On Tuesday, Vote for Green Building

White House Developing Emissions Reporting for Contractors
On Friday, we discussed Navy contracting requirements for tracking "energy efficiency" and "energy footprints."  When I first learned of these requirements, I was reminded of Executive Order 131

Energy Reductions in the Navy
My colleague Steve McBrady and I recently presented “Green Building in the 21st Century” at the national conference of the Construction Users Roundtable. Our slideshow is available below. Our primary message was that the federal government's investment of $25 billion in green building projects, through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will prop up the green building industry for the next few years.  Other presentations by government officials regarding federal construction projects further highlighted this message. For example, during the first day, Vice Admiral Mic

Starbucks Announces LEED Initiative
[Ed. Note: written by Steve McBrady] Starbucks coffee has always been an integral part of what we do here at Green Building Law Update. Until now, it was primarily a means of keeping our readers awake while we write endlessly on Green building and sustainable development in government contracts and in commercial construction, or discuss emerging

Green Building Litigation All But Certain
The primary theme of Green Building Law Update is green building litigation will develop.  To date, one of the rare examples of green building litigation is Shaw Development v. Southern Builders, a case that involved a project's failure to achieve LEED certification in a timely matter.  Other examples of green building disputes are sparse. But I am confident the litigation will develop.&

"Super Star" Green Label Proposed
A major overhaul to the Energy Star program, which currently certifies and labels products that are energy efficient, is imminent. How this overhaul occurs remains to be seen. On the one hand, the two current agencies responsible for the Energy Star program- the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) - are trying to revise the program internally. But it's not clear if the agencies' actions