Green Building Law Update

Environmental Law and Sustainability for Business

Tag Archives: LEED

Top 10 ESG Blog Posts of 2021

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Environmental, ESG
As we look back in this ‘year in review’ at our most read blog posts in 2021, at a time when most of us have accepted that we will never go back to exactly the way things were, we are no doubt collectively ready for a new year. And we are incredibly excited about the … Continue Reading

Green Buildings are Subsidizing Conventional Buildings Stymying Climate Progress

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Climate Change, Green Building, LEED
Green building bonds, which are higher rated and could provide cheaper capital for green building projects, can correct the current market that prices mortgages, green building or nongreen, the same, stimulating the economy and repairing the planet. The financial value of green buildings is well documented, from commanding higher rents, greater occupancy rates, and increased … Continue Reading

45L Energy Efficient Home Tax Credit Extended for 2021 by Covid Relief Bill

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Energy, Federal, Green Building, Green Globes, IgCC, LEED
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, H.R. 133, signed into law by President Trump on December 27th, extended the 45L energy efficient home $2,000 tax credit, which had been scheduled to expire last year, to cover qualified new energy efficient homes sold or leased through 2021. And yes, regular readers of this blog will notice that … Continue Reading

GRESB Purchased from GBCI in advance of ESG Breakout

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in GRESB, LEED
Last month GRESB announced that its management had purchased the business from its parent GBCI. GRESB was established in 2009 as the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark by three pension funds who wanted to assess and benchmark the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and other related performance of real assets, providing standardized data to capital … Continue Reading

Carbon Tax Proposed in Portland will be First in the Nation

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Climate Change, Green Globes, LEED, Local Government
The City of Portland is proposing a carbon tax that would be the first of its kind anywhere in the country. Given the increased emphasis on climate change by the incoming Biden Administration the proposed ordinance should be on your required reading list. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions are changing the climate. Energy … Continue Reading

New Green Building Tax Credit is a Progressive Effort

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Codes and Regulations, Green Building, LEED
At a time when the building industry is principally concerned with the impact of COVID-19 and the luster is off green building, the Montgomery County Council last Tuesday unanimously approved legislation “to accelerate the construction of highly energy efficient buildings and green retrofitting of existing buildings.” Bill 10-20 dramatically upgrades the Maryland county’s existing green … Continue Reading

2018 IgCC Poised to be Adopted for the First Time

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Green Building, IgCC, LEED, Local Government
Montgomery County, Maryland is on the cusp of being the first to adopt the 2018 International Green Construction Code. The proposed Executive Regulation 12-20 appeared in the Montgomery County Register on August 1. A public hearing will be held on proposed regulation on September 3. And written comments may be submitted until October 5. Montgomery … Continue Reading

New BREEAM In Use Version in a Changing World

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Green Building, LEED
Last week BRE Global announced that the “BREEAM USA In-Use Version 6 for Commercial and Residential” green building rating system has launched. In addition to improvements to the prior commercial building rating system BREEAM In-Use now includes residential for the first time (accepting that existing multi-family building is a very much underserved sector). An update … Continue Reading

COVID-19 and the Risk from Recirculated Air in Buildings

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Environmental, Green Building, State
The Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Associations (REHVA) has in recent days issued guidance on how to occupy commercial and public buildings, from offices to schools, “in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.” As Americans begin to end coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdowns, which were of course intended to keep … Continue Reading

LEED can Help Mitigate Legal Risks in ESG Disclosures

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Environmental, LEED
Public companies in the U.S. find themselves at a dynamic time of emergent environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) disclosures. Vocal socially conscious investors, activist stockholder environmental proxy proposals, and the like are driving companies to make ESG statements. This blog post highlights the legal risk associated with ESG disclosures and proffers that with green building … Continue Reading

179D Tax Deduction Allocated from Government Buildings

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Codes and Regulations, Energy, Environmental, Green Building
On December 20, 2019, the President signed legislation reviving the Section 179D energy efficient commercial building tax deduction and while much has been written about the much needed boost to green building, little has been said about the enormous benefits available from government owned buildings. The § 179D federal tax deduction was brought back from … Continue Reading

Low Carbon Concrete for the First Time Required by Law

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Climate Change, Green Building, Local Government
The negative environmental impact of concrete, the most common man made substance on Earth, has not been meaningfully responded to in 2020. Cement use in concrete is the largest single material source of greenhouse gas emissions in building. Concrete is the largest single material source of embodied emissions in buildings, and makes for more than … Continue Reading
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