Without explaining how (or even if) he has been personally harmed, self-proclaimed energy efficiency maven Henry Gifford is seeking class action certification for a lawsuit he and others recently filed against the USGBC in Federal District Court. The plaintiffs allege fraud, false advertising, and a violation of U.S. anti-trust and RICO laws. (The complaint can be viewed here.) Gifford’s website [...]
Archive for the ‘Leedigation’ Category
LEED Critic Files Lawsuit Against the USGBC
Posted in LEED, LEED v3, Leedigation, National, tagged Gifford v. USGBC, Henry Gifford, LEED lawsuit, USGBC on October 13, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
GBCI Tightens Up LEED v.3 Challenge Procedure
Posted in Green building litigation, LEED, LEED v3, Leedigation, National, Ohio on October 11, 2010 | 1 Comment »
As OGBL previously discussed in relation to the LEED v.3 challenge procedure, two big problems with the challenge procedure were (i) challenges could be brought by persons having no interest at all in the project (in lawyer terms, challenges could be brought by persons who “lack standing”), and (ii) challenges could be brought years after certification was awarded, potentially putting an [...]
Breaking Down the LEED v.3 Challange Procedure
Posted in Green building litigation, LEED v3, Leedigation, National, Ohio on July 12, 2010 | 1 Comment »
After months (perhaps years) of hard work, your project achieved LEED® certification. But months (perhaps years) after the plaque was hung, you get word that somebody has challenged your certification. What now? We’ll answer that question in a minute. First a contrasting scenario: You put in the same months (years) of hard work only to [...]
Northland Pines LEED Challenge: Arrival of Green Building Law or Much Ado?
Posted in City, Codes and Regulations, Federal, Green building litigation, Leedigation, National, Ohio, State on July 5, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
As the green building law blogosphere was erupting over the Northland Pines LEED Challenge, I summed up the situation for an esteemed and diverse group of green professionals (including engineers, contractors, facility managers, architects, and suppliers) and I received some intriguing feedback. First a quick synopsis for the uninitiated. A group of “concerned members of the community” (i.e., persons [...]
Current trends in green building insurance
Posted in LEED, Leedigation, National on February 26, 2010 | 4 Comments »
With all the attention being paid to health insurance issues these days (no comment on the premiums being paid), we wouldn’t want to ignore some new developments in green building insurance. This post will focus on builders risk insurance, which (as most of our audience knows) is typically required by lenders as a precondition to [...]
Possible New LEEDigation in Ohio
Posted in LEED, Leedigation, Ohio, Southern Ohio, tagged LEED, Leedigation, Ohio School Facilities Commission, Ohio Schools, Washington-Nile School District on February 7, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
According to an article in the Portsmouth Daily Times, “Construction is at a stand-still at Washington-Nile School, where issues surrounding state-mandated LEED elements have placed the new middle school project over-budget.” Our friend Chris Cheatham over at Green Building Law Update, has talked previously about the possibility of LEEDigation arising in school districts that may [...]
Green Building Litigation, Part IV: “Negligence per se [it ain't so]“
Posted in Codes and Regulations, Green building litigation, Leedigation, tagged building code, Leedigation, negligence, Negligence per se on February 1, 2010 | 4 Comments »
First a quick explanation for our non-lawyer audience about the title of this post, which is about the green building implications of the legal concept “negilgence per se.“ The “se” is pronounced “say.” Get it!? If humor were my moneymaker, my poor daughters would starve… Anyway, among the risks for green building professionals is the legal [...]
OGBL Going Global via Meritas Webinar
Posted in Global, Green building litigation, LEED, Leedigation, National, Ohio, tagged green leases, greenwashing, Leedigation, Meritas on January 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The OGBL team has been invited to present a webinar (to be broadcast on Wednesday, January 27, from 2-3 p.m. EST) about current trends in green building litigation, green leasing, and greenwashing to Meritas, a collaborative of 6,762 attorneys in 168 full-service law firms in over 60 countries worldwide. This webinar will be interactive and presents a [...]
LEEDigation, Part III: “We’re Only Human”
Posted in Green building litigation, LEED, LEED v3, Leedigation, tagged LEED, Leedigation, New Buildings Institute, USGBC on December 11, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Setting aside for now the question of whether or not litigators are, in fact, human, this post explores the potential for human error to contribute to litigation related to green building and construction projects. A study commissioned by the USGBC and the U.S. EPA, and conducted by the New Buildings Institute, concluded that 25% of [...]
Green Building Litigation, Part I: Who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf?
Posted in Green building litigation, LEED, Leedigation, tagged LEED, Leedigation on November 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Green building litigation is usually among the hot topics when architects, contractors, developers, engineers, and other green building professionals talk about their legal concerns. And why wouldn’t it be? Litigation can be a productivity succubus, costing time, money, and stress while distracting your business from its fundamental purpose. I should know because I’m a litigator [...]
PUBLISHED BY:
David M. Scott, LEED® AP BD+C
Timothy M. Clayton, LEED® AP BD+C
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Contributing Colleagues:
David M. Scott
Timothy M. Clayton
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