As it moves ever closer to the mainstream, green building and LEED certification's pioneering phase is nearly over, and once the pioneers are gone from any frontier, in come the lawyers. In United States, the legalities of building green are an emerging subspecialty for attorneys, one that owners need to pay attention to, says Philip Edison, a partner in the Chicago office of law firm Chapman and Cutler LLP.

"LEED adds another layer of detail that everyone in the development cycle needs to worry about-new responsibilities and expectations," he says. "For a development that's pursuing LEED certification, everyone needs to be clear about who is responsible for each piece of the certification, and what happens if there's some kind of delay or if needed points aren't earned."

For example, sometimes a construction contract specifies that a contractor can use an alternate material-one that would be acceptable in a standard project, but one that wouldn't earn LEED points. "A contractor or subcontractor might do something that causes you not to get certification, meaning you can't market your building as LEED certified, and you might not be able to recover damages for that," Edison says. "The situation isn't covered in most documents that the industry is using now."