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HOW THE GREEN PROJECTS CAN MAKE THE CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS TURN GREEN BECAUSE OF THE INCREASING LIABILITY
Green has become the new mantra for the construction industry. As a result, contractors nationwide are increasingly striving to meet owner demands for projects that are not only designed with sustainable and eco-friendly products, but also achieve measurable results such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) points.
However, contractors should never sacrifice common sense and sound reasoning for good intentions or the need to land new business. For instance, here are just a few of the ways environmental liability can be found on today’s green sites:
Jobsite emissions. Over the past few years, contractors have been repeatedly sued over the third-party exposure to toxic elements, such as dust containing asbestos fibers and/or silica, as well as carbon monoxide fumes.
Products and materials. Many devastating environmental lawsuits are produced through unforeseen risks. Who knows what future results will come from the use of recycled products needed to achieve certain “green” standards? We still can’t forget “Chinese” drywall or the merging risks of the compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) or the cadmium containing thin film solar panels or the crystalline silica emitted during the mining for frac sand or sand frac sand transport, unloading and injection or the spray polyurethane foam (SFP) that emits isocyanides inside people’s homes and businesses, nanomaterial such as nanotubes, and so on.
These all appeared to be benign products at the time they were sold to the consumers that ultimately created tremendous environmental problems and they still create. Still undetermined is its impact on indoor air quality and human health. Nonetheless, these are excellent examples of “unforeseen” risks— just like asbestos or PCBs or DDT, which were considered a breakthrough fire retardant, fire resistant, and pesticide, respectively, nearly 50 years ago.
Real estate. The redevelopment of buildings on existing sites can provide a host of challenges for inexperienced contractors. That’s because environmental risks can be catastrophic when properties are not investigated or properly characterized. In addition, environmental assessments performed with little to no intrusive sampling will only generate reports containing previously recorded information. This is a problem for sites used, historically and possibly illegally, for the disposal of hazardous products or found to contain unregistered underground tanks and abandoned materials causing residual contamination.
Microbial growth. “Living buildings” are currently being designed nationwide with new green systems that include vegetative roofing, rainwater collection, permeable walls and exteriors, and ornamental water features. Unfortunately, mold is still a persistent liability problem that can be exacerbated by the use of innovative products that are yet unproven in the field or over time.
While the aforementioned examples are not exhaustive, they do offer an idea of the environmental exposures that can occur during green construction. Owners, contractors, and designers all need to fully understand the potential sources of these exposures and explore the coverage options that will best protect their firms from the potentially crippling effects of litigation.
METROPOLITAN ENGINEERING, CONSULTING & FORENSICS (MECF)
Providing Competent, Expert and Objective Investigative Engineering and Consulting Services
P.O. Box 520
Tenafly, NJ 07670-0520
Tel.: (973) 897-8162
Fax: (973) 810-0440
E-mail: metroforensics@gmail.com
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