Greenberg Traurig, LLP

The Green Building and Sustainability Group at Greenberg Traurig serves the wide range of client needs in the rapidly emerging area of green building and sustainable development. GT has assembled a multidisciplinary team from across its international platform of real estate development, environmental, land use, construction, governmental affairs, public and private finance, procurement, insurance, tax and litigation practices to collaborate and deliver innovative strategies to address the very latest issues and developments in this critical field. With sustainability concerns and initiatives cutting across virtually all sectors of business today, our team strives to keep our clients ahead of the curve to maximize opportunities and minimize unnecessary cost and risk.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and other green building certifications. The GT Green Building and Sustainability Group includes practitioners who are among a limited number of attorneys around the United States who have been accredited by the U.S. Green Building Council as LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED APs). These attorneys are actively involved in some of the largest green building projects in the country and not only assist clients in exploring and navigating LEED and other certification programs, but, more importantly, collaborate with other members of the Green Building and Sustainability Group to help clients manage the host of legal and risk management issues inherent in implementing their green building strategies. From unique design, construction and contractual matters, to leasing, marketing, financing and insurance, GT can deliver valuable assistance as clients move into the burgeoning green building field.

Whether you are a developer constructing an office or residential building, a public or private owner designing new facilities or upgrading existing buildings, or a tenant seeking a certified green commercial interior, our lawyers can work with the designers, construction team, consultants and commissioning professionals to help meet your green building goals while minimizing your cost and risk.

Governmental Requirements and Incentives. An increasing number of state and local governments are seeking to adopt mandatory green building requirements into their land development regulations and procurement processes. Some federal agencies and many state jurisdictions already require LEED certification or other green building requirements for their public and institutional buildings, and others are following suit. Most recently, emerging local green building regulations are imposing these same requirements for private commercial and residential projects. Other communities are adopting voluntary incentive-based green building practices for the private sector. Our Green Building and Sustainability Group is poised to help clients evaluate and respond to this new regulatory paradigm, including creating value by assisting with the evaluation and implementation of new incentive programs when opportunities arise.

Building code changes and challenges. Through its offices across the US, GT is actively engaged in tracking sustainability-related building code developments on a nationwide basis. In addition, our international practitioners mirror these efforts in the major real estate development markets throughout the world. Working on behalf of developers, green building material suppliers and other stakeholders, GT can help shape advantageous sustainability-related building code amendments, and even challenge overly-burdensome code requirements.

Corporate and governmental greening initiatives and supply chains. Members of our Green Building and Sustainability Group regularly assist our corporate and governmental clients in developing and implementing entity-wide internal Sustainability Standards of Conduct and external greening of supply chains. We can draft green policies and procedures, revise procurement policies and contracts, prepare compliance monitoring programs, and assist in dispute resolution involving these green initiatives.

GT’s national and international platform of credentialed and committed professionals ensures that our clients are armed with the best information and advantages in the markets where their business is focused, enabling them to access the available benefits and leverage the true market implications of the green building trend.