Couldn’t make it to Greenbuild this year? Why not attend a free webinar with some of the most influential green thinkers in the country? I am extremely honored and very excited to participate on a FREE webinar on Nov. 22 titled "Retrofitting Cities: How to ‘Green’ the Cities We’ve Got." I hope you can join us. Register here. Retrofitting … Continue Reading
I honestly can’t wait for Greenbuild this week. Here are a few reasons why. Sustainable Cities Collective In addition to publishing Green Building Law Update, I recently became an advisory member of Sustainable Cities Collective (SSC). SSC is a helpful website because it aggregates articles and blog posts from some of the top green and … Continue Reading
This year is going to be the year of the green professional. Green professionals are going to be providing instrumental services, particularly in the D.C. Metropolitan area, which is serving as an incubator for numerous green programs. In order to bring all of you like-minded green professionals together, we are reviving the Green Professionals Happy … Continue Reading
I hope everyone is having a great Labor Day. No new post today. Instead, I would suggest you read or re-read the New York Times article about LEED and energy performance. The article is one of my most important to come out on green building in awhile. As I said on Friday, the most interesting … Continue Reading
No substantive news today. Instead, here are the details about the blog birthday party happy hour coming up on August 20: Who: All of the Green Building Law Update readers and friends When: August 20, 6:00-8:00 pm Where: Darlington House, 1610 20th St. NW , Washington, D.C. Why: So we can finally meet each other. Or … Continue Reading
Last week, my blog had one of those moments when I realized it was growing up before my eyes. Robert J. MacPherson is the Chair of the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry. In the recent issue of The Construction Lawyer (the Forum’s Journal), Mr. MacPherson published a farewell column as outgoing Chair (PDF). I … Continue Reading
[You may notice a new tab up above: Green Jobs. As part of our continuing experimentation here at Green Building Law Update, I am creating a makeshift green jobs board. See details below. Please take this free opportunity to share your green jobs!] "It’s hard to define what a green job actually is." I hear … Continue Reading
A while back, I read a blog post describing how to prepare for a conference. I am going to the ABA Construction Forum’s Talking Green Blues event in New Orleans this week and decided to apply one idea to my conference preparation. There are two questions in the forefront of my mind and I am … Continue Reading
My friends over at Sensible City recently offered me the opportunity to interview Eric Corey Freed. It’s not everyday I get to interview someone who was just interviewed by the New York Times so I jumped at the chance. Even better, Eric is an "organic architect" and studied under a former student of Frank Lloyd … Continue Reading
Update: For a rundown of green building provisions in the stimulus pacakge, see this post. On February 17, CNN ran the above headline after President Obama signed the stimulus bill. To me, a more perfect headline could not have been written. Ever since I read about the stimulus bill, one particular nuance has interested … Continue Reading
Update: For a rundown of green building provisions in the stimulus pacakge, see this post. Love it or hate it, the stimulus package was signed into law yesterday. In the coming months and years, $787 billion is going to be used to support new projects, developments and tax cuts throughout the country. Set aside … Continue Reading
To start this post, I want to thank Rick Fedrizzi , CEO of the United States Green Building Council. On February 12, I attended a breakfast hosted by Bisnow at which Mr. Fedrizzi was the guest speaker. I really appreciated his speech – he did not ignore the current economic climate but talked about the opportunities that will emerge from the green … Continue Reading
Last week, we talked about the William & Mary Environmental Law Review Symposium "It Ain’t Easy Building Green." Today, I am going to try yet another new blog trick and make my slideshow available from the Symposium. If you have any questions or would like to discuss any of the slides in detail, just post … Continue Reading
Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking at the William and Mary Environmental Law & Policy Review symposium "It’s Not Easy Building Green." The students did a fantastic job and the audience was large and engaged. In particular, Mark Pike organized an interactive web 2.0 experience for the symposium that was quite impressive. Many … Continue Reading
Back in the summer of 2008, Green Building Law Update was nothing more than a pipe dream. During that summer, Brian Maxted, a William and Mary Law student and summer intern at my firm, was relegated to hearing about my crazy green building law ideas. Brian just happened to be on the William and Mary … Continue Reading
For Thanksgiving, I returned to my original home, Kansas, fully expecting to take a break from green building. Turns out, green building was waiting for me in Kansas as well. On the Saturday evening following Thanksgiving, I attended my high school reunion. Just like any other reunion, my classmates and I discussed our jobs and … Continue Reading
Thanks to all of the Green Building Law Update readers that attended Rutherfoord’s symposium, “Green Building: Opportunity or Legal Quagmire.” I went to bed last night without a voice, but thankfully, the laryngitis let up and we were able to discuss green building litigation issues. If you are interested in having me speak on green building … Continue Reading
While at GreenBuild, I had the pleasure of listening to Jeff Harris of the Alliance to Save Energy speak about the Presidential Climate Action Project. Two of the points raised by Jeff really got me thinking and I want to share these ideas with you. During his presentation, Jeff stated that the U.S. government is … Continue Reading
As you may know, this week is the United States Green Building Council’s national event, GreenBuild, in Boston: USGBC’s Greenbuild conference and expo is an unparalleled opportunity to connect with other green building peers, industry experts, and influential leaders as they share insights on the green building movement and its diverse specialties. This year’s theme … Continue Reading
Sorry, I won’t be answering this rhetorical question today. Instead, a group of construction, design and surety legal experts will attempt to address this difficult question at an upcoming symposium: What: Trends in Green Building Seminar Who: Tom Mawson – The USGBC and Trends in Green Building; Chris Cheatham – The Emergence of Green Building Litigation; Bryan Phillips … Continue Reading
On Tuesday, hopefully you are planning on exercising your civic duty to vote. Here at Green Building Law Update, we try to remain non-partisan but we could not ignore this monumental election. Thankfully, though, the candidates have made it easy for us. Did you know that a vote for either Barack Obama or John McCain will … Continue Reading
