Green Building Law Update

Environmental Law and Sustainability for Business

Tag Archives: Stuart Kaplow

Maryland Appellate Court Upholds Local Government Pesticide Ban

By Stuart Kaplow on May 5, 2019 Posted in LEED, Local Government

Last week the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, the state’s intermediate appellate court, overturned an earlier circuit court decision, reinstating a Montgomery County ordinance significantly restricting pesticide use throughout the County. In October 2015, the Montgomery County Council enacted Bill No. 52-14 becoming the first major jurisdiction in the country to enact such a ban. … Continue Reading

Maryland Bans Polystyrene and Enacts 31 other New Environmental Laws

By Stuart Kaplow on April 28, 2019 Posted in Environmental, State

The Maryland General Assembly, the state’s legislative body meets in regular session for 90 days each year beginning the second Wednesday in January to act on more than 2,500 pieces of legislation. On sine die, when the legislature adjourned at midnight on the 90th day, on April 8, 2019, a total of 864 bills and … Continue Reading

Nurdles are the Environmental Calamity of 2019

By Stuart Kaplow on April 21, 2019 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental

A year ago, I thought a nurdle was a cricket term for a score by deflecting the ball rather than striking it. But in the last twelve months I learned that a nurdle is also a term for a small, lentil size, pellet of plastic that serves as raw material in the manufacture of plastic … Continue Reading

On the 25th Anniversary of Lead Based Paint Disclosures

By Stuart Kaplow on March 10, 2019 Posted in Environmental, Federal

Use of lead is not new. Lead was one of the first metals discovered by man and was in use before 3000 BC. Beginning in 753 BC, the ancient Romans used lead for making water pipes and kitchen cookware. Today many believe lead poisoning was the culprit for the infertility of Julius Caesar (.. who … Continue Reading

LEED Prerequisite Now Prohibits Smoking Cannabis

By Stuart Kaplow on February 3, 2019 Posted in LEED

The U.S. Green Building Council issued a LEED Interpretation in 2018 ruling, “smoking of cannabis is considered a form of smoking for the purposes of both the interior and exterior smoking provisions of the LEED Prerequisite Environmental Tobacco Smoke Control.” The LEED prerequisite prohibits smoking outside the building except in designated smoking areas located at … Continue Reading

St. Petersburg is Bold in Mandating Envision

By Stuart Kaplow on January 27, 2019 Posted in Codes and Regulations, LEED, Local Government

The City of St. Petersburg, Florida passed a progressive ordinance last week mandating that City infrastructure projects and newly constructed and renovated City building be third party certified as green. The new Ordinance 359-H, passed by the St. Petersburg City Council on January 17, 2019 and awaiting the Mayor’s signature, supersedes the prior Executive Order … Continue Reading

Blockchain has come to U.S. Real Estate

By Stuart Kaplow on December 16, 2018 Posted in Codes and Regulations

Earlier this year a precedent setting property sale in Vermont was the first real estate transaction in the United States using blockchain, portending a new era in the sale of land and improvements. Blockchain technology is an industry disrupter on the cusp of improving transactions across all sectors and borders. It is suggested blockchain may … Continue Reading

State Not County has Authority to Regulate Solar Farms

By Stuart Kaplow on December 9, 2018 Posted in Energy, Solar Panel

At a time when solar panels are de riguere a recent decision by a Maryland appellate court limiting the authority of local governments to regulate the location and specifics of construction of a solar farm has broad implications far beyond this case. Perennial Solar, LLC filed an application for a zoning special exception and variance … Continue Reading

Tenant’s New Defense to Hazardous Substance Liability

By Stuart Kaplow on December 2, 2018 Posted in Environmental, Federal

Buried in the omnibus spending bill signed earlier this year were amendments to the Superfund law that for the first time make clear that tenants can qualify as bona fide prospective purchasers, protected from cleanup costs from the presence of hazardous substances on a property. The Consolidated Appropriations Act signed on March 23, 2018 included … Continue Reading

2018 IgCC – A Fast Paced Deep Dive

By Stuart Kaplow on November 25, 2018 Posted in Green Building, IgCC

The 2018 International Green Construction Code was released on November 8, 2018 by the U.S. Green Building Council, International Code Council, ASHRAE and the Illuminating Engineering Society. Make no mistake, the 203 page document unveiled by the coterie of trade group authors and available from the ICC for sale to the public (.. click here … Continue Reading

Greenbuild Clearly Showed the State of LEED is Strong

By Stuart Kaplow on November 18, 2018 Posted in IgCC, LEED

The Lorax Partnerships team at Greenbuild

This post is a compilation of the highlights from the just completed Greenbuild International Conference and Expo that took place last week in Chicago. Possibly more accurately stated, this is a report on the state of the LEED green building rating system. The state of LEED is strong. It is a given that each year … Continue Reading

Buying a LEED Certified Building Is Easy But ..

