Archive for May, 2009

Concern Remains Regarding Some LEED Mandates

In addition to clarifying the LEED 25% guideline, Rob Watson also had some interesting points regarding regulations that required LEED certification.* 

First, Watson made a great point about governments requiring municipal projects to achieve LEED certification:  "As far as municipalities requiring their own buildings to go LEED, that’s an owner decision and no problem.  Municipally-funded [...]

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Defining Regularly Occupied Space: Outliers

While looking into a question about whether or not a particular fixture qualifies for task lighting (it did… I think), I stumbled upon a CIR that explained the differences between what is considered regularly occupied spaces (ROS) in a residential space vs. non-residential spaces.  That has since blossomed into me going through each applicable credit [...]

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LEED and the 25 Percent Rule, Revisited

I have been spending a lot of time recently thinking about two posts I made regarding the LEED 25 percent premise and why this will be problematic for green building mandates.  Why did I reconsider these posts?  Rob Watson told me I was wrong. 

Watson knows LEED better than you and I.  He was one [...]

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The Green Impact Zone

As readers may know, I am a die hard Kansas Jayhawk basketball fan.  Our main rival is the Missouri Tigers.  So if I discuss something that originates from Missouri, you better believe that the Missourians have come up with something extraordinary. 

U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver has established a plan for an innovative "Green Impact Zone" [...]

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Cap and Trade Passes First Major Hurdle

The first step toward implementation of a nationwide cap and trade program has occurred.  On Thursday, May 21, 2009, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed a comprehensive clean energy bill that includes a strict limit on global warming pollution: 
The 33 to 25 vote was a major victory for House Democrats, who had softened and [...]

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RIP Public CIRs (Credit Interpretation Rulings)

Buried towards the bottom of an 05.04.09 email (I’m a little late here) from Peter Templeton of the GBCI, there was a rather unfortunate announcement:
“Effective June 26, 2009, credit interpretation requests (CIRs) submitted by any registered project will no longer be vetted by USGBC or its LEED Technical Advisory Groups. As a result, CIR rulings [...]

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I Can’t Define Green Job (But Maybe I Can Help You Find One)

[You may notice a new tab up above: Green Jobs. As part of our continuing experimentation here at Green Building Law Update, I am creating a makeshift green jobs board. See details below. Please take this free opportunity to share your green jobs!]
"It’s hard to define what a green job actually is."
I hear a [...]

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Stimulating Green Guide to the ARRA

Back in March, I gave a presentation about green building funding available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ("ARRA").  I had planned to convert the presentation to a guide of sorts, but more pressing matters arose. 
 
I have now discovered what I hope the guide would have looked like if I had a month to work [...]

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Stimuluating Green Guide to the ARRA

Back in March, I gave a presentation about green building funding available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ("ARRA").  I had planned to convert the presentation to a guide of sorts, but more pressing matters arose. 
 
I have now discovered what I hope the guide would have looked like if I had a month to work [...]

Read the rest » Green Building Law Update

World’s First Claim of “Greendrying”

or
How the USGBC Knows Their Marketing Efforts Have Succeeded
Claims of rampant greenwashing by manufacturers abound, but I haven’t seen anything about the emerging greendrying phenomenon that recently showed itself in the bathrooms at my office. Here’s a scan of the packaging wrapping the towels:

What surprised me most about this is that nowhere on the [...]

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