How will LEED and Green Building impact the practice of law, and litigation in general? This presentation looks to answer that question. To be given by Chris Hill and Scott Wolfe at the Green Legal Matters conference this upcoming September, these are the slides that will (likely) be used.

2. What is Construction Litigation?

4. What is LEED?

5. http://www.usgbc.org

6. http://www.nahbgreen.org

7. http://www.energystar.gov

8. also known as green construction or sustainable building, is the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle : from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and deconstruction. This practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. What is Green Building? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_building

11. The bad news is that attorneys, especially those already practicing in construction law, will soon realize that aside from green design and construction’s sometimes specialized and occasionally ill-defined vernacular, there’s no real novelty in the types of claims that might arise. No new frontiers of jurisprudence need be explored –a leaky green roof is still a leaky roof–whether it also requires regular mowing and landscape maintenance changes little from a legal perspective. “ http://www.lawarkbuilding.com/?p=104 Law Ark Building Blog

12. Cole may be right that there is no novelty to the traditional types of claims (contract, tort, statutory, etc.) that may arise in green construction disputes. However, the novelty in the green building industry is the new set of standards that will inevitably become part of the legal dispute. In other words, while “a leaky green roof is still a leaky roof” … there will be new risks to be allocated, different types of damages lost, additional players involved, varied proof required and, yes, perhaps a novel cause of action alleged because that leaky green roof system failed. “ Best Practices Construction Blog http://bit.ly/diszmS

14. Is Litigation Probable?

15. Green Growth is phenomenal across the globe. Harvey M. Bernstein, McGraw-Hill Construction “

16. Green Building Construction Grows 5x ($10b to $49b) Green Outlook 2009: McGraw-Hill Trends Driving Change Report 2005 - 2008 Could Triple, reaching $140b 2009 - 2013

17. How’s It Going to End?

20. What Are The Damages?

25. ...Expect the unexpected. Always sounds like good advice. Except, of course, if you are expecting the unexpected, then well then it really isn't really unexpected anymore. Is it? And that leaves you vulnerable to the truly unexpected. Because, you're not expecting it. “ Control Expectations

27. Shaw Development v. Southern Builders Contract required “Silver LEED Certification,” but lacked clear specifications. Two lessons: - Builder’s obligation to achieve certification and build to specs must be aligned; - Certification is not a guarantee, and architects / builders should be weary of promising a certification.

29. Things That Affect A Building’s Energy Performance A building’s energy performance can be a very complex matter, affected by things out of the builder / architect’s control: - Climate - Use and Users of Building - Third Party Interference

30. Allocate Responsibility The LEED Program allocates responsibility for points between the Owner, Builder and Architect. It is an error to not allocate responsibility for green building design and construction when contracting.

32. Greenwashing (green whitewash) is the practice of companies disingenuously spinning their products and policies as environmentally friendly, such as by presenting cost cuts as reductions in use of resources. It is a deceptive use of green PR or green marketing. The term green sheen has similarly been used to describe organizations that attempt to show that they are adopting practices beneficial to the environment What is Green Washing? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwash