Liability And Green Buildings

Engineers who design buildings to be sustainable or "LEED-certified" have to be vigilant about the language in their contracts with owners.

Recent years have seen a large growth in the number of so-called green buildings, but concerns exist about these practices opening up new areas of liability for engineers. While the number of actual lawsuits directly related to engineers' liability related to green or LEED-certified buildings remains small, increasing pressure, especially by owners through onerous contractual clauses, requires engineers to be vigilant in avoiding pitfalls that could lead to significant liability.

One common misconception is that the terms "LEED certified" and "green building" are interchangeable. They are not. The term "green building" can apply to any building that meets certain performance standards, usually related to construction materials or techniques, heat loss, energy consumption and water consumption.