I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Chris Birk of Surety Bonds Insider to discuss surety issues and the green building industry, particularly related to the D.C. Green Building Act. As a quick reset, the D.C. Green Building Act of 2006 requires owners put up "performance bonds" that guarantee LEED certification for certain projects. … Continue Reading
[I have said many times that the legal principles that will apply to green building projects will be very similar to existing legal principles in the construction law field. Going forward, on Fridays we will be reviewing legal developments from the construction industry that most likely will be applied to green building projects.] If … Continue Reading
I often get the same question about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: where are the green jobs and projects? A recent Wall Street Journal article sheds light on that question: "The Obama administration’s economic-stimulus program has delivered about a third of its total $787 billion budget during its first year, much of that to … Continue Reading
I used to work in Tysons Corner, Virginia. It is a fascinating place for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that the area supports 105,000 jobs but only 17,000 residents. One of the consequences of this job-to-resident ratio is a daily traffic jam as workers leave for the day. Government officials … Continue Reading
Do you remember Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) bonds? If you recall, in a June 2009 post, I proclaimed my undying affection for PACE bonds, which can serve as a financing mechanism to retrofit homes and buildings: “PACE is a bond where the proceeds are lent to commercial and residential property owners to finance energy … Continue Reading
In Ohio, there is LEEDigation brewing. But it’s not the LEEDigaiton that I anticipated. The Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) requires that new OSFC-funded schools achieve LEED Silver certification. The Washington-Nile school district is balking at the additional costs incurred as a result of the LEED certification requirement. When a school project is pursuing … Continue Reading
In December 2009, an Amendment to the D.C. Green Building Act of 2006 was introduced by the D.C. Council. Labeled the "Green Building Technical Corrections, Clarification, and Revision Amendment Act of 2009," this Amendment includes many revisions to the original Green Building Act. One of those revisions involves the "performance bond" requirement: "’Sec. 6. Bond … Continue Reading
Back in April 2009, I took a vow of silence. I promised to stop writing about the "performance bond" requirement in the D.C. Green Building Act. I had faith the D.C. Council would address the issue. Thankfully, it appears our long nightmare may be coming to an end. Today, I am going to reset the … Continue Reading
A coalition of forest product companies (“the Coalition”) has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding, in part, the United States Green Building Council’s preference for Federal Stewardship Council-certified (FSC) wood products. The Coalition has asked the FTC Bureau of Competition to provide guidance to the USGBC and other rating systems regarding the … Continue Reading
We may be settling into 2010, but one unresolved legal development in 2009 could have a broad impact on the future of the green building industry. On October 20, 2009, the Coalition for Fair Forest Certification ("the Coalition") filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (pdf), alleging anti-competitive behavior by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) … Continue Reading
Well, that did not last long. Two weeks ago, we wrote about Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to require retrofits of existing buildings. After vehement opposition, Mayor Bloomberg has backed off of his plans to require retrofits: "The plan, which the owners said was too costly, called for all buildings of 50,000 square feet or more … Continue Reading
The future of green building regulations usually starts in big cities. Cities like San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and New York City were some of the first to incorporate green building certification into regulations and building codes. The next frontier in green building regulations will be energy performance and New York City seems to be at … Continue Reading
The Energy Star program, responsible for certifying energy efficient products, is about to undergo some major changes. Recently, the program, run by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE), has come under fire from a number of groups: "Various stakeholder groups, such as manufacturers, utilities and even Consumer Reports , the … Continue Reading
When I have previously speculated as to green building lawsuits, I never imagined that an industrial hygienist would play a significant role. Industrial hygienists are scientists and engineers who study health and safety of people in the workplace and the community. Linda Kincaid is an industrial hygienist in California. She is also a citizen-reporter for … Continue Reading
Reminder: Don’t forget to register for Green Building Law Update’s Birthday Happy Hour Sometimes, my fair city of Washington, D.C. can drive me crazy. There is no doubt we have our issues. But one thing Washington, D.C. has going for it is its push to become more green. D.C. is at the forefront of the … Continue Reading
If you are a contractor lucky enough to have won a stimulus project, one of the pesky requirements attached to the project is reporting the number of new jobs created by the project. Many builders and contractors have been wondering how exactly to do that. Finally, at long last, the White House has provided clarity: … Continue Reading
A few weeks ago, Toronto announced a mandatory green roof requirement, which my fellow bloggers dutifully covered. When I read about the green roof mandate, I thought of another Canadian city with a similar program. You remember the Vancouver Catch-22, right? Many British Columbia jurisdictions, including Vancouver, began mandating green roofs. Simultaneously, the Homeowner Protection … Continue Reading
Dear Feebate, I’m sorry to be writing this. First, I have to say, it’s not you, it’s me. You have done nothing wrong. I remember when we met back at Greenbuild ’08. The Portland officials were very eager to show you off and I fell for you hard. You were everything I dreamed of in … Continue Reading
Back on February 20, 2009, I said the following about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: While Republicans, Democrats and the President argued over the stimulus package for weeks, the real battle may arise when state agencies and officials attempt to divide up the stimulus funding and choose the projects that receive funding. The real … Continue Reading
In previous posts I have talked about Dillon’s Rule and the impact this rule has on green building regulations in Virginia. Dillon’s Rule provides that the state retains all powers except those specifically carved out for municipalities and counties. You can think of this as the reverse of the federal system, where all powers not … Continue Reading
In addition to clarifying the LEED 25% guideline, Rob Watson also had some interesting points regarding regulations that required LEED certification.* First, Watson made a great point about governments requiring municipal projects to achieve LEED certification: "As far as municipalities requiring their own buildings to go LEED, that’s an owner decision and no problem. Municipally-funded … Continue Reading
As readers may know, I am a die hard Kansas Jayhawk basketball fan. Our main rival is the Missouri Tigers. So if I discuss something that originates from Missouri, you better believe that the Missourians have come up with something extraordinary. U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver has established a plan for an innovative "Green Impact Zone" … Continue Reading
Back in March, I gave a presentation about green building funding available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ("ARRA"). I had planned to convert the presentation to a guide of sorts, but more pressing matters arose. I have now discovered what I hope the guide would have looked like if I had a month … Continue Reading
On Wednesday, we discussed the LEED 25 percent rule: the LEED rating system was only intended to apply to the top 25 percent of buildings. It is important to remember this premise when considering what is happening in the green building industry today. Many cities are mandating LEED certification for public and private buildings. For … Continue Reading
