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About the Author

As the first LEED Accredited Professional (LEED® AP) attorney in Florida and fifth in the United States, Paul was at the forefront of attorneys who recognized the significance of sustainability and green building trends on all aspects of real estate development, operations, and business in general and responded by receiving accreditation through the U.S. Green Building Council and focusing a portion of his practice on sustainable development matters.

Paul has represented developers of sustainable development projects on entitlement, incentives, project governance, leasing, financing, design and construction contracting, insurance and certification issues.   He has prepared commercial leases for landlords and tenants of buildings seeking green building certification and counsels design, engineering and consulting professionals on contractual and risk management issues pertaining to green building projects.  Before joining the law firm of Berger Singerman in 2009, Paul spent almost 14 years with Greenberg Traurig where he was Co-Chair of the national Green Building and Sustainability Group. 

Paul regularly speaks and writes on the topic of sustainable development.  Following are some of his publications and speaking engagements:

Publications

  • “Options for Clean Energy Financing Programs: Scalable Solutions for Florida’s Local Governments,” University of Florida, October 2010
  • “Energy Efficiency Retrofit and Renewable Energy Programs Using Property Assessed Financing: Florida Guide for Local Governments,” University of Florida, June 2010
  • “Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Energy Conservation: Development Impacts Under Florida’s HB 697,” University of Florida, Version 2.0, May 2010
  • “Green Building Litigation: No Tsunami but the Tide is Rising,” Florida Real Estate Journal, March 2010
  • “Managing Expectations and Risk: Be Clear That Green Building Certification is Not a Proxy for Performance,” Florida Engineering Society Journal, March 2009
  • “Managing Risk in the Sustainable Building Frontier: Ask for a Green Building Rating Guarantee from your Architect and you May get the Keys to the Store,” Sustainable Land Development Today, November/December 2008
  • “Redevelopers Beware – San Francisco’s Green Building Ordinance is LEED on Acid,” AR Selects Green Blogs, Architectural Record, October 24, 2008
  • “Selling and Governing the Green Project: Owner Risks in Marketing, Entitlement and Project Governance,” Real Estate Issues, Published by The Counselors of Real Estate, Volume 33, Number 3, 2008

