Construction Law Today : Construction Lawyer & Attorney : Joshua Glazov : Design Build Contracts, Construction Bankruptcy

Chris Birk from SuretyBonds.com recently interviewed Green Building Law Update's Chris Cheatham about how green building affects performance bonds and the DC green building law.  The interview is informative and I enjoyed listening.  It's 15 minutes well spent.  Click here to tune-in.

 

 

 

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In Overcoming the Ugly Factor in Building-Integrated Solar Design, journalist Jennifer Kho reports on how Skidmore Ownings, & Merril and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are collaborating to make solar energy-gathering materials look better.

One source says "most applications thus far are pretty ugly and impede your view."  

While visual elegance may not seem like a serious concern to those determined to generate electricity from the sun, for architects and developers looking to sell or rent properties, looks matter.

The SOM/Rensselaer collaboration is focusing on a dynamic solar facade, a panel composed of glass elements like the one to the right.  In its current design, it's hung on wires that move up and down and twist from side to side to track the sun.  The idea is to produce a system that combines aesthetic appeal with more efficient capturing of the sun's UV radiation.

Engineers and designers recognize that for building owners and operators who must rent and sell property to meet pro formas and satisfy investors and lenders, energy efficiency and government incentives aren't the only factors in the green building calculus.  Like it or not, curb appeal attracts tenants and buyers.  The engineers and designers are addressing that factor too. 

 

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AuggieV over at Building Green CT reports a Recent Surge In Connecticut Green Building News May Be A Good Sign.  Some of the things he mentions:

• Connecticut tied with Georgia for No. 1 in the fifth annual Global Green USA analysis and ranking of state Qualified Allocation Plans used by state housing finance agencies and guide annual distribution of federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits

• Reckson (a division of SL Green Realty Corp.) installed a new 100 kilowatt photovoltaic solar panel system on the roof of their facility on Greenwich

• The state of Connecticut and Gateway Community College just broke ground on a $198M campus in downtown New Haven.  It's the largest construction project the state undertaken to date and its first public building designed gold LEED certification. The project is also estimated to employ 350 workers

• Nestle Waters North America announced they will move their headquarters from Greenwich to Stamford in late 2010. The company plans to renovate the new Stamford headquarters for LEED certification. They've already got nine LEED certified facilities. The Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development is providing a $4M low-interest loan to equip the new building and Nestle Waters is also eligible for up to $5 million in tax credits

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A bill (HB2356) was introduced last week in the Arizona State Legislature that, if enacted, will require certain building and construction projects to achieve at least a silver LEED certification.

Bill Summary

Projects that will need to achieve at least a Silver certification:

• Each Major Project of a state agency, including state universities and colleges
• Each Major Project of a school board that receives state funding
• Each private Major Project that receives at least 50% of its funding from the state
• All existing public buildings under energy efficiency retrofitting of at least a 35% share of the total value of the existing building, regardless of whether the retrofitting project qualifies as a Major Project

Continue Reading...

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A bill was introduced in the Washington State Legislature yesterday that will require LEED certification for sales and use tax deferral on select construction projects. If this bill (SB 6598) becomes law, projects will have to achieve a certain level of LEED certification to qualify for deferral of sales and use tax on materials and other components of the work. The higher the project's LEED certification, the greater the amount of sales and use tax that's deferred.

This chart identifies the percentage of sales and use tax each level of certification will deliver:

LEED Certification Level	Percentage of Sales and Use Tax Deferred
Platinum	100%
Gold	75%
Silver	50%
Less Than Silver	25%

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The Cooperator's Erik D. Nevala-Lee reports in Green Building Insurance Practices on new insurance for building green and designing green. The principal focus:

• Professional errors and omission insurance for architects and engineers whose designs don't meet LEED requirements specified by owners
• Casualty insurers who will pay claims to re-build damages or destroyed property to be greener and more energy efficient

Mr. Neval-Lee specifically mentioned Fireman's Fund Insurance Company (a division of Allianz) and Lexington Insurance Company (a division of AIG). They're testing the market for new policies that pay to rebuild to higher environmental standard after a partial or total loss. Fireman's Fund's policy includes upgrading to LEED certified status by hiring a LEED accredited professional, as well as upgrading building materials and systems, like adding Energy Star appliances, roofing, plumbing, and heating and cooling systems.

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