This criminal case charging five Chinese military officers should be a wakeup call to all; not only have Alcoa, Westinghouse, and U.S Steel been damaged, but every U.S. business and homeowner with solar panels on a roof has been a victim of Chinese economic espionage.… Continue Reading
With respect to environmental product declarations.. on balance, it appears that LEED v4 has the bleeding edge materials disclosure 'stuff' just about right. And possibly of greatest import, many believe building product and material disclosure and optimization will, in short order, be a bigger business than LEED itself.… Continue Reading
An environmental product declaration (EPD) is a method of quantifying the environmental impacts of a product. It is analogous to the nutritional label on a box of cereal. All of this is new, in particular in the U.S. where EPDs are soon to be crucial in green building because LEED v4 and Green Globes both recognize EPDs.… Continue Reading
There are few, if any laws in most jurisdictions about solar renewable energy credits (SRECs), including the sale of SRECs by third party marketers. There is no national registry of RECs issued. This law firm has given opinions on RECs transactions that RECs are properly accounted for and no double counting has taken place, but it is the Wild West out there.… Continue Reading
Insurance companies cannot recover environmental cleanup costs paid to their insured under the federal CERCLA, commonly known as Superfund, from another Potentially Responsible Party, .. and, having the result of making environmental insurance more valuable.… Continue Reading
A package of local government bills introduced on January 29th aim to ensure that Montgomery County, Maryland remains at the sustainability forefront. The legislation is a model for local government environmental and energy initiatives and we provide a link to each bill with the thought that these may inspire other cities and counties,… Continue Reading
There are 3,980,817 miles of roads in the United States. Roads are the largest built structures we come into contact with and yet they are so ubiquitous and familiar that they have become an impervious given, the dark matter of the motor vehicle cosmos. If green building is going to save the planet it will have to include green roads.… Continue Reading
The Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure announced that earlier this week it reached the milestone of 1,500 Envision Sustainability Professionals who have been credentialed in the use of the Envision sustainable infrastructure rating system. Envision is a voluntary third party sustainable development rating system for all types and sizes of infrastructure projects, as opposed to buildings (.. yes, something like LEED for roads and bridges).… Continue Reading
After a failed moratorium and years of litigation to void a settlement agreement, 34 wind turbines may finally be erected in the Town of Prattsburgh, New York. Wind is one of the cleanest and most sustainable means of generating energy but some in the environmental movement see wind turbines as "Cuisinarts in the sky."… Continue Reading
Last week the U.S. Department of the Interior issued the long awaited final regulation permitting "the take [injure, kill or otherwise disturb] of bald eagles and golden eagles" for wind energy projects. ... What is clear from all of this is that developers of energy projects, renewable and otherwise, and even energy projects not currently subject to avian regulation, need to consider and evaluate applying for take permits.… Continue Reading
New research from Arizona State University calls into question many common assumptions about the ability of reflective pavements to mitigate urban heat island effect. .. "Unfortunately, efforts to promote reflective pavements have moved more quickly than the scientific and engineering research."… Continue Reading
EPA has withdrawn the new ASTM E1527-13 Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process as satisfying the requirements for conducting all appropriate inquiries.… Continue Reading
Baltimore City is poised to adopt a new zoning code that is among the most 'green building friendly' land use ordinances in the country. A green building friendly zoning ordinance is significant when so many local codes including land use ordinances across the country stand in the way of sustainability efforts.… Continue Reading
In an all-out brawl within the environmental industrial complex, last week the American Society of Landscape Architects filed a lawsuit over the ownership of the trademark for the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) against the Lady Bird Johnson Wildlife Center at the University of Texas. The complaint is a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of not having a written agreement between partners or otherwise to protect valuable intellectual property.… Continue Reading
In the most recent shot fired in the trade war over solar panels between the United States and China, last week solar panel manufacturer Energy Conversion Devices, through its liquidating trust filed an antitrust lawsuit against Chinese companies ... seeking over $950,000,000 in damages.… Continue Reading
Last week the Superior Court of D.C. entered an order staying Michael Mann's (of Hockey Stick Graph fame) defamation lawsuit, .. but that order also concluded that "to place the Plaintiff's name in the same sentence with Sandusky (a convicted pedophile) is clearly outrageous.… Continue Reading
In a case important beyond the State of Washington, the State's highest court expressly acknowledged the dynamic tension of balancing the competing interests of the ecology versus generating electricity, coming down on the side of electricity, all be it renewable energy from wind turbines.… Continue Reading
Today is the final day to offer a comment on EPA's proposal to add a new ASTM E1527-13 Phase I Environmental Site Assessment procedure as an alternative to the existing ASTM E1527-05 Phase I procedure, in lieu of replacing it. This means beginning November 13, 2013, parties will need to choose which Phase I procedure to use in each transaction.… Continue Reading
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of serving as a Judge for the AGC of DC’s Washington Contractor Awards. One of the awards passed out was for the most Sustainable Company. Until I reviewed the applications, I had no idea the extent of sustainability programs being undertaken by green building contractors. A recent … Continue Reading
