The standard of care for designers is “changing rapidly,” in large part due to the power of BIM technologies and the proliferation of systems like LEED.
Archive | Intellectual Property & Technology
Nuclear Power as Green Power? Debate Will Heat Up as U.S. Eases Permitting Process
By Stephen Del Percio on September 20, 2007 in Alternative Energy, Intellectual Property & Technology
Currently, 439 nuclear reactors in 31 nations supply 15 percent of global electricity, and 31 new plants are currently under construction throughout the world, including in Finland- Europe’s first in 15 years. Last week, in a fascinating and expansive cover piece on nuclear power’s “new age,” The Economist reported a projection that global nuclear capacity […]
World Expo 2008: Digital Water Pavilion
The theme of next June’s World Expo 2008 in Zaragoza, Spain is (of course) sustainable development, and the Digital Water Pavilion is one of the more interesting green design concepts that you’ll see. The Pavilion will use a computer to control water down to the level of individual drops, which in turn can create patterns […]
Green Business Law: Trademark Protection for Certification Systems Under the Lanham Act
Demonstrating yet another legal aspect to the green movement that industry stakeholders should remain aware of, last week’s edition of the Sustainable Industries Journal offered an insightful article about the intersection of trademark law and green product certification systems (such as Green Seal or LEED) which has implications for both certification-granting organizations and the companies […]
Building Information Modeling- BIM: Contractual Risks are Changing with Technology*
*This article is posted with the permission of its authors, Ryan Miner and Dean Thomson, of Fabyanske, Westra, Hart & Thomson, P.A. It was originally published in the firm’s Construction Law Briefing Paper, a publication of FWHT distributed to its clients and other industry professionals, in August of 2006. You can access all of the […]
BIM Treatise for Contractors Released
The Associated General Contractors of America has released a forty-eight page treatise entitled The Contractors’ Guide to BIM: Edition 1. Co-authored by general contractor/design-builder Barton Malow’s executive vice-president Les Snyder, the Guide hopes to allay contractors’ various fears about BIM, including its potential legal risks. Cadalyst AEC believes the Guide is the first BIM publication […]
GSA to Require BIM for Select Projects
By Stephen Del Percio on November 23, 2006 in BIM, D.C., Intellectual Property & Technology, Legislation
Following up on my last post about BIM, the General Services Administration has announced that it will require new buildings designed through its Public Buildings Service to employ BIM during the design phase. “We are making this fiscal ’07 requirement as a minimum requirement,” said Calvin Kam, GSA’s BIM project manager. “We are encouraging [people], […]
Thoughts on the Autodesk/USGBC Partnership
The news coming out of Greenbuild includes the announcement of a partnership between Autodesk and USGBC. This is excellent news for smaller projects interested in applying for LEED certification, but at the same time will present liability issues for design teams, particularly with respect to Building Information Modeling (“BIM”). Autodesk and the Green Building Council […]
