Architect Sued for Sustainable Design?

“Architect agrees to design to acquire enough points for Gold certification. Developer advertises planned office building using superlatives about “reduced operating costs and healthier and more productive occupants” from USGBC information to attract tenants at higher rents. Budget and time constraints prevent certification as Gold Developer sues for negligence, breach of contract and breach of warranty based on architect’s “guarantee” of Gold certification.”

Learn more about emerging legal issues at Don’t Let Green Design Cause Red Ink presented by Frank Musica, Victor O. Schinnerer & Company, Inc. under the auspices of our Continuing Education Committee on Tuesday, June 19 at the Johns Hopkins University Downtown Center. We will begin with a continental breakfast at 8 a.m. The presentation runs from 8:30-10 a.m. 1.5 AIA/CES (HSW) credits with registration. $10/members; $5/students and associates; $25 non-members. Please send your payment to AIABaltimore, 11 ½ W. Chase St., Baltimore, MD, 21201 or call in your credit card number to 410.625.2585. We are grateful to our sponsor the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), Baltimore Regional Chapter.

Some architects respond to emerging challenges to their profession by avoiding risk or simply ignoring legal developments that create exposures. Others, however, learn to identify what services create risk and how that risk can be managed. With the increasing public emphasis on green design, architects face significant exposures that challenge their professionalism and profitability. This session focuses on a realistic appraisal of emerging risks and discusses skills to manage them. It is not focused on LEED certification, but on responding to sustainability challenges in general. It gives a general background on claims and law, uses specific examples of recent claims that are somehow “green design” related, and gives some advice. About 500 people attended this informative session at the AIA Convention in San Antonio in May.