Green Buildings Regulations and Initiatives - Chapter 15 - Managing Environmental Liability

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Managing Environmental Liability - Business Transactions and Brownfield Redevelopment - Looseleaf

Managing Environmental Liability - Business Transactions and Brownfield Redevelopment  - Electronic

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GREEN BUILDINGS REGULATIONS
AND INITIATIVES
§ 15.01 Green Buildings Regulations and Initiatives
Since the advent of environmental regulation in the 1970s, the focus of
federal and state environmental programs has been primarily on industrial and
manufacturing facilities that emit significant quantities of pollutants. To the
extent that commercial and residential buildings came under the regulatory
microscope, it was usually due to the presence of damaged asbestos, lead-based
paint or leaking underground storage tanks.
Buildings, though, have a significant impact on the environment. The
building sector is the largest source of carbon emissions when direct emissions
and energy-related emissions are taken into account. Buildings also consume the
most energy in the United States of any other sector with residential and
commercial buildings responsible for 39.4% of the total energy consumed in the
United States. Residential buildings account for 54.6% of the energy consumed
by the building sector.1 Most of the energy used for residential buildings is for
space heating (30%), followed by water heating (12%), lighting (12%) and air
conditioning (11%).2 In the commercial sector, most of the energy is used for
lighting (21%), followed by space heating (12%), air conditioning (9%) and
office equipment (8%).3
Buildings also account for 67.9% of the electricity consumed in the country
with residential structures responsible for 48.8% of the total electrical demand.4
The energy used to heat and power buildings leads to the consumption of large
amounts of energy, primarily from burning fossil fuels with 58% of the building
end-use energy coming from fuel that is burned on-site.
The large amount of energy required by buildings generates significant
amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2). Nationwide, commercial and residential

CHAPTER 15: Green Buildings Regulations and Initiatives   

15.01     Green Buildings Regulations and Initiatives   
15.02     What is a “Green” Building?   
15.03      LEED Ratings Standards   
15.03A      LEED Performance Categories   
15.03B      Individual LEED Rating Systems   
15.03C.     LEED Certification Process   
15.04     American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning
             Engineers (ASHRAE)   
15.05     National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)   
15.06     Federal Government Green Building Standards   
15.07.    County Governments GHG Emissions Reductions Plans   
15.08     State Energy and Green Building Codes and Incentives   
15.09     Local Government Green Buildings Codes and Incentives   

Lawrence P. Schnapf is Principal of Schnapf LLC. He has 25 years of national environmental experience with Fortune 500 corporations and a number of major New York-based law firms. Mr. Schnapf primarily concentrates on environmental issues associated with corporate, real estate and brownfield transactions, commercial lending, distressed debt, bankruptcy and workouts. He has extensive experience with brownfield redevelopment and financing, negotiating environmental insurance policies for business and real estate transactions, performing environmental due diligence for complex business transactions.

He has also written numerous articles on environmental law, is a contributing author for several chapters of "Brownfield Practice and Law: The Cleanup and Redevelopment of Contaminated Properties" published by Matthew Bender. He was also a contributing author for "The Law Of Environmental Justice" published by the American Bar Association and the Matthew Bender "Environmental Law Practice Guide".

Mr. Schnapf is the co-chair of the New York State Bar Association's Hazardous Site Remediation Committee, co-chair of the NYSBA Brownfield Task Force and a board member of the Board of the NYC Partnership of Brownfield Practitioners. He is also the chair of the Brownfield Committee Force of the Environmental Business Association of New York.

He is Chair of the ABA Section of Business Law Committee on Environmental, Energy and Natural Resources Law. He is a vice chair of the Environmental Transactions, Audits and Brownfield Committee: and Special Committee on Disclosure of the ABA's Section of Environment, Energy and Resources. He is also a member of the board of BNA's Environmental Due Diligence Guide.

Mr. Schnapf is also a member of the ASTM 1527 Task Group, Phase II Legal Work Group, Co-Chair of the legal sub-committee for the ASTM Vapor Intrusion Task Group, a member of the ASTM Appropriate Care/Continuing Obligations Task Group and Building Energy Performance Disclosure Task Group.

Mr. Schnapf is an adjunct professor of environmental law at New York Law School where he teaches "Environmental Issues in Business Transactions" and "Environmental Law and Policy". He is also on the faculty of the Center for Christian Studies at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church where he teaches "The Bible and the Environment."

He is listed in the International Who's Who of Business Lawyers 2008 and 2009, the 2009 Madison's Who's Who of Executives and Professionals, and The International Who's Who of Environmental Lawyers 2008 and 2009, and Chambers USA 2009 Client Guide of America's Leading Lawyers for Business.