In April 2010, the Department of Defense (“DOD”) issued a memorandum (“memo”) that altered the structure of the defense budgeting cycle, beginning with fiscal year (“FY”) 2012 budget. These changes were ostensibly made to offer more stability to the budgeting process, which prior to the memo involved a more complicated two-year budgeting (more…)

Transportation has always presented significant design challenges. And no mode of transportation is more fraught with potential hurdles than the automobile.

How can we improve fuel efficiency without affecting performance? Are there ways to reduce weight (more…)

Many people, including me, have noted that the National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”), signed into law by President Obama on December 31, 2011, prohibits the Department of Defense (“DoD”) from using any appropriated funds to achieve the two highest levels of green building certification offered by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and (more…)

Autodesk is an international leader in three dimensional design software for building, engineering and architecture construction, manufacturing, and entertainment and media. Autodesk became well known for AutoCAD – its flagship computer-aided design software. Other software products include Digital (more…)

At the onset of the 5^th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, students and emerging professionals are putting their time towards helping to rebuild New Orleans in a sustainable fashion.  The 2010 US Green Building Council Natural Talent Design Competition, in partnership with the Salvation Army’s EnviRenew program, is (more…)

A few weeks ago, the EPA released its Sustainable Design and Green Building Toolkit for Local Governments.

The Toolkit was developed by EPA Region 4, and Green Building Law Blog (GBLB) was very excited to interview Karen Bandhauer, an Environmental Scientist at EPA Region 4 about the Toolkit. (more…)

Questions have been swirling around the building industry about the new big thing, green building.  Will it add cost? Will it add time? Does painting a building green count?  These questions most often involve the sustainable design and construction process, which many people believe too be daunting.

To highlight some of the important aspects (more…)

This week, the EPA released its Sustainable Design and Green Building Toolkit for Local Governments. The Toolkit

The Toolkit is designed to assist local governments in identifying and removing permitting barriers to sustainable design and green building practices. It provides a resource for communities interested in conducting their own internal evaluation of (more…)