Green Building Law Update

Environmental Law and Sustainability for Business

Archives: Energy

US Imposes Duties on Southeast Asia Solar Panel Makers Evading China Tariffs

To appreciate the scope of the issue, those countries account for nearly 80% of all U.S. solar panel supplies.… Continue Reading

Wind Rights are now Blowin’ In The Wind

By Stuart Kaplow on July 16, 2023 Posted in Climate Change, Energy, Environmental, ESG, GHG, wind turbine

The first time any Texas court has held under Texas law that wind rights are severable from the land. … Continue Reading

Court Saves Gas Stoves from the Government

By Stuart Kaplow on April 23, 2023 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Energy, Environmental, ESG, GHG

This is a significant setback for state and local governments across the country seeking to ban natural gas, directly, indirectly, or otherwise.… Continue Reading

Maryland is Leading the Transition to All Electric Buildings

By Stuart Kaplow on March 26, 2023 Posted in Climate Change, Energy, Environmental, ESG, greenhouse gas

There is a move toward all electric buildings as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change. The state of Maryland is leading the way in this movement, including several local jurisdictions adopting all electric building code laws. All electric building codes require that new construction and major renovations be powered by … Continue Reading

Non Profits can Receive a Direct Payment for 30% of Their Solar Energy System Costs

By Stuart Kaplow on February 19, 2023 Posted in Energy, Environmental, ESG, Federal, Solar Panel

Non profits can now receive a direct payment from the Federal government for 30% of their total solar energy system installation costs… Continue Reading

Ban the Light Bulb to Repair the World

By Stuart Kaplow on January 15, 2023 Posted in Energy, GHG, Green Building, greenhouse gas

In 2023 there is nothing wrong with doing that better than Thomas Edison in 1860, with LEDs, and repairing the planet.… Continue Reading

Net Zero Risks as a Source of Opportunity

By Stuart Kaplow on October 23, 2022 Posted in Energy, Environmental, ESG

Calculating net zero is ill defined, unregulated and complex. Businesses making a net zero pledge like, “we will be net zero by 2030” risk a charge that they are greenwashing and misleading consumers. It is one thing when government leaders make an ESG claim: In 2009 the King of Bhutan proclaimed his Himalayan country was … Continue Reading

179D Tax Deduction made Bigger and Better

By Stuart Kaplow on August 28, 2022 Posted in City, Codes and Regulations, Energy, Green Building

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 has been much talked about in the 14 days since it was signed by President Biden, but little has been said about the provisions that modified the 179D energy efficient commercial buildings federal tax deduction making it bigger and better. Section 13303 of HR 5376 – The Inflation Reduction … Continue Reading

ESG Often Led by Renewable Energy

By Stuart Kaplow on January 9, 2022 Posted in Energy, ESG, Solar Panel

Businesses often ask about including green power in ESG efforts. We suggest rephrasing the query such that it is about using renewable energy to reduce the environmental harms associated with fossil fuel energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase the supply of renewable energy and foster a just transition to an ESG driven economy. Businesses do … 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

Selling a House with Solar Panels is Fraught with Peril

By Stuart Kaplow on August 16, 2020 Posted in Energy, Green Building, Solar Panel

There are nearly 2 Million houses in the U.S. with solar panels installed on the roof and that number was reached just 3 years after the 1 millionth installation. It can be perilous to fail to properly address rooftop solar panels at the time of sale of a house. With home sales reaching lofty heights … Continue Reading

179D Tax Deduction Allocated from Government Buildings

By Stuart Kaplow on February 23, 2020 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Energy, Environmental, Green Building

On December 20, 2019, the President signed legislation reviving the Section 179D energy efficient commercial building tax deduction and while much has been written about the much needed boost to green building, little has been said about the enormous benefits available from government owned buildings. The § 179D federal tax deduction was brought back from … Continue Reading

FERC Decision Puts State Renewable Portfolio Standards At Risk

By Stuart Kaplow on January 26, 2020 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Energy, Solar Panel