Speaking Engagements

  • Speaker, “Clean Energy Finance Program Options,” Green, Energy & Climate Conference, West Palm Beach, FL, May 2011
  • Speaker, “Greening the Law: Green Building Litigation, Green Leasing, Renewable Energy, Greenwashing, Green Codes and Ethics,”  The Florida Bar, May 2011
  • Speaker, “Clean Energy Financing – Alternatives and Opportunities for Funding Retrofits and Renewables,” Construction Executives Association, April 2011
  • Speaker, “Kick-Starting the Clean Energy Economy in Florida: Implementation, Tools and Strategies,” Conference on Renewable Energy 101 for Housing and Community Development, Institute for Professional and Executive Development (IPED), March 2011
  • Moderator, ” True Sustainability – Creating Value Through Performance,” Florida State University Real Trends Conference, November 2010
  • Roundtable Participant, “DOE Clean Energy Roadshow,” Punta Gorda, FL,  October 2010
  • Speaker, “Energy: Envisioning a New Future,” USGBC Broward Branch Meeting, Fort Lauderdale, September 2010
  • Speaker, “Clean Energy Finance Program Alternatives,” Florida Association of Counties, Telephone Conference, September 2010
  • Speaker, “GHG and Energy Conservation Issues: Comprehensive Planning Under Florida’s HB 697,” American Planning Association Florida 2010 Meeting, Tampa, September 2010
  • Speaker, “Financing of Energy Efficiency Projects – Keeping PACE with Current Initiatives,” USGBC Miami-Dade and the Keys Branch Annual Meeting, Miami Beach, September 2010
  • Speaker, “Community Energy Financing Options as a PACE Alternative,” ICLEI Florida State Network Meeting, Sarasota, FL, July 2010
  • Speaker, “Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Energy Conservation,” Comprehensive Planning Under Florida’s HB 697, Planning Officials Workshop by University of Florida Program for Resource Efficient Communities, Largo, FL, May 2010
  • Speaker, “Intelligent, Green & Sustainable: What Are The Innovators Doing?”, RealTech Middle East, Abu Dhabi, February 2010
  • Guest Speaker, “Realities of Managing Green,” Dania Beach, Midgard Management Seminar, June 2009
  • Guest Speaker, “AB 811 – California’s Hot New Financing Tool: A Model for Florida?,” Green Cities Florida conference, Orlando, May 2009
  • Guest Speaker, “Legal and Risk Management in Green Building,” NAIOP Virtual Conference, May 2009
  • Moderator, ” Green Leasing,” Green Building Finance and Investment Forum, Infocast, San Francisco, March 2009
  • Guest Speaker, “Managing Risk when Building Green – Entitlement, Marketing, Leasing and Project Governance Issues,” Lorman Education Services, Green or Sustainable Construction in Florida Seminars, Orlando and West Palm Beach, December 2008
  • Panelist, ” The Business of Green,” South Florida Business Journal/Oracle Seminar, November 2008
  • Panelist, “The Liability of Building Green,” Green Building Initiative/AGC of America Webinar, October 2008
  • Guest Speaker, “Sustainability in the South Florida Region,” Urban Land Institute Public Private Partnership Council, October 2008
  • Guest Speaker, ” Packing a Parachute: Practices that Minimize Risk when Building Green,” West Coast Green, September 2008
  • Guest Speaker, “Green Building & LEED: Legal and Risk Management Issues,” University of Miami School of Law, Real Property Development Masters of Law Program, September 2008
  • Chair and Moderator, “Green Building Finance and Investment Forum,” Infocast, New York, September 2008
  • Instructor, “LEED for Neighborhood Development – A Primer,” Florida Chamber Environmental Permitting Summer School, July 2008
  • Guest Speaker, ” Managing Risk for Owners and Developers when Building Green – Entitlement, Marketing, Leasing and Project Governance Issues,” Lorman Education Services Hidden Risks of Green Buildings Seminars, Miami and Tampa, May 2008
  • Facilitator, ” Going Green,” Marsh’s Academy of Risk, May 2008
  • Guest Speaker, “Understanding NAIOP’s Legislative Toolkit for Sustainable Building Ordinance Web Seminar,” NAIOP Webinar, April 2008
  • Guest Speaker, “Go Green?” Commercial Real Estate Women(CREW) Event, February 2008
  • Guest Speaker, “Risks of Going Green – Managing Risk on Airport LEED Projects,” Insurance and Risk Management Conference, Airports Council International, January 2008
  • Guest Appearance, “Building Green,” Community Crossroads, Ion Media Network, November 2007
  • Moderator, “Miami-Dade Does Green Affordably Symposium,” Miami, November 2007
  • Lecturer, “Going Green: Legal and Risk Management Issues,” University of Miami School of Architecture, October 2007
  • Moderator, “What Mixed Use and Multi-Family Developers Want: Design Clients Share Green Expectations,” Green & Design Conference, October 2007
  • Participant, “Green Building Roundtable,” National Law Journal, September 2007
  • Guest Speaker, “Building Green: It’s Not a Fad,” Broward Chapter of the American Planning Association, September 2007
  • Guest Appearance, “Going Green”, NBC 6 News, September 2007
  • Guest Speaker, “Mall Makeovers: 321 North, A LEED ND Pilot Project,” Developer Conference, September 2007
  • Guest Speaker, “Green Building & LEED: Legal and Risk Management Issues,” University of Miami School of Law, Real Property Development Masters of Law Program, September 2007
  • Instructor, “Basics of Green Building and LEED; Legal and Risk Management,” Greenberg Traurig Continuing Legal Education Webinar, September 2007
  • Guest Speaker, “Green Building & LEED: Issues for Contractors and Subcontractors,” Construction Executives Association, August 2007
  • Instructor, “Sustainable and Conservation Based Development,” Florida Chamber Environmental Permitting Summer School, July 2007
  • Guest Speaker, “Green Redevelopment: Sustainable Development Issues and Options for Local Government Officials,” FAU Institute of Government, June 2007
  • Guest Speaker, “From Green to LEED and Everything in Between,” ULI Design Trends Conference, June 2007

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    Disclaimer:  The views in Negotiating Leases in the Era of Green Building are personal, are not legal advice, and are not endorsed by Berger Singerman or any affiliate of Berger Singerman.

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