Building a Green Maryland : Maryland Green Building Lawyer & Attorney : Megan Reuwer : O’Malley, Miles, Nylen & Gilmore Law Firm : MD Green Building, Sustainability

Members of the Maryland General Assembly have been busy bees during this 2010 Session and have introduced some interesting bills relating to green building. Here's a synopsis of four of those bills:

SB 215, High Performance Buildings Act - Applicability to Recipients of State Aid

• Status: Bill is in the Senate - First Reading Budget and Taxation
• Sponsors: Senators Frosh, Brochin, Conway, Harrington, Jones, King, Lenett, Madaleno, McFadden, Peters, Pinsky, Raskin, Robey, and Rosapepe
• Summary: This bill amends the High Performance Building Act to require that any new building or major building renovation carried out by both for-profit and non-profit entities that is funded solely or partly by a grant of State aid be built as a high performance building. State aid is defined as a contribution, grant, or subsidy of at least $50,000 through the State operating or capital budget or directly from a State agency. Currently, under the existing High Performance Building Act, only new or renovated State buildings that are at least 7,500 square feet and are built or renovated entirely with State funds need to meet the high performance requirement.

SB 234, High Performance Buildings Act - Applicable to Community College Capital Projects

• Status: Bill is in the Senate - First Reading Budget and Taxation
• Sponsors: Senators Robey, Forehand, Frosh, Garagiola, Gladden, Harrington, Kelley, King, Lenett, Madaleno, Peters, Raskin, Rosapepe, and Zirkin
• Summary: This bill requires that community college capital projects that receive State funds comply with the State's High Performance Buildings Act. It allows community colleges to apply for waivers from this requirement under existing waiver procedures. This bill takes effect July 1, 2010 and applies only to capital projects that have not initiated a request for proposals for the selection of an architectural and engineering consultant on or before July 1, 2011.  According to the Fiscal and Policy Note, one consequence of this bill may be that, faced with a potential increased construction cost, some counties may opt to fund fewer capital projects.

HB 224, Plumbing - Greywater Recycling

• Status: Bill is the House - First Reading Economic Matters
• Sponsors: Delegates Morhaim, Cardin, McIntosh, and Stein
• Summary: This bill prohibits counties from adopting or enforcing provisions of a local plumbing code that prohibit a system that recycles greywater. Greywater is defined as used, untreated water generated by a clotheswashing machine, a shower, or a bath tub.  The definition EXCLUDES untreated water generated by a kitchen sink, a toilet (thank goodness!), and a dishwasher.

SB 285 - The Sustainable Communities Act of 2010

• Status: Bill is in the Senate - First Reading Budget and Taxation
• Sponsors: The President (By Request - Administration) and Senators Della, Exum, Forehand, Gladden, Harrington, Jones, King, Klausmeier, Lenett, Madaleno, Middleton, Peters, Pinsky, Pugh, and Stone
• Summary: This bill reauthorizes and renames the Maryland Heritage Structure Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program as the Sustainable Communities Tax Credit Program.  Governor O’Malley has proposed a three-year authorization with a $50 million allocation (20 million in FY 2011, 15 million in 2012, and 15 million in 2013 - tax credit is capped at 3 million per project); the purpose of the bill is to to help stimulate local economies, create construction jobs and support ecologically friendly development. The proposed Act would allow up to 40 percent of the credits to be made available to non-historic structures in established areas, such as Main Street business districts, Transit-Oriented Development areas near light-rail or train stations, and BRAC enterprise zones. The credit will be 10 percent of rehabilitation costs for non-historic structures, 20 percent for historic structures and 25 percent for historic renovations with LEED energy-saving certification. This is believed to be the first program of its kind in the nation to link historic preservation with “green” construction.

