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Environmental Law and Sustainability for Business

Archives: Green Building

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LEED Commercial Interiors can Save the Planet

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Climate Change, Green Building, LEED
By Katie Stanford and Stuart Kaplow LEED Commercial Interiors projects present the best single opportunity for greening buildings. The proof is in the numbers. There are more than 5.6 million existing commercial buildings in the United States today. And despite the wildly successful U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (the ubiquitous acronym for Leadership in Energy … Continue Reading

Green Globes to be Approved in Maryland

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Codes and Regulations, Green Building, Green Globes, LEED, State
Last week the Maryland Green Building Council voted unanimously to recommend that Green Globes, at the two Green Globes level, be approved by the Maryland Secretaries of Budget and Management and General Services as a “high performance building” as defined in Maryland law. The vote is being widely heralded as a significant step forward in … Continue Reading

Eat, Pray, Greenbuild?

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Green Building, LEED
I am often asked, “how can I expand my green building business?” My answer is simple and the same response I have offered for years, attend the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo. This year Greenbuild is in Boston from November 8 – 10. I do not claim any particular business marketing prowess. Nor can I … Continue Reading

FTC Settles Charges Over Deceptive Zero VOC Claims

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Environmental, Federal, Green Building
Paint Can Label from Exhibit B in FTC Complaint
Four paint companies have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they deceptively promoted products as containing zero volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or as emission free, including during and immediately after application. Some promotions also made explicit safety claims. Specifically, the first FTC complaint alleges, In connection with the advertising, promotion, offering for sale, … Continue Reading

Mold can be Arrested in the Marketplace

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Environmental, Green Building
Extensive mold contamination on ceiling and wall
Concern about exposure to indoor mold has been increasing as the public becomes sensitive to issues of building occupant health and wellbeing. Mold problems in buildings have in large measure been exacerbated by changes in building codes and construction practices that began in the 1970s. In the quest to be more energy efficient, buildings are … Continue Reading

You Need a Green Building Consultant (Who Speaks for the Trees)

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Green Building, LEED, Sustainability
The Lorax Partnerships Team
We are often asked “what is the best way to assure success in a green building project?” Whether that query is from a Fortune 1000 businesses or an architect, the answer is the same, have the owner engage an experienced green building consultant as early as possible in the project. Which often leads to a … Continue Reading

Is the 2018 IgCC Doomed to Fail?

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Codes and Regulations, Green Building, Green Globes, IgCC, LEED
Last week the ICC and ASHRAE issued joint news releases on the status of the “unified green building code that could become the foundation for LEED certification” that will be published as the 2018 version of the International Green Construction Code. This blog regularly advances the postulate that green building is the ideal means of … Continue Reading

Prospering thru Green Building in a Changing Environment

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Federal, Green Building, Paris Accord, Sustainability
I spoke to a gathering of construction industry attorneys the other day about changing environment of Federal government regulation portending huge business opportunities for green building. These were my prepared remarks for that talk. While much of the mass media hyperbole is focused on the new Administration’s 2018 “skinny” budget request of $5.7 Billion for … Continue Reading

The Opportunity for ENERGY STAR

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Climate Change, Environmental, Federal, Green Building
While much of the media hyperbole has focused on the Trump Administration’s 2018 Budget request of $5.7 Billion for the Environmental Protection Agency, a reduction of $2.6 billion, or 31%, from the 2017 level of funding, little attention has been paid to specific priorities including the resultant opportunities for green building. One of the key … Continue Reading

The First BREEAM USA Certification

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Green Building, Sustainability
The Oaks, a 1.3 million square foot shopping mall located in Thousand Oaks, California, owned by Macerich is the first project achieve certification under the new BREEAM In-Use program for existing buildings. Macerich, a leading owner, operator and developer of major retail real estate with a portfolio of over 50 shopping malls, also earned the … Continue Reading

Apply to be a Member of the ASHRAE Committee for Standard 189.1

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Codes and Regulations, Green Building, IgCC, LEED
ASHRAE is looking for new members to serve on the ASHRAE Project Committee for SSPC 189.1 Standard for the Design of High Performance Green Buildings Except Low Rise Residential Buildings. The deadline to make application for Project Committee membership is March 15, 2017. Standards produced by ASHRAE are consensus documents developed and published to define … Continue Reading

Deadline to Propose Changes to National Green Building Standard

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in City, Green Building, Sustainability
Development of the 2018 version of the National Green Building Standard (NGBS) is now underway. The NGBS is a collaborative effort between the National Association of Home Builders and International Code Council, the NGBS also known as the ICC 700 provides “green” practices that can be incorporated into new homes, including high rise multifamily buildings, … Continue Reading

Is there Lead in the Water of your Green Building?

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Environmental, Federal, Green Building
The subject of lead leaching from pipes and faucets into drinking water within buildings is not new. But the broad growth of green buildings, including green schools, that include water conservation strategies has the potential to negatively impact the quality of drinking water in those green building plumbing systems. To reduce indoor water consumption, LEED … Continue Reading

California is a Model for PACE Loan Reform

By Stuart Kaplow on 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

Green Building Transactional Due Diligence

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Green Building, Green Globes, IgCC, LEED, Local Government
As ever larger numbers of green buildings are bought and sold, due diligence related to the green features of commercial buildings takes on an increasing importance. But apparently most real estate due diligence checklists are stuck in the 1980s and while they address matters ranging from title and zoning to tenants and leases, as well … Continue Reading

Passive House is “In” in 2017

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Green Building, Sustainability
As you consider what’s “in” and what’s “out” in 2017, within the realm of green building, Passive House is in. It is not controversial to accept that a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings at low cost, while also improving occupant comfort, is to improve the thermal performance of the building envelope. By … Continue Reading

Refocus the EPA through the Lens of Green Building

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Green Building
In a time of changing national environmental agendas, including the Trump Pence Transition Team announced plan “to refocus the EPA” it is an ideal moment to articulate how green building is “the” ideal means of voluntarily mitigating the negative impacts that human activity has on the planet. While buildings and the construction of buildings provide … Continue Reading

Suing But Not Because it was Not a Green Building

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Construction, Green Building, Insurance, LEED, Surety
With the maturation of the green building industrial complex it has become clear there is no more or additional liability associated with constructing a green building versus a similar non green structure. But, the claims that have resulted in much of the recent litigation involving green building projects are different from those in other construction … Continue Reading

False Advertising Claims over Net Zero and LEED Certified Homes

By Stuart Kaplow on 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
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