Green Bulding Codes and Ordinances: Challenges and Opportunities for Property Owners and Local Governments

This ABA Teleconference will take place on Wednesday Sept. 15, 2010 at 1 pm - 2:30 pm Eastern Time.

PROGRAM INFORMATION
The green building movement has sparked a host of new incentives and mandates for real estate developers to incorporate sustainable materials and green building practices into their new and retrofit projects. Local governments have taken the lead by implementing “green building codes” to mandate or facilitate energy conservation in both new construction and renovation.

This program will provide an overview of the critical elements of green building codes or ordinances from the standpoint of property owners and local government, as well as a review of current case law led by a participant in one of the leading cases:
•Key substantive elements and policy considerations
•Pros and cons of the various green building/energy standards that can be adopted (LEED, Energy Star, Green Globes, ANSI) from the standpoint of local government and the developer
•Issues raised by incorporating green building requirements into land use regulations
•Interaction between ordinances and building energy codes and their relationship to climate change
•Carrot or the stick? -- mechanisms for achieving green building implementation: incentives versus mandates, and the risks to building owners/developers under various approaches
•Implementation in public versus private buildings
•AHRI v. City of Albuquerque and Building Industry Assoc. of Washington v Washington State Building Code Council: preemption of local green building ordinances and codes under federal law: who is getting sued and why, and the implications for local green building code initiatives.