All Posts Tagged With: "LEED legislation"

We’ve commented extensively here at gbNYC on proposed state- and local-level green building legislation. One consistent critique we’ve had is that many pieces of legislation have either left key green terms undefined or failed to accurately and comprehensively articulate how the legislation will be implemented. These considerations are critical given that 100 state-level, LEED-driven green building bills have been introduced here in 2008, with 18 actually taking effect. Connecticut’s construction industry recently voiced these types of concerns with respect to proposed legislation that would mandate LEED Silver certification- or its “equivalent”- for public and private sector projects. Industry representatives are concerned over the legislation’s ambiguity, pointing out that there is no definition or guidance within the legislation with respect to what an “equivalent” rating to LEED might be.

An insightful letter to the editor that suggests many potential green construction law issues appears in the February 2008 issue of The Construction Specifier magazine. Written by Anne Whitacre of Gehry Partners’ Los Angeles office, A Different Perspective on Green draws attention to the LEED mandates that continue to be enacted in the author’s hometown of Seattle. In the letter, Whitacre raises her concerns about both local green building incentives and public mandates; her comments ring particularly salient in light of the recent Managing Risk in Sustainable Building conference at DePaul’s Real Estate Center in Chicago a couple of weeks ago, as well as freshly proposed Seattle-based legislation that would expand a green building mandate at the county level.

gbNYC selects green news items of note that were reported across the New York City area during the week of January 20, 2008, including additional details on LEED legislation Upstate, New Jersey’s alternative energy initiatives in the context of a green development in the Pine Barrens, and a discussion about greening New York City’s existing buildings- sure to a be a hot issue here in 2008, particularly if the economic downturn turns out to be as acute as many expect. As always, descriptions and links are after the jump.

I’d like to thank everyone for reading and supporting greenbuildingsNYC throughout 2007. It was an incredibly enjoyable and rewarding effort last year, and I’m thrilled that I had the pleasure of meeting and connecting with so many of you both locally here in New York and across the blogosphere. 2008 promises to be another fascinating [...]

Brooklyn Bridge’s 160 lights to receive LEDs by next year at a cost of $500K
City to spend $67M on implementing 132 energy conservation projects over the next few months
Majora Carter presents at Conversations on the Environment in Kansas City
Green building slow to permeate New Jersey commercial real estate market
Orange County (NY) passes green building legislation, [...]

Governor Schwarzenegger has vetoed the trio of green building bills which we presented here a few weeks ago. AB 888 would have required most commercial buildings in California to earn LEED Gold by January 1, 2013, while the other two bills (ABs 1058 and 35) were to apply to homes and public buildings, respectively. The [...]

It appears that Nassau County on Long Island is about to mandate LEED for public projects greater than 5,000 square feet or budgeted at $1 million or more. County Executive Thomas Suozzi announced at a press conference on Monday in Mineola that his proposal (also sponsored by legislators from Merrick and Oceanside) was approved by [...]