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
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
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
In 2008 I said Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loans “could be bigger than anything in U.S. real estate since the invention of the glass window.” But today, despite Maryland having enacted a PACE enabling law in 2014, only one PACE loan has closed in the State. By any measure, one is not an overwhelming … Continue Reading
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
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
If you are regular reader of this blog you are aware there has been a hiatus in postings. I have been climbing in the Himalayas in Nepal for the past month and, in fact, am composing this blog post sitting in the lobby of the Yak and Yeti hotel in Kathmandu, as I begin to … Continue Reading
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
FITWEL, a cost effective, high impact, health promoting building certification, may be the best thing since sliced bread. The well being of building occupants is increasingly being described as the number one driver of sustainability. In the in the U.S. alone there are more than 120 million employees who spend an average of 8.1 hours … Continue Reading
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 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
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
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
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’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
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
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
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
This blog post is not as epic as A Day in the Life, the last song on the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album that Rolling Stone magazine ranked as the greatest Beatles song ever. But rather, this responds to a question I was recently asked when speaking at a law school forum on … Continue Reading
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
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
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
Dramatic changes have been announced by the U.S. Green Building Council to the LEED v4 Homes Multifamily Lowrise and Multifamily Midrise rating systems with the aim of broadening market share. Regular readers of this blog will recall that I blogged from Greenbuild last month, when Scot Horst first publicly announced dramatic changes to LEED multifamily … Continue Reading
BRE Global Ltd., the 97 year old Great Britain based world’s leading authority on all aspects of the built environment (.. it all started with fire testing for homes), with over 2,247,696 BREEAM registered buildings across 77 countries in its sustainability assessment method, will before the end of the year award its first BREEAM In-Use … Continue Reading