All Posts Tagged With: "green building lawyer"

We’ve written extensively here at gbNYC about the potential for litigation arising out of green construction projects. To date the issue has been on the radar screens of numerous industry authors, but real-life application of green legal theory has been relatively difficult to come by outside of a handful of green-related claims reported by insurance carriers. However, a (relatively) recent lawsuit that was filed on the eastern shore of Maryland demonstrates that green building risk is real- particularly in light of rapidly increasing regulatory activity at the state and local levels. The suit suggests the critical importance of clear contract language for each stakeholder on a green construction project and posits that the alternative could be massive exposure to unanticipated liability for every project participant.

In its 2006 Green Building White Paper, Building Design + Construction magazine called upon the legal profession to examine the potential liability issues that could arise from green standards. It asked the American Bar Association or a leading law school to lead the charge and critically analyze the legal implications that green building regulations might implicate. As far as I can tell, the first conference that will begin to dig into these issues is taking place next week in Chicago. Sponsored by the Alberti Group, it’s not too late to register for Managing Risk in Sustainable Building: Policy, Performance & Pitfalls.

On Monday, Pittsburgh’s City Council approved a new green building incentive, and entertained a second which it will vote on sometime next year. The first, and less controversial bill, will allow LEED-certified buildings to rise 20 percent higher and include 20 percent more floor area than other buildings in their zoning district. For example, the [...]