In the ongoing conflagration between “reliable power” and “clean energy” many may have missed when last month federal energy policy declared reliability the winner with renewable energy subsidies (e.g., state renewable portfolio standards) the loser. In a decision that critics have called “unprecedented” the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on December 19, 2019 issued an Order … Continue Reading

What You Can Say about RECs is Regulated by the FTC

By Stuart Kaplow on November 10, 2019 Posted in Energy, Federal, Solar Panel

Businesses who generate renewable energy, say, by using solar panels, but sell the Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) for the renewable energy they generate shouldn’t claim they “use” renewable energy. The Federal Trade Commissions has advised that such a claim would be deceptive. The guidance from the FTC is not new, but as renewable energy becomes … Continue Reading

State Law Trumps on Location of Solar Panels

By Stuart Kaplow on July 28, 2019 Posted in Energy, Environmental, Solar Panel

There will be a brief hiatus in regular blog posts during the month of August. I am in Peru walking slowly up the very big hill that is Siula Grande (.. in lieu of blog posts, read the book or watch the movie, “Touching The Void” about the first guys to summit this mountain). “Here … Continue Reading

State Not County has Authority to Regulate Solar Farms

By Stuart Kaplow on December 9, 2018 Posted in Energy, Solar Panel

At a time when solar panels are de riguere a recent decision by a Maryland appellate court limiting the authority of local governments to regulate the location and specifics of construction of a solar farm has broad implications far beyond this case. Perennial Solar, LLC filed an application for a zoning special exception and variance … Continue Reading

Your ENERGY STAR Score is About to Fall Precipitously

By Stuart Kaplow on June 10, 2018 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Energy, Green Building, Green Globes, LEED

Building owners that utilize ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager will see a dramatic change in the 1 to 100 ENERGY STAR scores after August 26, 2018. Every score model we reviewed saw a drop in ENERGY STAR score except hotels. You have 75 days to act. The change is significant for buildings pursuing LEED or Green … 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

Selling a House with Solar Panels is Not for the Faint of Heart

By Stuart Kaplow on March 18, 2018 Posted in Energy, Solar Panel

There are more than a Million houses in the U.S. with solar panels installed on the roof and that number is increasing. It can be difficult if not dangerous to fail to properly address rooftop solar panels at the time of sale of a house. Among the most often made inquiries to this law firm … Continue Reading

Renewable Energy Claim is Deceptive

By Stuart Kaplow on March 4, 2018 Posted in Energy, Solar Panel, wind turbine

This past week and there have been many other times this law firm was consulted about a marketing claim by a building owner with rooftop solar panels that advertises they “use” renewable energy, but the owner sells Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) for the renewable energy it generates, so the Federal Trade Commission says it shouldn’t … Continue Reading

Criminal Conviction in Trade Secret Theft of the Wind

By Stuart Kaplow on January 28, 2018 Posted in Energy, wind turbine

While many people focused on the tariffs of 30% imposed by the United States on imported solar photovoltaic cells and modules last week, most missed the larger renewable energy news story that after an 11 day trial, last Wednesday a federal jury in Wisconsin convicted Chinese firm Sinovel of stealing wind technology, including the theft … Continue Reading

Solar Panel Tariff Fight Makes Strange Bedfellows

By Stuart Kaplow on August 20, 2017 Posted in Energy, Federal, Solar Panel

The U.S. International Trade Commission held a nearly 10 hour initial public hearing this past Tuesday on a petition seeking tariffs and price minimums on low cost imported solar panels. The petition seeks duties of 40 cents per watt on imported solar cells and also a floor price of 78 cents per watt on solar … Continue Reading

South Miami Poised to Mandate Solar Panels

By Stuart Kaplow on July 16, 2017 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Energy, Solar Panel

The City of South Miami, Florida City Commission is scheduled to take a final vote on July 18 on an ordinance that will require rooftop photovoltaic panels on new construction and major renovations. The ordinance is likely to pass given that at its July 12 meeting the second reader version of this ordinance passed with … Continue Reading

Selling a House with Solar Panels is Not for the Faint of Heart

By Stuart Kaplow on May 21, 2017 Posted in Energy, Environmental, Solar Panel