Regulating Green Building in Virginia

Regulating
Regulating Green Building
in Virginia
Chris Cheatham, LEED AP, Esq.
Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald, LLP

Saturday, February 7, 2009 1

Regulating Green Building in Virginia

What will you learn?
1. Green building is regulated through
incentives or mandates
2. Virginia’s Dillon Rule requires green
building mandates at state level
3. Virginia cities are incentivizing
green building

Chris Cheatham - www.greenbuildinglawupdate.com

[TITLE OF PRESENTATION]
Agenda

• Green Buildings in Virginia
• Brief Intro to Green Building Law
• Green Building Regulations
• Virginia Green Building Regulations
• The Future of Green Building Regs


Green Buildings in Virginia

• Number of green buildings:
• LEED certiﬁcation - 61
• LEED registered - 498
• Types of green buildings:
Commercial, Schools, Residential


• Commercial
Building

• One and Two
Potomac Yard,
Arlington, VA

• LEED Gold

• 63 percent
regional materials

• 41 percent water -U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
reduction

• Schools

• Kersey Creek
Elementary School,
Hanover Co., VA

• LEED Silver

• 41%water reduction
-Moseley Architects

• 27% energy
reduction


• Residential

• The Quarries ecoVillage,
Schuyler, VA

• First Earthcraft Certiﬁed
House

• High efﬁciency heat
pump

• Energy Star appliances -Virginia Sustainable
Building Network



• College of William and
Mary - LEED certiﬁcation:
• Recreation Center
• Dormitories at
Barksdale Field -Moseley Architects


Green Building Law

• Front End
• Contracts
• Financing
• Regulations


Green Building Law
• Back End - possible disputes:
• Certiﬁcation
• Strategies
• Regulations
• Shaw Development - example of green
building regulation causing dispute


Green Building Regulations

• Basic structure of Regulations
• Incentives - Portland, Oregon
• Mandates - Washington, D.C.


• Incentives - Portland, Oregon
• Green Building Feebate


• Mandates - Washington, D.C.
• D.C. Green Building Act of 2006
• Jan. 1, 2012
• Privately-owned
projects must be LEED Certiﬁed
• Enforcement Mechanism:
Performance Bond


Virginia Green Building Regulations

• Dillon Rule
• State Level
• City/County Level


Virginia Green Building/ Dillon
• Dillon Rule:
• “Municipal corporations have only
those powers that are expressly
granted, those necessarily or fairly
implied from expressly granted
powers, and those that are essential
and indispensable.”
• Ticonderoga Farms v. County of Loudoun


• Dillon Rule
• State Building Code Section 36-98
• “The Board is hereby directed and
empowered to adopt and promulgate
a Uniform Statewide Building Code.
Such building code shall supersede
the building codes and regulations of
the counties [and] municipalities . . . .”

• Dillon Rule
• State Zoning Code § 15.2-2285.
• “The planning commission of each
locality may, and at the direction of
the governing body shall, prepare a
proposed zoning ordinance
including . . . a text setting forth the
regulations applying in each district.”



• What does the Dillon Rule mean?
• Building codes at the state level
• Zoning requirements at the
municipal level


Virginia Green Building State of
Green Building: Regulations
• State Level
• Gov. Tim Kaine -
Executive Order 48
• “State-owned facilities . . . shall be
designed and constructed consistent
with the U.S. Green Building
Council’s LEED rating system or . . .
‘Energy Star’ rating.”

• State Level
• General Assembly budget
amendments: state owned-facilities
constructed consistent with LEED or
Green Globes rating system
• Governor Kaine vetoed Green
Globes; General Assembly overrode
the veto

• State Level
• S.B. 447, the Green
Building Act, introduced
January 9, 2008
• “Ensure” construction of
state-owned buildings
“comply” with the
LEED Silver standard

• State Level
• Senate Committee on General Laws
and Technology changed to LEED or
Green Globes rating system
• The amended S.B. 447 passed in the
Senate, 39-0
• Died in the House of Delegates’
Committee on General Laws

Green Green BuildingThe Cities
Virginia Building: Regulations

• “Arlington County is deliberately
pushing the limits of state law to
insist on green standards for
development. . . . Arlington pioneered
green building standards through its
planning and zoning . . . process.”
-VA. Lawyers Weekly, 9/22/08

• Arlington County
• Site Plan Program:

1. Green Building Fund 4. LEED Scorecard
2. Construction Waste 5. LEED Tracking
Management 6. Energy Star
3. LEED AP Appliances



• Arlington County
• Bonus Density Program
• LEED certiﬁcation =
FAR variance
• Enforcement
mechanism: bond


• Alexandria
• “City’s goal is to achieve LEED-
Silver rating for all new City-owned
facilities over 5,0000 square feet.”



• Alexandria
• Green Building
Policy
Recommendations: “The City does
not have the legal power to adopt a
new code to mandate its Green
Building Policy.”


• Alexandria
• Green Building Policy
Recommendations: Site Plan
• Non-residential: LEED Silver
• Residential: LEED certiﬁed



• Public building requirements
• Richmond - LEED Silver
• Albemarle County - LEED
certiﬁcation
• Tyson Corner Task Force -
LEED certiﬁcation recommended

Green Building: Building Regs
The Future of Green The State

• Likelihood in 2009
• $2.9 billion budget deﬁcit
• Gov. Kaine: “This year, I will ask you
to ratify that approach again, by
requiring in the Code of Virginia that
all state and local government
buildings meet either LEED or Green
Globes standards for efﬁciency.”

GreenGreenGreen Building Regs
Virginia Building: The State
The Future of Building Regulations

• Economic Recovery Program
• $3.2 billion in House bill for State
Energy Programs (increase from $25
million per year)
• Condition funds on Governor’s
promising state will adopt energy
efﬁcient building codes



What did we learn?
1. Green building is regulated through
incentives or mandates
2. Virginia’s Dillon Rule requires green
building mandates at state level
3. Virginia cities incentivizing green
building


Want to learn more?

www.greenbuildinglawupdate.com
chris@greenbuildinglawupdate.com

Regulating Green Building in Virginia

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Regulating Green Building in Virginia