This law firm is increasingly called upon to give legal opinions that a green building is LEED certified, certifiable or otherwise 'really' a green building. ... We also receive requests to give opinions of counsel that a project is ICC 700 'certifiable' or ASHRAE 189.1 compliant or complies with Enterprise Green Communities criteria; commonly associated with qualifying for governmental incentives. Committing that a project will be LEED certifiable versus certified by GBCI increases certainty and lowers risk.… Continue Reading
[Today, I am bringing you a guest post from Mark Rabkin. I have been on Mark for awhile to write a guest post. He is doing a tremendous job looking at the insurance and surety concerns related to green building. Back when I was looking at alternatives for the D.C. Green Building Act bond requirement, … Continue Reading
Dear Feebate, I’m sorry to be writing this. First, I have to say, it’s not you, it’s me. You have done nothing wrong. I remember when we met back at Greenbuild ’08. The Portland officials were very eager to show you off and I fell for you hard. You were everything I dreamed of in … Continue Reading
It may surprise you to learn that I have a real job. Seriously, I do and I love it! I am a construction litigator and I am currently involved in a major construction delay claim. I have been preparing a motion the last few days, hence the late filing of today’s post. There is a … Continue Reading
I have been working with the D.C. City Council recently on revisions to the D.C. Green Building Act of 2007. In particular, I have been looking for an enforcement mechanism that can be used to ensure compliance with LEED certification requirements for commercial buildings. The problem is that the current Green Building Act requires a … 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
Here at Green Building Law Update, sometimes we wonder if we are just talking to our parents and significant other. Then we get a comment or a great email from one of our readers and we realize someone is actually paying attention. With that said, what happened this past week in the green building industry … Continue Reading
In a previous post, GBLU referenced problems with a green building performance bond requirement in Washington D.C.’s Green Building Act. So what are the apparent problems with this green performance bond? On August 13, 2007, the Surety and Fidelity Association of America and the National Association of Surety Bond Producers detailed the problems with the … Continue Reading
When people ask me about green building lawsuits and legal issues, I usually start with Washington D.C.’s Green Building Act of 2006. The Green Building Act is a very progressive Act that requires both that private and public projects comply with specific green measures. I have written more extensively about the Act in the … Continue Reading