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A new law in Tennessee allows developers to hire their own building inspectors to check for environmental, safety, and construction violations. The law is intended to streamline the building process, particularly in rapidly growing communities.
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) adopted a new rule with new accessibility guidelines for federal buildings. The rule establishes that pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way are readily accessible to and usable by people with disabilities.
New York’s Building Code Council is set to include the All-Electric Buildings Act in its 2025 code update. The Act would ban natural gas and other fossil fuels in new buildings.
After a court struck down a first-in-the-nation ban on gas hookups in new buildings last year, voters in Berkeley, Calif., will have their say in November on a measure to tax large buildings that use natural gas.
Having made considerable strides to make streets more accessible to pedestrians and bikers in recent years, New York City is continuing to build on that momentum. Ya-Ting Liu, the city’s first public realm officer, is shepherding $375 million in funding earmarked for projects intended to make the city more environmentally friendly and boost quality of life.
Two members of the U.S. House of Representative have asked the Department of Housing and Urban Development to end the use of biometric technology, including facial recognition, for surveillance purposes in public housing.
Central Business Districts are under pressure to keep themselves relevant as they face competition from new, vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods emerging across the world’s largest cities.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is expected to soon sign a bill that would change the state’s commercial building code so that new structures would use 80% less energy when compared to a 2004 baseline standard. The legislation aims for full implementation of the new code by 2036.
A recent Supreme Court decision that substantially narrowed the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate millions of acres of wetlands is expected to open more land for development. More than half of the nation’s wetlands could lose protection under the Clean Water Act, according to environmentalists and legal analysts.
Panelists participating in a recent webinar hosted by the Urban Institute discussed various actions that could help alleviate the nation’s affordable housing crisis. Among the possible remedies: inclusionary zoning policies, various reforms to increase local affordable housing stock, and fees on new development to offset the impact on public infrastructure.
Lawmakers around the country are looking for ways to spur conversions of office space to residential use.cSuch projects come with challenges such as inadequate plumbing, not enough exterior-facing windows, and footprints that don’t easily lend themselves to residential use. These conditions raise the cost for developers.
A case before the Supreme Court will likely determine how the Clean Water Act is interpreted and the ruling could open up new areas for development within or adjacent to wetlands.
Many landlords in the war for tenants have turned to offering new amenities such as conference room services, fitness centers with nutritionists, and high-end food and beverage offerings. To provide new services, landlords often engage with third-party vendors, which can present thorny legal liability.
A recent ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco invalidating Berkeley, California’s ban on natural gas within new building construction puts similar measures adopted around the country in legal jeopardy.
