Green Building Law Update

Environmental Law and Sustainability for Business

Archives: Energy

State Law Trumps on Location of Solar Panels

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

Legislature Overrides Veto of Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard Increase

By Stuart Kaplow on February 12, 2017 Posted in Climate Change, Energy, State

On February 2, 2017, the Maryland Senate and House of Delegates voted to override the veto of an increase the State’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard, as enacted in the 2016 Maryland General Assembly session. Last May, Maryland Governor Lawrence J. Hogan, Jr., vetoed House Bill 1106, that was characterized as a “sunshine tax” to be … Continue Reading

California is a Model for PACE Loan Reform

By Stuart Kaplow on January 29, 2017 Posted in Energy, Environmental, Green Building, Local Government, Sustainability

California’s statutory changes to its existing residential Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing program, that became effective January 1, 2017, may be a model for residential PACE programs across the nation. The first residential PACE program started in Berkeley, California in 2007. Today there are laws in at least 34 states that allow some form … Continue Reading

False Advertising Claims over Net Zero and LEED Certified Homes

By Stuart Kaplow on November 13, 2016 Posted in Energy, Green Building, LEED, Sustainability

Homebuyers are making claims of false advertising over “Net Zero LEED certified” houses in midtown Sacramento – that may be neither. The website for the architect on the project, today still says, “2500 R Street located on a two acre site along the R Street light rail corridor in Midtown Sacramento, this new single-family home … 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

Cannabis Cultivation has Growing Environmental Implications

By Stuart Kaplow on September 18, 2016 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Energy, Environmental, Sustainability

Cannabis cultivation is not new, but beginning in the 1990s when states began to legalize medical marijuana and recently as state laws evolved, decriminalizing and legalizing recreational use of cannabis, the burgeoning industry has brought with it environmental implications, including of water and energy use. Energy consumption for cannabis cultivation can be incredibly significant and … Continue Reading

PACE Bill Due in Baltimore City

By Stuart Kaplow on September 11, 2016 Posted in City, Energy, Green Building, Sustainability

A public hearing is scheduled tomorrow on a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loan program ordinance in Baltimore City. I have been quoted saying that PACE “could be bigger than anything in U.S. real estate since the invention of the glass window.” PACE loan programs, where payments for energy efficiency, water conservation and renewable energy … Continue Reading

Vancouver Leaving LEED for Zero Emission Building Mandate, But ..

By Stuart Kaplow on August 28, 2016 Posted in City, Energy, Green Building, LEED

On July 13, 2016, the Vancouver City Council approved a Zero Emissions Building Plan that is among the most aggressive by any government with the stated purpose of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. While much of the media attention has described that Vancouver is the first major city in North America to establish specific actions to achieve … Continue Reading

Historic Church Appeals to Higher Authority in Solar Dispute

By Stuart Kaplow on July 31, 2016 Posted in Energy, Environmental, Local Government, Sustainability

The First Parish in Bedford, Unitarian Universalist church has appealed from a decision of the Historic District Commission of the Town of Bedford that denied First Parish’s application for a certificate of appropriateness to install solar panels on its Meetinghouse roof. The complaint filed Superior Court for the County of Middlesex, Commonwealth of Massachusetts claims … Continue Reading

HUD Jumpstarts PACE Financing for Homes

By Stuart Kaplow on July 24, 2016 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Energy, Federal, Green Building, Local Government, State, Sustainability

Last week the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs released new guidance, changing their previous positions, now widely allowing residential Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. With the guidance, PACE financing, where payments for energy efficiency, water conservation and renewable energy improvements to real estate are made through … Continue Reading

Maryland Vetoes Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard Increase

By Stuart Kaplow on June 5, 2016 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Energy, Environmental, State, Sustainability

Maryland Governor Lawrence J. Hogan, Jr., vetoed an increase in the State’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard that would have resulted in higher electricity prices across the State. This push back against an ever increasing legislatively mandated subsidized renewable energy ‘market’ portends a national trend. Specifically, Governor Hogan announced he was vetoing House Bill 1106 – … Continue Reading