Green Building Law Update

Environmental Law and Sustainability for Business

Tag Archives: sustainability

The Hottest Environmental Trend is Sustainable Business Practices

By Stuart Kaplow on 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

Sustainable Agriculture Standard Announced

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental, Sustainability
Recent foodborne illness outbreaks at Chipotle despite use of ingredients that are “organic, responsibly raised meats, pasture raised dairy,” and “non GMO” have left consumers looking for better and other standards for agricultural products. Almost on cue (despite being in the works for more than 4 years), Leonardo Academy has announced that its LEO 4000 … Continue Reading

Pension Funds Must Now Consider Environmental, Social and Governance Factors

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Environmental, Green Building, Sustainability
You may not have noticed, but with over $9 Trillion invested in U.S. pensions you should care that the U.S. Labor Department released Interpretive Bulletin 2015-01 providing guidance on the investment duties of pension plans when considering investments, now requiring that they take into account environmental, social and governance factors. It is significant that the … Continue Reading

Harvard Business Review Adds Environmental Performance to Ranking CEOs

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Environmental, Green Building, Sustainability
It is significant when the Harvard Business Review alters its methodology in ranking the best performing CEOs in the world to now take into account a company’s environmental performance. Increasingly CEOs are coming to appreciate it is okay to make a profit while saving the planet. Harvard Business Review’s self described mission is “to improve … Continue Reading

Government Ownership of Rain is Antithetical to Increased Potable Water

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Sustainability
Collecting rain and using it for a desired purpose on one's own property should no longer violate the law. Utah's decriminalizing precipitation collection may be a model for the nation. Tucson may have gone too far in mandating rain collection for landscaping. But is it too farfetched to imagine government increasing potable water by not only making it legal but even offering incentives, like Albuquerque, for collecting rain?… Continue Reading

In the Name of Clean Water Millions of Acres are Proposed for Federal Control

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Sustainability
It has been over 40 years since the Cuyahoga River caught fire and spurred the 1972 passage of the Clean Water Act. ... efforts to use the CWA to 'clarify' a definition of navigable water from the 1899 Rivers and Harbors Act does not serve the potable water issues that the nation faces today. ... The new rule is proposed to be effective 60 days after Federal Register publication.… Continue Reading

Microbeads Ban in Maryland will be more Efficacious than Others

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Sustainability
Just 2 years ago Hayden Panettierre told us microbeads were chic in this television commercial. ... Today, the annual per-capita consumption of microbeads from cosmetics and personal care products in the United States is estimated at 0.0309 ounces per person per year, which adds up to over 300 tons of microbeads being discharged into the wastewater stream each year.… Continue Reading

Produced with Genetic Engineering

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Sustainability
Only slightly less fun than a Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin Point Counterpoint on Saturday Night Live, is the fight over labeling food produced from a bioengineered organism is being waged in a Federal courtroom in Vermont. ... finding that "that up to 80 percent of the processed foods sold in the United States" may contain ingredients produced from genetically engineered sources. So, we may all find all of our food labeled "produced with genetic engineering".… Continue Reading

Promoting Electric Vehicles as Environmental Policy or Corporate Welfare

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Sustainability
In addition to federal government incentives, a total of 37 states and Washington, D.C. have created incentives for plug-in electric vehicles. ... One key public policy question that had previously been little debated in Maryland, or elsewhere, is whether utility customers should pay for the investment in car charging stations. It is arguably corporate welfare at its worst ...… Continue Reading

All Water is Greywater – So Don’t Ban Greywater in Your Plumbing Code

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Sustainability
.. about 150 million years ago a dinosaur stopped and peed 300 gallons. And there were millions of dinosaurs, all drinking water and peeing. So, easily creatures have had inside their kidneys and peed thousands of times all the potable water available on the planet. At this point it is all greywater. .. As governments across the country enter the triennial building code cycle, including adopting the 2015 International Plumbing Code, it is key that they not ban greywater use.… Continue Reading

Indoor Marijuana Growing Accounts for Over 1% of all Electric Consumption in the U.S.

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in LEED, Sustainability
Indoor Marijuana Growing Accounts for Over 1% of all Electric Consumption in the U.S. ... Boulder, Colorado has responded with a regulatory requirement that each Medical Marijuana Optional Premises Cultivation ... must "directly offset 100% of the electricity consumption through a verified subscription in a Community Solar Garden, renewable energy generated on site, or equivalent."… Continue Reading

Dunkin’ Donuts Green is a Hot Trend in Green Building

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in LEED, Sustainability
Dunkin' Donuts Green is an example of sustainability initiatives by an increasing number of U.S. companies. ... This law firm has worked with more than four score and seven organizations creating their own green building programs. And we regularly provide third party validation of green including "opinions of counsel" that specific projects are "certifiable" or otherwise in compliance with specific green building requirements.… Continue Reading

Mid Term Election Results Superb For Green Building

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Sustainability
Election Day 2014 in which Republicans made big gains in Congress and statehouses across the country portends huge business opportunities for green building. As more conservative legislative bodies look to enact environmental and energy policies while driving up growth without enacting new mandates or imposing new taxes, enabling voluntary green building is positioned to be part of the new legislative agendas.… Continue Reading

Lawyers’ Opinions in Green Building Transactions

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in LEED, Sustainability
One might ask why they need an opinion from a lawyer that their building is green? The best response is because in many instances their lender requires it. While legal opinions are given in a variety of commercial contexts, they are increasingly being required as part of the due diligence by lenders when making loans secured by (i.e., a mortgage) a green building.… Continue Reading

Ohio Law Rolls Back Unwise Renewable Portfolio Standards

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Sustainability
Last Friday, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed Senate Bill 310 freezing the state's renewable energy portfolio and energy efficiency requirements at 2014 levels. It is likely best to not be an alarmist about Ohio's new law or to deny that it was passed overwhelmingly by the legislature after a hue and cry from the public, who recognized an unwise (expensive and degrowth) existing law (green or otherwise) when they saw it.… Continue Reading
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