By Stuart Kaplow on November 4, 2018 Posted in LEED

Despite that a frog told us all in a song lyric, “it’s not easy bein’ green,” it is easy to buy a green building, but .. And there are many good reasons for purchasing a green building that is LEED Certified. LEED gave us the technologies and methodologies revolutionizing the way we construct and occupy … Continue Reading

Green Building Codes Not Eligible for Copyright Protection

By Stuart Kaplow on October 28, 2018 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Green Building

A decision earlier this month by the Eleventh Circuit United States Courts Of Appeals goes further than other modern courts in describing that building codes when adopted by local government cannot be copyrighted. Ruling that “the law,” whether by statute, ordinance, regulations, or code, and even when its source is a judicial opinion, is not … Continue Reading

RELi Could be Standard Practice in Nearly Every Real Estate Transaction

By Stuart Kaplow on October 21, 2018 Posted in resilience

RELi 2.0, a comprehensive rating system that provides strategies and tools for resilient building and design, is expected to be launched on Monday, November 12th. The launch of RELi 2.0 is significant because it is widely suggested, just as a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment is now standard practice in nearly every commercial real estate … Continue Reading

Is There Lead in the Drinking Water of Your Green School?

By Stuart Kaplow on October 7, 2018 Posted in Environmental, Green Building

EPA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agree that there is no known safe level of lead in a child’s blood. Lead is harmful to health, especially for children. Though most lead exposure occurs when people eat paint chips and inhale dust, the EPA estimates that up to 20% of lead exposure comes … Continue Reading

With Over $3.6 Trillion in Value You Should Pay Attention to GRESB

By Stuart Kaplow on September 30, 2018 Posted in GRESB, LEED

For the uninitiated GRESB assesses the sustainability performance of real estate and infrastructure portfolios worldwide. GRESB is the global environmental, social and governance (ESG) benchmark for real estate assets. GRESB’s stated “mission is to enhance and protect shareholder value by assessing and empowering sustainability practices in the real asset sector.” They do that by offering … Continue Reading

Net Zero Certification Program Announced by USGBC

By Stuart Kaplow on September 23, 2018 Posted in Green Building, LEED

Much as NASA developed dozens of life changing and useful inventions that benefitted all as it raced to the moon, USGBC may be the catalyst for new, cutting edge technologies in the race to net zero buildings. There is no doubt that the newly announced LEED net zero certification program is aspirational. LEED has always … Continue Reading

Greenbuild – The Target Rich Environment for Green People

By Stuart Kaplow on September 16, 2018 Posted in Green Building, LEED

Friends from Lorax Partnerships at Greenbuild

I am often asked, “how can I expand my green building business?” And I have offered the same response for more than a decade – attend the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo (.. yes, you will have to talk with people while you are there). This year Greenbuild is in Chicago from November 14 thru … Continue Reading

ESG, including Advantaged by Green Building, Requires Risk Oversight

By Stuart Kaplow on September 9, 2018 Posted in Environmental, Green Building, Sustainability

Stuart Kaplow ESG Report

Investments by individuals and institutions driven by environmental, social and governance matters continue to remain front and center in the minds of boards of directors, government regulators and the media. Of course, there is no single or even widely accepted definition of ESG and some have suggested that any analysis of environmental, social and governance … Continue Reading

Modern Slavery Exists and We Must Stop It Now

By Stuart Kaplow on September 2, 2018 Posted in Green Building, Sustainability

There is a lot of green building going on at BREEAM USA from a pilot program for BREEAM In-Use with multifamily properties to the certification of the first BREEAM USA In-Use office tower, but what is no doubt most impactful is the BRE Ethical Labour Sourcing Standard enabling businesses to commit to eliminating any possibility of … Continue Reading

Green Globes New Multifamily Rating Systems Respond to the Market

By Stuart Kaplow on August 26, 2018 Posted in Green Building, Green Globes

On July 11 the Green Building Initiative launched the Green Globes Multifamily for New Construction and Green Globes Multifamily for Existing Buildings. While certainly there is a market in developers of newly constructed multifamily buildings, spending on multifamily construction was more than $61 Billion in 2017, being 18% of all new residential construction spending, up … Continue Reading

The Hottest Environmental Trend is Sustainable Business Practices

By Stuart Kaplow on June 24, 2018 Posted in Environmental, Green Building, Sustainability

In a dramatic shift the fastest growing environmental issue in 2018 is sustainable business practices. At a time when many issues are politically charged, including environmental matters, a major shift in public opinion is happening. There are dramatic changes ongoing as a consequence of the last Presidential election that will result in less and different … Continue Reading

Your ENERGY STAR Score is About to Fall Precipitously

By Stuart Kaplow on June 10, 2018 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Energy, Green Building, Green Globes, LEED

Building owners that utilize ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager will see a dramatic change in the 1 to 100 ENERGY STAR scores after August 26, 2018. Every score model we reviewed saw a drop in ENERGY STAR score except hotels. You have 75 days to act. The change is significant for buildings pursuing LEED or Green … Continue Reading

European Data Privacy Law Applicable to Green Buildings

By Stuart Kaplow on May 6, 2018 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Green Building

With the upcoming May 25, 2018 effective date for the new European General Data Protection Regulation, the European Union law drafted to provide greater protections for the personal data of individuals, it is a good time to review and consider the large quantity of data generated by green buildings. The EU GDPR has long arms … Continue Reading