I have one last green building legal development to tell you about before I take my hiatus. When people ask me about green building disputes, I tell them that they will arise from three scenarios. A project may not comply with regulatory requirements — i.e. Destiny USA. Second, disputes may arise from green building certification … Continue Reading
You remember the $100 million dollar lawsuit against the US Green Building Council, right? It’s back in the spotlight, and it has taken a new form through an amended complaint filed by multiple Plaintiffs. No longer is the Plaintiff asking for $100 million. No longer is the Plaintiff asserting a class action lawsuit that … 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
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
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: 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 wrapping up review of the LEED Certification Challenge Policy. Today, I will discuss the third of three reasons why the challenge policy creates significant risk for parties involved in a project seeking LEED certification: (1) Any person can challenge a building’s LEED certification; (2) Any and all LEED points can be challenged; and … Continue Reading
Under the LEED Certification Challenge policy, all LEED points can be challenged by any "person," resulting in reduced or revoked LEED certification. Today, I am going to describe a scenario under which such a LEED challenge could prove costly. A few months ago, attorney Matt Devries wrote about a news report in Nashville, Tennessee … Continue Reading
I am going to take a temporary hiatus today to jump from the Wisconsin LEED challenge to discuss breaking LEEDigation news. LEEDigation is, of course, litigation involving LEED certification. I have previously discussed Shaw Development v. Southern Builders, which is an example of a project failing to achieve LEED certification. But how else could … Continue Reading
On Wednesday, I began a review of the Green Building Certification Institute’s ("GBCI") LEED Certification Challenge policy. There are three reasons why the LEED Certification Challenge Policy creates significant risk for all parties involved in a LEED-certified project: (1) Any person can challenge a building’s LEED certification; (2) Any and all LEED points can be challenged; … Continue Reading
A few weeks ago, after a green building legal presentation, I remarked to a colleague that I was growing tired of discussing Shaw Development v. Southern Builders, the prime example of LEEDigation. Less than one week later, along came the Wisconsin LEED challenge and the discovery of the LEED Certification Challenge Policy. The LEED … Continue Reading
Up in Wisconsin, a group of concerned citizens challenged the LEED certification of a high school under the Green Building Certification Institute’s (GBCI) Certification Challenge Policy. The LEED challenge came to light in December 2009 although it was originally filed in 2008. Last week, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) denied the LEED challenge. … Continue Reading
I am going to be honest with you, I have been sitting on some LEEDigation-related stories. I sat on these stories because I wanted to understand the implications before writing about them. Take our first story from Wisconsin. As was first reported at the Green Real Estate Law Journal, a group of Wisconsin residents … Continue Reading
From time to time, I like to step outside the green building industry and look at construction of renewable energy projects. While windmill construction is nothing new, countries are looking for new opportunities to develop wind energy. One new type of development has certainly caught my attention from a risk management standpoint. A recent … Continue Reading
As federal agencies continue to push green building certification, some federal projects are running into conflicts when building green. Take for example, a recent article I reviewed regarding military construction and LEED certification. The basic premise of the article is that green building rating systems and military construction do not always work together. “‘An office … Continue Reading
[I have said many times that the legal principles that will apply to green building projects will be very similar to existing legal principles in the construction law field. On Fridays we will be reviewing legal developments from the construction industry that most likely will be applied to green building projects.] When I prepare … Continue Reading
Last Thursday, during a webinar on green building legal issues, I stated the following: "I really believe schools will be a hotbed for green defect claims, in terms of energy efficiency, and other green building components. Schools rely on tight budgets. . . . Be careful what you are promising on these green school projects." … Continue Reading
The green building industry is entering an interesting period. In 2009, the green building movement was embraced as a solution to economic and environmental problems. "Green jobs" were touted as a way to improve the economy while reducing unemployment. Investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency measures was championed as a way to reduce greenhouse … Continue Reading
Geothermal heat pumps continue to gain popularity as an alternative energy source. This energy technology doesn’t come without uncertainties though. In fact, as ENR recently described it, there are significant problems with the geothermal industry: “[M]any of these systems are not performing as touted, especially cleverly hyped geothermal heating systems that are plagued with inflated … Continue Reading
We previously reviewed a green building contract that can be used to manage the architect-owner relationship. But what about contractors? As a member of the AGC ConsensusDOCS committee, I had the pleasure of collaborating on the ConsensusDOCS 310 Green Building Addendum, which was recently released: On Nov. 10, ConsensusDOCS released the construction industry’s first and … Continue Reading
