How To Be A Project Advocate By Diffusing Adjacent Neighbor Tensions
With terms like “net zero” and “carbon positive” proliferating in marketing jargon across industries, the US Department of Energy (DOE) has recently stepped in to clarify what constitutes a “zero emissions” building....more
Regulators at all levels are seeking to advance climate-change related policies. Of late, municipalities have increasingly sought to “decarbonize” buildings and related infrastructure through changes to building codes and...more
By 2050 rising sea levels will exacerbate episodic storm surges and inundate an estimated 87,000 square kilometers (21.5 million acres) of coastal areas worldwide, exposing $1.7 trillion of real estate to catastrophic damage....more
One year after the adoption of New York’s Advanced Building Codes, Appliance and Equipment Efficiency Standards Act, New York has new minimum energy efficiency standards for products and appliances. The standards, which apply...more
On June 26, 2023, the Cambridge City Council voted to amend the city’s Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance (BEUDO) to require large non-residential buildings to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 and...more
The N.C. Building Code Council is required by North Carolina law to reevaluate the building code every six years. In light of climate change legislation enacted in North Carolina on the heels of Governor Cooper’s 2019 Clean...more
The City of Boston is advancing three companion regulatory efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for medium-sized and large buildings. As addressed in our 2021 advisory, the Boston Emissions Reduction and Disclosure...more
Contech Trends to Watch in the New Year - “As builders adapt to economic, supply chain and labor challenges, they’re turning to technology to boost performance.” Why this is important: All of the turmoil of 2022 (the...more
With a huge influx of students this year, both from the UK and abroad, there is high demand for purpose built student accommodation (PBSA). Yet, while there is a lot of willing capital looking to enter this market, as with...more
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser signed two significant pieces of legislation recently to build on the success of the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act of 2018 and to further help transition the District to a new energy...more
Over the past couple decades, building codes have responded to disasters, rather than averting them. Resilience is now an essential design element needed to withstand our changing climate....more
Boston Acting Mayor Kim Janey signed an Ordinance Amending City of Boston Code, Ordinances, Chapter VII, Sections 7-2.1 and 7-2.2, Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure (BERDO 2.0) into law on Oct. 5, 2021. The amended...more
Much of the recent news about climate-influenced building codes has come out of California, where the California Energy Commission announced adoption of revisions to its Building Energy Efficiency Standards, also known as the...more
While much attention has been paid to the ambitious climate change mitigation requirements in "An Act Creating a Next-Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy," the comprehensive climate change legislation recently...more
Climate change is expected to have a significant impact on existing real estate. According to a government assessment, by 2050 up to $106 billion of United States real estate will be below sea level....more
We know that, mostly as a result of climate change, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions should be the highest priority, but that won’t be enough to prevent severe...more
New York City and Los Angeles have announced unprecedented plans to address climate change with an emphasis on greenhouse gas emissions from large buildings. New York City enacted a legislation package requiring certain...more
On November 23, 2018, the United States government released Volume II of its Fourth National Climate Assessment. The report assesses the effects of the expected rise in sea levels resulting from global climate change,...more
To avoid surprises, potential buyers and current owners of shoreline property in Massachusetts should include in their purchase and development plans coastal resiliency strategies that will enable them to withstand, respond...more