Construction Informer

Apparently New Jersey has a dozen bills pending that would mandate green building across that state. In a way it kind of fits since it’s the Garden State, but I’m not sure the people know what they are getting themselves in for. From the press release here’s how James A. Kosch, director of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s environmental law section outlined not only the ramifications of mandating green, but also the sticky slopes people are rushing to with the green movement in general.

Despite, or perhaps because of today’s enthusiasm for all things green, Kosch noted, lawmakers should think carefully about the law of unintended consequences. It also is incumbent upon developers and their attorneys, he added, to question the claims of the green movement when doing the complex cost-benefit analysis required for any project. “The U.S. Green Building Council, for example, makes some very strong claims about the benefits of green building,” Kosch said. “Some are measurable-water use, energy, for example-but then the council also talks about ‘increased productivity’ and ‘better quality of life.’ These are in the eye of the beholder.”

Kosch also wonders about the un-chartered waters the green movement is opening at a rapid pace and how we will navigate those.

Standard real estate agreements, for example, do not spell out which party is liable for guaranteeing that a project wins a promised “gold” or “silver” rating by organizations like the U.S. Green Building Council, known for its LEED rating system. Should it be the architect? The construction manager? An environmental consultant? Solar panels might work well at a project surrounded by low-rise buildings, he said, but what if the owner of a neighboring building wants to add a few floors-and thus blot out the sun? “Do I need to get an air and light easement against my neighbor?” he asked. “If I’m generating excess electricity, what kind of energy sale agreements should I negotiate with the local utility?”

Indeed, Kosch summed up, the green building trend has brought with it a host of new questions related to insurance, water reuse, energy generation, tax credits, economic incentives and more. “We are at the very beginning of this. There is no standard language. Each deal must be looked at separately,” he advised.

Separately, yes, but also in the light of every other deal that surrounds it, or may someday surround it. If we only look at a building’s energy requirements strictly from its perspective at what point do we find our urban landscape is a sea of solar panels and wind turbines?

Perhaps we should be thinking much more globally about green. What we may discover on down the road is that energy requirements in densely populated areas need to be managed by urban and regional planners much the way building use is managed. Just consider the highway systems that were never managed until it was too late and you can get an idea of just how cluttered and inefficient the delivery of green energy could become. The history of dense building is riddled with the undesirable effects of poor planning.

Right now, like at no other point in history, we have the tools and the opportunity to get it right. Will we take the time to do so?