Until now, there has been little, if any, active litigation related to the rash of green building regulations passed in the past few years. That changed July 3 when a new era of environmental litigation began. A group of HVAC and water heating equipment trade organizations, contractors and distributors sued the City of Albuquerque in federal district court to stop parts of the city's high performance building code from taking effect. The plaintiffs argue the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 and other federal laws preempt the building code's provisions related to energy efficiency of HVAC products. Set to take effect last month, the regulations adopted in 2007 established energy efficiency requirements for air conditioners, furnaces, heat pumps and water heaters that were

Several traditional big box retailers, such as Best Buy, have recently announced their intention of building green stores. A number of banks, such as PNC Bank, have also announced the development of green bank branches. In all likelihood, if these buildings achieve a sufficient number of LEED points, they will be certified "green" and may receive significant tax incentives for their efforts.

Most Best Buys and bank branches, however, are located in strip malls with seas of impervious parking lots that are accessible only by car. This phenomenon - where green buildings are located in unsustainable contexts - can be called "green sprawl."

Green sprawl presents several problems: it justifies the continued development on the periphery, perpetuates reliance