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I mentioned last week that I learned a lot both from the instructor as well as from my classmates during my "Green Building for Building Professionals" course. The instructor of the course, John Barrows, literally wrote the text book for the class and he skillfully led us through many practical discussions on how to put our new residential green building knowledge to work in the field.  Admittedly, I don't have much experience implementing actual construction best practices, but a lot of what we discussed makes sense on a basic level. With that being said, here's our* (*thanks again to my classmates and the instructor) top ten list of suggested measures that a builder can take right now to implement potentially cost-effective green measures:

1. Upfront planning will save you time and money in the long run. This applies to all aspects of a successful project.  One example is to address the HVAC installation during the planning and design stage to ensure that ducts are placed inside the building envelope to avoid having to make framing modifications during installation.
2. Solar orient your homes to take advantage of natural light and radiated heat from the sun.
3. Manage waste on-site by recycling it. If building to a certification standard, remember that you can usually get points for recycling on-site waste (this is the case both for LEED and for Howard County's Green Neighborhood Program).
4. Use local and readily available resources where possible to reduce transit costs and associated energy consumption.
5. Develop detailed cut-lists based on engineering drawings to save yourself money wasted on unnecessary resources.
6. Practice "optimum value engineering" to reduce the amount of lumber used.  Proponents of optimum value engineering suggest that hundreds of dollars per house can be saved by minimizing material useage (while at the same time meeting building codes' structural load-bearing requirements). Consult with an engineer to learn more.
7. Install weatherization shields properly around windows  and seal around holes made for outlets and light fixtures. Holes in the interior air barrier contribute to moisture movement and energy loss.
8. Use refurbished materials like wooden doors, staircases, and antique door knobs to give new life to these elements and add character to your homes.
9. Design your plumbing systems so that less hot water is stored in the system and is delivered more efficiently to the point of use.
10. Educate your construction team members on your project's green goals and how to achieve them - remember that providing upfront education is more cost effective than fixing problems after the fact. Consider developing a mission statement or statement of goals and posting that mission conspicuously on the site. If you are building to a green performance standard (whether it be LEED, NGBS, or others), incorporate those standards in the scope of work or project specification.

These are just a few ideas that we came up with - can you think of others?

(Typical lawyer disclaimer: Yada, yada, yada...remember that these are ideas and not guarantees. Consult with your building professional team members to assess feasibility for your specific project. Not all ideas will work in every situation. Of course, feel free to talk to me about #10 - my firm would be happy to work with you to revise the text of your various contracts to specifically address green building performance standards.)

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I've been busy digging myself out of the record snowfall we got here in Maryland the past few weeks, but I'm back now to let you know that in early February, I took the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) “Green Building for Building Professionals” course; a two-day seminar needed to achieve NAHB’s Certified Green Professional designation. The course covers green building techniques for new residential construction as well as residential remodeling projects and also provides a good background of the various requirements of NAHB’s American National Standards Institute-approved National Green Building Standard.  After completing the course, I realized that I've only briefly touched on the Standard here in my two-part interview with Tom Farasy - so I thought that a more in-depth review was needed.

Background on the National Green Building Standard:

• In 2006, NAHB notified the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) that it intended to develop the National Green Building Standard. NAHB partnered with the International Code Council (ICC) in 2007 to develop the standard, and shortly thereafter, a call for committee members went out. The Consensus Committee on the National Green Building Standard consisted of 42 members that worked to develop a first draft of the Standard. The public had the opportunity to comment on the draft, and then a revised draft was vetted through seven Task Groups, each of which specialized in the different criteria contained in the Standard. The ICC 700-2008 National Green Building Standard was approved by ANSI as an American National Standard on January 29, 2009.

Applicability of the Standard:

• The Standard applies to residential construction including single-family, multi-family, and the lots and sites upon which residential buildings are located, as well as to remodeling and additions to existing residential buildings.

One Major "Plus" Compared to LEED:

• To me, one of the most significant differences in terms of certification types between the Standard and LEED-H is that a developer can attain certification under the Standard for site design and development prior to any construction being built on the site area. Certification levels are denoted by Stars, ranging from One Star (minimum of 79 points) up to Four Stars (minimum of 175 points). I think that certifying green site design and development separate and apart from construction is important for many reasons: (1) it allows developers of residential lots to set themselves apart from competitors by certifying their projects; (2) it recognizes that preparation of residential homes for delivery to the end consumer is a process that usually involves multiple parties (developer plus one or more builders) with distinct responsibilities; and (3) it recognizes that site design and development plays an important role in the overall “greenness” of the project.

