Land Use Law Commons^™

The sustainable construction movement may eventually transform construction law and practice. Alternatively, sustainability in the built environment may simply be absorbed into the existing fabric of construction contracting. Using the lens of design and construction law theory, this article examines selected project structures and contract provisions being used or proposed in the design and construction industry to allocate the special risks associated with green building standards and objectives. Green building contracts will inevitably reflect industry practices derived from theories of liability and risk allocation that have dominated construction and design law for decades. But established practices and legal theories do …

By demanding stewardship of natural capital over exploitation, sustainability envisions a property regime less committed to individual property rights than are the traditional and economic theories of property. While the traditional property theories of Blackstone, Locke, and U.S. constitutional doctrine tolerate restrictions on private property rights for the sake of public welfare, they resist the strongest versions of sustainability, which promote generational and social justice. Similarly, an economic analysis of property recognizes the values of resource conservation and welfare for future generations, but only to the limited extent the economist can calculate future value. As a result, economic analysis may …