Over the weekend at the 2007 American Society of Landscape Architects (“ASLA“) Expo in San Francisco, ASLA, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and the U.S. Botanic Garden officially announced the development of a rating system specific to sustainable site design. Called the Sustainable Sites Initiative, the group’s efforts began back in 2005 with the […]
Archive | Rating Systems
LEED-AP Designation Not Just for A/E/C
It’s no surprise that this week’s edition of Crain’s reports an increasing number of real estate brokers, marketing professionals, and, yes, lawyers, who are sitting for the U.S. Green Building Council’s exam in pursuit of the LEED Accredited Professional (“LEED-AP”) designation. (The article is not yet available online). Depending on the industry, though, professionals are […]
More Green Building Legislation Including Green Globes as Option
The Green Building Initiative announced last week that Kentucky and Illinois have become the tenth and eleventh states in the nation to incorporate the Green Globes green building rating system into local legislation. (gbNYC has written a number of posts discussing Green Globes and comparing it with LEED). Kentucky’s bill recommends that its Finance and […]
Is LEED Legislation- Whether Public or Private- Undemocratic?
In an article written earlier this week, Dan Walters, a columnist at the Sacramento Bee, articulated his concerns over a LEED-driven green public building regulatory scheme by calling such legislation “part of a broader legislative tendency to avoid tough policy decisions by shifting them to unaccountable outside organizations.” Walters was writing with respect to California’s […]
Second Long Island County on Verge of Mandating LEED for Public Projects
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 […]
List of Green Building “Firsts” Emphasizes Need for LEED V3
The June 2007 issue of Urban Land included a list of ten “green building firsts”, ranging from a LEED Certified police station in San Diego to a Gold convent (designed by Perkins Eastman) in Corapolis, Pennsylvania. As Charles Lockwood noted in the introduction to his piece, the diversity of projects- both by use and geographic […]
LEED Creep: Gaia Napa Valley Hotel Receives Gold Rating from USGBC
Back in December, I wrote about LEED creep in the context of the Gaia Napa Valley Hotel, which at the time, and after opening in November, was waiting on its LEED certification from USGBC in order to obtain a $1 million rebate for hotel occupancy tax revenues from the American Canyon, California City Council. The […]
Green Business Law: Need for Green Counsel Becoming Increasingly Salient as Green Claims are Brought Against Design Professionals
I’ve written before about the potential for design professionals to unwittingly expose themselves to unanticipated risks on green construction projects. In a presentation at last month’s 2007 AIA National Convention in San Antonio, Frank Musica, an attorney with a Maryland-based insurance company, provided an overview of twenty-one actual “green claims” brought against engineers and architects. […]
Columbia’s Manhattanville Expansion to Participate in LEED-ND Pilot Program
Columbia announced today that its seventeen acre Manhattanville expansion project, designed by Renzo Piano and SOM, has been accepted into the LEED for Neighborhood Development (“LEED-ND”) Pilot Program. (image of the project site looking west from Broadway along 125th Street via Columbia). Interestingly, the news comes immediately in advance of the start of the City’s […]
Bull Ridge 1: First Spec Warehouse to Seek LEED-CS Rating
The first speculative warehouse project in the country to seek a LEED rating is about to open its doors in Greensboro, North Carolina. Developer Liberty Property Trust reports that the 314,000 square foot green building, called Bull Ridge 1, required only a one percent construction premium over a conventional warehouse. The project expects to receive […]
