Stephen Del Percio, Esq., LEED AP

Stephen Del Percio, Esq., LEED AP, Publisher

I am Stephen Del Percio and I am the publisher of gbNYC. I am a Manhattan-based construction and real estate attorney admitted to the New York and New Jersey bars, currently practicing law at a full-service firm in Midtown. I was one of the first ten attorneys in the country to earn the LEED AP designation.

My background is in construction litigation; at my prior firm I primarily represented design professionals against claims for professional malpractice. At my present firm, our client base is mostly owners, for whom we draft every type of construction agreement and handle various issues arising out of construction projects, ranging from discharging mechanic's liens and notices of pendency to advising with respect to insurance coverage issues and other project-specific claims. We also handle a significant number of transactional, corporate, and, when necessary, litigation matters on behalf of both design professionals and contractors. I also have experience in residential and commercial real estate sales contracts, corporate operating agreements, and commercial leasing.

I frequently advise owners, contractors, and design professionals on the legal issues associated with green building which I explore here at gbNYC, particularly with respect to LEED and other green certification provisions in contracts, leases, and marketing materials. I also have experience in reviewing and commenting on proposed state- and local-level green building legislation. Please feel free to contact me with respect to any of the foregoing through my contact information below.

I have maintained gbNYC since October of 2006 and hold an undergraduate degree in civil engineering from Columbia. I spent two years after college as a project superintendent and project manager for AMEC Construction Management, Inc. (formerly Morse Diesel) on a number of projects, including 5 Times Square and pre-construction services for the New York Times Tower. I attended law school at William & Mary in Virginia, where I served as Managing Editor of the William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review. In 2004, I wrote one of the first law review pieces in the country to discuss and critique green building regulatory schemes, including the LEED system, which was published by the UC Davis Environs Law & Policy Review in the spring of 2005. This publication spurred my interest in sustainable construction and the legal implications of green building; gbNYC was created in order to further that exploration.

I am also a frequent author and lecturer on sustainable building initiatives outside of gbNYC. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss green building law, risk management, or other issues with your organization. My CV is available upon request; below are a number of my recent publications and speaking engagements.

• The Skyscraper, Green Design, & the LEED Green Building Rating System, 28 Environs Envtl. L. & Pol'y J. 117 (2004).
• USGBC Prepares Its Rating System for Massive Changes, 14 The Next American City (March 2007).
• The Greening of Buildings, N.Y. Newsday, March 7, 2007.
• Green Building in the Military, N.Y.R.E.J., Mar. 13, 2007, at 9B.
• Green, Energy Efficient Office Space on the Rise in Manhattan, N.Y.R.E.J., Mar. 11, 2008, at 24B.
• A Climate for Change: Green Building Policies, Programs, and Incentives, 3 J. of Green Building, No. 2 (Spring 2008).
• Leadership Roundtable: Green Building: Balancing Fact and Fiction, 33 Real Estate Issues, No. 2 (2008).

• Potential Legal Challenges to Local “Green” Building Mandates, Presentation at Managing Risk in Sustainable Building: Policy, Performance, & Pitfalls, DePaul University Real Estate Center, Chicago, Illinois, February 7-8, 2008
• The Liability of Building Green, The Green Building Initiative, Webinar Series, Summer, 2008
• Blogging the Built Environment, Greenbuild 2008, Boston, Massachusetts, November 11, 2008

Contact Information

You can contact me via email at stephen@greenbuildingsNYC.com, in the office at 212-457-5542, after regular business hours at 201-835-8530, or via the social networking sites below.

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The views expressed herein are solely my own and those of gbNYC's contributors, are not representative of my law firm, and do not constitute either legal advice or create any type of attorney-client relationship. Please see the gbNYC disclaimer for further details or contact me for information on how I can assist you with any specific legal issues.