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Zoning Laws Stop Wind
The application of zoning laws, many of which date to the 1920s are bringing alternative energy projects to a halt in 2014.In a recent New York case, the Town of Allegany issued a special use permit to...
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All the Cool Green Building People will be in Memphis Next Week
The process of updating the 2012 International Green Construction Code moves to Memphis next week.The IgCC provides model code language, to be adopted by local governments as an overlay to existing...
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Marijuana Smoking is Allowed in LEED Buildings
Today 20 states allow medical marijuana use and Colorado and Washington state have laws allowing recreational marijuana use. Colorado started allowing recreational marijuana use in January and...
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FTC is Pursuing Green Marketing Claims
The Federal Trade Commission announced last Friday that it approved a final order settling charges that American Plastic Manufacturing, Inc. made misleading and unsubstantiated biodegradability claims...
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The 2015 IgCC Takes a Major Step Forward
We alerted readers of this blog in a post some days ago, All the Cool Green Building People will be in Memphis Next Week. And some thought we oversold the story. But when Britain's Prince William and...
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Maryland Sidesteps LEED in Favor of the IgCC
House Bill 207, approved unanimously in both the Maryland House and Senate and expected to be signed by Governor Martin O’Malley this Thursday, May 15, 2014 broadens the definition of a “high...
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LEED v4 has a New and Improved Registration Contract
USGBC proudly boasts that LEED v4 has 80% fewer forms when compared to LEED 2009. Not only are there fewer fields to document with the removal of low value content, but the user experience is further...
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Chinese Military Hackers Charged with Disrupting U.S. Solar Market
A grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania has indicted Chinese military hackers for computer hacking, economic espionage and other offenses directed at a solar products manufacturer in...
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Green Building Bonds as a Game Changing New Source of Capital
Regency Centers Corporation, a publicly traded REIT, completed the sale of $250 million of “green building bonds” on May 14, 2014.Proceeds from these corporate bonds will be used to fund “eligible...
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Revocation of LEED Certification
Revocation of LEED Certification is the title of the largest section within the U.S. Green Building Council’s Guide to LEED Certification: Commercial. The more than 2,800 word section consumes over 3...
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Demand Response Needs to a Mulligan
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has nullified the retail electric market Demand Response programs governed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, putting a chink in the armor of the new EPA...
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Demand Response Needs a Mulligan
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has nullified the retail electric market Demand Response programs governed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, putting a chink in the armor of the new EPA...
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Ohio Law Rolls Back Unwise Renewable Portfolio Standards
Last Friday, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed Senate Bill 310 freezing the state’s renewable energy portfolio and energy efficiency requirements at 2014 levels. Environmental activists decried the new...
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Baltimore City is Adopting the IgCC
This evening an ordinance will be introduced in the Baltimore City Council for the purpose of adopting the International Green Construction Code. The IgCC will be adopted as an overlay in conjunction...
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E-Cigarettes will be Prohibited in Future LEED Buildings
On July 1st the U.S. Green Building Council released a change to LEED classifying electronic cigarettes as a form of tobacco smoking for the purposes of the smoking prohibitions of the LEED...
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Lawyers' Opinions in Green Building Transactions
We are increasingly called upon to give legal opinions that a green building is LEED certified, ‘certifiable’ or otherwise really a green building.The purpose of a legal opinion given in a commercial...
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Lawsuit Over LEED Documentation
A case filed last week in a California court is a prime example of the importance of contract documents in a LEED project.Earlier this year the City of Palo Alto gave notice firing Flintco Pacific,...
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Litigation Over First Ever LEED Platinum Building Tarnishes Green Building
Last week, a federal appeals court brought back from the dead, a more than $6 Million lawsuit filed over materials supplied in 2000 for the first ever LEED certified Platinum building. Despite that the...
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Enterprise Green Communities Criteria Being Updated
In 2015 the use of LEED v4 will become mandatory, a new 2015 International Green Construction Code will be available, an updated ASHRAE 189.1 will be published, the new ICC 700 National Green Building...
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Attend Greenbuild: The Best Way To Grow Your Business
I was delivering a lunchtime speech to a group of real estate professionals yesterday and the first question I received was “how can I expand my green building business?” I retell that because it is a...
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