Green Building & Environmental Trends : Green Building & Construction LEED AP Consulting : Rich Cartlidge : Environmental Trends, Urban Development

Several months ago my friend Shari Shapiro wrote a blog post Green Building Litigation--Whither the Lawsuits? Now many builders across the nation are wondering whither the green? An article by the Wall Street Journal, Green Builders Await the Green sheds light on a problem that those of us involved in the green building industry have been acutely aware of for some time...the government is dragging its feet on disbursing the green earmarked for green projects. The General Services Administration was allocated 5.5 Billion dollars under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 2 Billion dollars of which was supposed to be distributed by the end of 2009. Now only two weeks away from the end of the year only 1.5 Billion of that 2 Billion dollars has been distributed! Even more striking, only 89 million dollars has been paid out thus far! So what exactly is taking so long for the green to reach the pipeline?

Are you a contractor who is vying for a part of the 4 Billion dollars that have yet to be allocated? Will 2010 see an explosion of green growth as project currently in the planning stage progress to construction? Will 2010 be the year of green litigation?

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This past weekend I had the opportunity to have an excellent conversation with Chris Cheatham of GBLU and Shari Shapiro of GBLB regarding green roofs. The conversation was started by Shari when she posted an article addressing green roofs and their risk for fire potential. Brian Phelps provided an excellent paper addressing green roofs in general and highlighted a section of the paper addressing the fire potential of green roofs which rebuts the article posted by Shari.

While I had previously considered the potential problems with green roofs such as leaks, collapse, and corrosion I had never contemplated a green roof as a potential fire hazard. I suppose part of my failure to consider the risk of a fire potential with a green roof is the key phrase "green" as in properly irrigated and not likely to ignite. However, imagine a green roof gone dry, particularly a green roof which is accessible by building occupants. A dry "green" roof, a stray cigarette, and a urban brush fire! Possible, but highly unlikely. In fact the evidence presented in Christine Robertson's paper suggests that in Germany where green roofs are extensively used there has never been a green roof fire and that as a result green roofs are associated with a 10-20% discounted rate on fire insurance. Likewise, Ms. Robertson's paper suggests  that the threat of fire
is 15-20 times higher on bare roofs with fully adhered bituminous waterproofing membranes
than on extensive green roofs with grasses, perennials and sedums.

Keep tuned to Konstructr for the input of Mark Rabkin a knowledgeable insurance guru and risk management profession who will be chiming in with green roofs from an insurance perspective in the near future.

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