One Major "Minus" Compared to LEED:

• There's a very important point to be aware of when assessing your project under the Standard and that is this: the "minimum" performance points needed for each Chapter ARE NOT TRUE MINIMUMS! This means that if you go strictly by the book with the goal of meeting Bronze level and you achieve the 39 points you need for Chapter 5, the 45 points you need for Chapter 6, the 30 points you need for Chapter 7, the 14 points you need for Chapter 8, the 36 points you need for Chapter 9, and the 8 points you need for Chapter 10, you will FALL SHORT and fail to achieve Bronze by 50 POINTS! This is because the Standard has a bonus points category that a project MUST achieve for each certification level (Bronze through Emerald). You gain the needed "Additional Points" by over-achieving in other Chapters.  Therefore, you MUST exceed the stated minimums in order to achieve the needed "Additional Points."

I learned a lot from my builder classmates about cost-effective, green steps a builder can take right now - and I'll be happy to share my "top ten" list with you...next week.

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As a state, we have green building laws that have existed and that continue to come into existence in the northern and central parts of Maryland (Baltimore City, Annapolis, Howard County, and Montgomery County), but I think that we're beginning to see local governments moving - albeit at more of the turtle's pace than the hare's-  towards integrating green building requirements in the southern counties. In particular, I'm talking about the exceptionally lovely Charles, Calvert, and St. Mary's Counties.

Charles County: Charles County is beginning to take a more active role in mandating green building for some publicly-owned or funded buildings.

• The Town of La Plata passed Town Council Resolution #08-2, which requires that all town-owned and town-funded new construction and major renovations greater than 5,000 square feet become LEED Certified. According to this Resolution, the Town of La Plata is leading the way in green building in Charles County - its La Plata Town Hall is the County's first LEED certified building.
• "LEED or its equivalent” language is becoming integrated in zoning approvals.  For example, a bill passed in 2009 rezoned 48 acres from the Agricultural Conservation zone in Charles County to the Planned Employment Park zone which allows for the inclusion of industrial, office, and retail components.  As a condition of that bill, the owner-applicant is required to obtain LEED certification “at both the site level and the architectural level.” As a side note, this is an interesting (read: complicated!) requirement because the LEED certification process isn't broken down into two levels of certification.  There is no site development certification that is separate and apart from the building/architectural review - therefore, it could prove difficult for the owner to satisfy this condition (self-serving plug in 3...2...1: if you're a developer facing issues like this, you might benefit by having a land use attorney that's familiar with green certification requirements on your team). 

Calvert County: Calvert County is in the planning phases for green building laws.

•  At the end of 2008, the Director of Planning and Zoning began advocating that the Board of County Commissioners consider enacting green building amendments to the Zoning Ordinance– but, to my knowledge, nothing has been implemented yet.
• Calvert County has created a Green Team that is charged with the task of making recommendations regarding the County's future green building goals.  Some of the Green Team's recommendations include preparing town center ordinances that facilitate green site and building design and requiring future county-owned buildings over 10,000 square feet to comply with LEED Silver certification.

St. Mary’s County:  St. Mary's County is home to some incredible LEED-certified institutions.

• The Evergreen Elementary School is LEED Gold certified and won an award last night at the USGBC Maryland Chapter's 5th Annual Awards Ceremony. 
• St. Mary’s College has a LEED Silver certified academic building

Predictions: There's a pattern that counties, towns, cities and other municipalities follow when going green.  The first step is to require that publicly owned or funded buildings incorporate green elements or achieve various levels of certification.  As the local government becomes more comfortable with legislating green, the focus may start to transition towards the private sector (Baltimore City and Annapolis are good examples). While the shift to mandating green building for private construction might be a bit far off in the future for these southern Maryland counties, I think we're beginning to see the first steps.

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