update wrote about the Dillon Rule and how it is thwarting Virginia cities’ green building regulations. Under the Dillon Rule, the Virginia legislature is empowered with passing building codes, thus preempting city building codes or building regulations. As we detailed, Indiana also follows the Dillon Rule but was successful in … Continue Reading
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of serving as a Judge for the AGC of DC’s Washington Contractor Awards. One of the awards passed out was for the most Sustainable Company. Until I reviewed the applications, I had no idea the extent of sustainability programs being undertaken by green building contractors. A recent … Continue Reading
To finish off the week at Green Building Law Update, we are going to attempt to answer another reader question with the help of all the readers out there. In a previous post, Anna MacLeod posted the following question: I need to find some DC-based architect, commercial building development companies, etc… Anyone who would be affected … Continue Reading
Now that our discussion of Southern Builders v. Shaw Development is over (whew!), Green Building Law Update is going to take the rest of the week to answer some reader questions. The first question comes from Erica: How should a locality located in a "Dillon Rule" state, such as Virginia, go about establishing a mandatory … Continue Reading
Today we are wrapping up our discussion of Shaw Development v. Southern Builders, one of the first examples of major green building litigation. On Monday we discussed the basic facts of the case; on Wednesday we looked at the contractual green building requirements between the two parties; and on Friday we looked at Shaw Development’s … Continue Reading
This week at GBLU, we are focusing on the Shaw Development v. Southern Builders case, the first significant example of green building litigation. On Monday, GBLU explained the importance of the case and reviewed the basic facts. Today GBLU will review the most important part of the case, the contract between the parties and accompanying … Continue Reading
