By J. Cullen Howe, Environmental Law Specialist, Arnold & Porter LLP In March, The Rockefeller Foundation and DB Climate Change Advisors released a research paper entitled United States Building Energy Efficiency Retrofits: Market Sizing and... Read More

By J. Cullen Howe, Environmental Law Specialist, Arnold & Porter LLP In May 2011, the Global Environment Facility, in collaboration with two United Nation agencies (the U.N. Environment Program and the U.N. Human Settlements Program), announced... Read More

By J. Cullen Howe, Environmental Law Specialist, Arnold & Porter LLP In November 2010, EPA announced the first WaterSense -labeled homes in the country. According to EPA, four WaterSense labeled new homes were built by KB Home in Roseville,... Read More

By Adam Riedel U.S. Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu has consistently touted the benefits of white or reflective roofs and "cool pavements" (white or lightly colored pavements) in combating climate change, and has even mandated that all... Read More

By J. Cullen Howe, Environmental Law Specialist, Arnold & Porter LLP Recently, the Preservation Green Lab of the National Trust for Historic Preservation issued a report that confirms the environmental benefit of building reuse. The report concludes... Read More

Insurers and regulators are addressing Green Building issues at breakneck speed. With state regulators approving new policy endorsements and insurers offering Green Building discounts, insuring properties that are “green” is here to stay.... Read More

By J. Cullen Howe, Environmental Law Specialist, Arnold & Porter LLP On February 2, 2012, the Urban Green Council released a report finding that New York City is on track to meet its goal of lowering carbon emissions, energy consumption, and waste... Read More

To assist Cal-EPA with the examination of potential environmental justice concerns associated with climate change, Cal-EPA requested the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) [best known for its role in setting drinking water related... Read More

By J. Cullen Howe, Environmental Law Specialist, Arnold & Porter LLP On July 25, 2011, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) announced that they had signed a memorandum... Read More

By J. Cullen Howe, Environmental Law Specialist, Arnold & Porter LLP On December 2, 2011, President Barack Obama directed federal agencies to enter into at least $2 billion worth of contracts over the next two years to improve government buildings'... Read More

By J. Cullen Howe, Environmental Law Specialist, Arnold & Porter LLP On February 7, 2011, a federal district court in Washington State held in Bldg. Indus. Ass'n of Wash. v. Wash. State Bldg. Code Council that the Washington State Building... Read More

By Vicki R. Harding, Partner, Pepper Hamilton LLP As noted in a prior post , the final International Green Construction Code (IGCC) has been approved and is scheduled for publication in March 2012. The IGCC was developed by the International Code... Read More

By J. Cullen Howe, Environmental Law Specialist, Arnold & Porter LLP Recently, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to pass the Existing Commercial Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance , which requires owners of commercial buildings... Read More

By J. Cullen Howe, Environmental Law Specialist, Arnold & Porter LLP The Department of Energy recently published two final determinations that will require states to review and possibly update their residential and commercial building energy... Read More

By J. Cullen Howe, Environmental Law Specialist, Arnold & Porter LLP On May 11, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) introduced a wide-ranging bill setting energy efficiency standards for new federal buildings and requiring federal agencies to make... Read More