AIA Northern Virginia welcomes Aronson & Company’s Hope Lane and Maral Nakashian to speak at an upcoming workshop on sustainable projects, examining timely topics including cost/benefit issues, public and private regulations and markets, and potential legal risks. This workshop offers 3 HSW/SD LUs.

The workshop will focus on cost and benefit analysis for project design and construction decisions, including green construction costs, costs associated with LEED® certification, potential financial benefits to owners in terms of operating expenses, and available tax credits. Presenters will provide an overview of the history of the LEED system and a discussion about where things may be heading, both LEED and non-LEED.

Federal and local regulations pertaining to sustainable projects will be analyzed, including the potential log jam of these regulations, the federal executive order relating to sustainability of federal buildings, and the proposed Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) implementing these requirements. The speakers will discuss the government’s impact on the marketplace of green building and the vagaries of working through a remote voluntary third party rating system.

Legal risks, exposure, and mitigation of those risks will be analyzed in the virtually undefined arena of green building litigation. For example, what happens if a project misses a specific rating required to obtain a GSA tenant, what potential damages flow from that; what lessons can be learned from the recent decertification fight over a school in Wisconsin; what are the potential impacts of minimum project requirements; and where does all this appear to be heading in terms of codes and regulations?

The presenters include:

• Timothy R. Hughes, LEED AP with Bean, Kinney & Korman, P.C.
• Hope Lane, Officer in Aronson & Company’s Government Contracting Practice
• Maral Nakashian, Officer in Aronson & Company’s Tax Services Group
• Robert J. Kobet, AIA, LEED Faculty with The Kobet Collaborative

The workshop offers 3 AIA/CES HSW/SD learning units and will be held at Bean, Kinney & Korman, P.C., 2300 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington 22201; Court House Metro.

There is a $30 registration fee (includes Continental breakfast) and pre-paid reservations are required.