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Green Construction and Sustainable Design Articles

June 28, 2010
Houston Neal
"Cash for Caulkers” is nearly here. Last month the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5019 – also known as the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010 or “Cash for Caulkers” – to kick-start construction, create jobs and cut back carbon emissions. While the bill still needs to clear the Senate, supporters predict it will pass this summer.In the meantime, homeowners and contractors need to do their homework. There are 13 types of retrofits eligible for funding under the Home Star bill. Each has unique requirements and rebate amounts. Fortunately Software Advice makes it very easy to wade through the legislation...In their post, "Cash for Caulkers - The Definitive Guide to the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010", Software Advice explains how homeowners can qualify for Home Star bill rebates. They have created an easy-to-read table that breaks down the 13 retrofits of the bill, along with the requirements and rebate amounts for each. But first, let's review the program details. Full Story 
June 25, 2010
Mark Wierman - Smith, Currie, & Hancock LLP
Owners commonly provide subsurface soil data and other site conditions reports as part of the bid documents provided to prospective bidders. Fearful of assuming liability for the accuracy of plans, borings, and other subsurface data provided to contractors, owners traditionally include exculpatory clauses that purport to shift the risk of inaccurate data away to the contractor.  These clauses typically state that the data is provided for information only, the owner makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the data, and the contractor expressly assumes all risk that the conditions encountered differ from the conditions described in the reports. Full Story 
June 25, 2010
John Livengood, ESQ, AIA and William Broz, P.E., LEED A - ARCADIS U.S.
There seem to be four stages (so far) of the green building movement in the U.S. First there was Green for Green’s sake: the altruistic goal of environmental improvement. Then there was Green for Greenbacks: when it became stylish to be green and there was a market premium in selling green. Full Story 
June 25, 2010
Andrew Peterson, Phil Rosen, Thomas Walsh, and Harold Wei - Jackson Lewis LLP
Shortly after President Barack Obama took office in 2009, he signed an Executive Order authorizing federal government agencies to require every contractor or subcontractor on a large-scale construction project to negotiate or become a party to a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with one or more labor organizations.  The Defense Department, General Services Administration, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which together maintain the Federal Acquisition Regulation council, have published a final rule, amending the FAR, to implement the Executive Order.  Full Story 
June 25, 2010
Nicholas Tomlinson - Baker Donelson
Last month, the IRS began its first comprehensive audit of employment tax issues in over 25 years. The IRS will audit 6000 companies in total over the next three years. The main issues to be examined in these audits are worker classification, executive compensation and taxable fringe benefits. Full Story 
June 21, 2010
David Harvey - Baker Donelson
Federal contractors and subcontractors are now required to post information in the workplace regarding workers' rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), according to Executive Order (EO) 13496 issued by President Obama in January 2009, and implemented into a Final Rule by the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) on May 20, 2010. Full Story 
June 21, 2010
Andrew McBride - Smith, Currie, & Hancock LLP
Contracts based on unit prices typically contain provisions for adjustment of those prices if actual quantities differ substantially from those estimated. These so-called “variations in quantities” clauses afford some measure of protection to both the contractor and the owner if quantity estimates are off and the actual costs incurred are either higher or lower than anticipated. It is important that the parties to the contract understand and follow the procedures set forth in such provisions or they may not be able to enjoy that protection. Pavers, Inc. v. Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska, 276 Neb. 559, 755 N.W.2d 400 (2008), provides a cautionary tale of what can happen if such a contractual procedure is not followed. Full Story 
June 21, 2010
G. Fritz Hain and G. Scott Walters - Smith, Currie, & Hancock LLP
On December 1, 2009 the U.S. EPA issued a longanticipated final stormwater rule, which impacts nearly every construction and development project in the United States. EPA promulgated the rule, titled “Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Construction and Development Point Source Category”, pursuant to authority delegated it under the federal Clean Water Act.  Now, for the first time, construction professionals are faced with an enforceable numeric limit on stormwater discharges from largeconstruction sites, and must monitor stormwater discharge to ensure compliance with the numeric limit. Full Story 

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