On Thursday, I highlighted an ENR article that focused on LEEDigaiton-related "chatter" at Greenbuild. Some of that chatter was most likely the result of the first Greenbuild Legal Forum. Another recent article highlighted additional green building law trends that were highlighted at the Forum. Part Two: Treehugger In attendance at the Greenbuild Legal Forum was … Continue Reading
Without a doubt, the green building industry is paying more attention to green building law. Two recent articles point to a growing consensus that green building litigation — LEEDigation — is on the horizon. Part One: ENR Last Monday, I was rushing around trying to pack for my Thanksgiving trip to Kansas City. When it comes … Continue Reading
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I wanted to provide information about another FREE upcoming webinar at which I’ll be presenting. I am particularly excited about this webinar because my colleague Bob Kobet and I will be unveiling the first stage of what I believe is a dynamic new way to view green building costs and risks. … Continue Reading
I am trying to make sense out of a number of different events that will be shaping the design, construction and green building industries for the foreseeable future. Maybe you can help me make sense out of it all. Here is what I am seeing: Something is going on with LEED The number of LEED … Continue Reading
Two years ago, I attended my first Greenbuild, the annual conference and exhibition hosted by the US Green Building Council, in Boston, Massachusetts. Frankly, it was a bit uncomfortable and I felt like an outsider. By my count, only four attorneys were present among the thousands of attendees. But the discussion of green building legal … Continue Reading
I knew there was a reason I saved my law school text books. When I first heard of the class action lawsuit filed by Henry Gifford against the USGBC, my initial thought was "how in the world will he get a class certified?" The initial hurdle for any class action lawsuit is to get … Continue Reading
Last Wednesday, I woke up bleary eyed to catch a flight to New Orleans for the Green Legal Matters conference. Despite the fact that I was running late, I opened up my RSS feed and was suddenly startled wide awake when I read the following headline: "Breaking: Henry Gifford Leads Class Action Lawsuit Against USGBC … Continue Reading
The law moves at glacial speeds. The USGBC does not. On June 21, 2010, I wrote a blog post titled "Green Building Challenge Policy Requires Fixes." My post detailed problems with the LEED certification challenge policy, as published in the LEED Certification Policy Manual. You may recall that I wrote on, and on, and on … Continue Reading
"LEED is about people." Bob Kobet made this insightful comment on October 1, 2010 at an AIA of Virginia panel. The comment immediately stuck in my brain, and I soon found myself jotting down the following: "LEEDigation is about people." LEEDigation is not about a building. LEEDigation is about the people that built … Continue Reading
I told you that I would be thinking about green building on my recent vacation. As luck would have it, one of the most important green building stories in the last year came out while I was away. It seems that the mainstream media publishes one article every year critiquing the United States Green … Continue Reading
I recently published an article in Eco-Structure that I thought you would enjoy. You may be surprised by my candid opening paragraphs: I have spent the last two years writing Green Building Law Update, a blog based on the premise that green buildings will result in new litigation. To be more precise, I have written … Continue Reading
Today, I am publishing a guest post from engineer Ian T. Hadden. I asked Ian to write a guest post after he made the comment "there is something built into the high performance, sustainable design building method that works against litigation" on August 9. Below, Ian elaborates on his point so please take a look … Continue Reading
If you could ask some of the world’s leading companies about their green technology programs, what would you ask? I was recently faced with this daunting question. On August 17, I will be moderating a panel on green technology for the Bar Association of the District of Columbia. Registration is still open and I hope … Continue Reading
I was recently asked to write an article about LEEDigation – green building litigation – for an online construction magazine. As I thought about the topic, I thought about the factors that have prevented this type of litigation from developing. But then I wondered, "what is the tipping point for LEEDigation?" If you have not … Continue Reading
One of the great parts about my new job is I get to spend more time learning about what others are doing and figure out how we can work together. I often speak to law students or prospective law students interested in green building careers. The following post includes my standard advice to these students … Continue Reading
I continue to be amazed by the lack of litigation stemming from the LEED certification process – i.e. LEEDigation. There are only two instances of pure LEEDigation – Shaw Development and Northland Pines. I’m not even sure Northland Pines counts since it has not resulted in a lawsuit. What factors have contributed to the … Continue Reading
Reader’s note: This is my last post on the LEED certification challenge. Thanks for staying with me. I thought I would end my discussion of the Northland Pines High School LEED certification challenge with some constructive suggestions. The LEED challenge issue is not going away anytime soon and clearly requires some fixes. 1. Appeals of … Continue Reading
Reader’s note: Two more posts on the LEED certification challenge. I recently read the book Greed to Green, by David Gottfried, which describes how the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), and the LEED rating system, were launched. You can tell that Gottfried is quite proud – and rightfully so – of the USGBC’s accomplishments. … Continue Reading
Reader’s note: Three more posts on the LEED certification challenge. If you have taken a look at the Northland Pines High School LEED certification challenge documents, you know that the documents are extremely technical. I am not an engineer but I will share with you some of the more interesting parts of the documents … Continue Reading
We are going to momentarily pause our discussion of the LEED certification challenge because I have a gift for you today. A free webinar! Last week, my colleague Steve McBrady and I hosted the webinar "Greener Pastures: Managing Risks While Navigating Federal and State Green Building Opportunities." I enjoyed the presentation because, … Continue Reading
Welcome to our first afternoon edition of Green Building Law Update. No one is quite sure whether the challengers to the Northland Pines High School LEED certification have grounds for an appeal. But I figured two statements by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) regarding the "appeal" warranted a special blog post. First, Brendan Owens, … Continue Reading
As we begin our review of the challenge to the Northland Pines High School LEED certification, the most obvious starting point is the LEED challenge itself. The challenge was prepared by two engineers – Mark Lentz and Lawrence Spielvogel – on behalf of five appellants. By just the second paragraph, my jaw was on the … Continue Reading
News continues to emerge about the challenge to the LEED Gold certification received by the Northland Pines High School. Green Building Law Update previously reported on a statement made by United States Green Building Council (USGBC) General Counsel Susan Dorn that the certification challenge had been denied. There is so much more to this … Continue Reading
I am excited to inform you about a free upcoming webinar that my firm is offering on green building legal issues on June 2. Back in April, George Ruttinger, Stephen McBrady and myself presented "Legal Considerations When Building Green" to the Construction Industry Round Table. I think it is fair to say I got grilled about … Continue Reading
