About

Shari Shapiro

Shari Shapiro is a LEED Accredited Professional. Ms. Shapiro focuses her practice on renewable energy, green building law and sustainable corporations. Her experience includes sustainable project financing, renewable energy transactions (from both the ESCO and customer sides), contract drafting, regulatory permitting, land use approvals and conflict resolution.

 

Ms. Shapiro is very involved in developing sustainability in the Delaware Valley and beyond. Ms. Shapiro is on the Board of Directors for Green Village Philadelphia; the chair of the environmental policy committee for the Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance; and a member of the Legal Advisory Board for the United States Green Building Counsel. Ms. Shapiro is a former secretary and member of the Board of Directors of the Delaware Valley Green Building Council. Ms. Shapiro is also an adjunct faculty member in the Public Policy Program at Drexel University.

Ms. Shapiro was named a 2009 “Lawyer on the Fast Track” by the Legal Intelligencer.

Ms. Shapiro earned her Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Pennsylvania where she received the Milton C. Sharp Award for Best Grades/Best Research in Urban Renewal or Land Use Planning. While attending the University of Pennsylvania, she obtained a Certificate in Business and Public Policy from the Wharton School of Business.

Her publications include

  • The Law of Green Buildings, ABA-ELI, Fall 2010
  • “Who Should Regulate? Federalism and Conflict in Regulation of Green Buildings,” Forthcoming, William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review, 2009
  • “The Legal Risks of Building Green,” May, 2009, Journal of Light Construction
  • “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Lawyers,”  December 1, 2008, Greenerbuildings.com
  • “What’s Next for Albuquerque,” November 17, 2008, Greenerbuildings.com
  • “Open the Floodgates: The Era of Green Building Litigation,” July 11, 2008, Greenerbuildings.com
  • “Guide to Green,” Nov/Dec 2007, Commercial Investment Real Estate Magazine
  • “Losing The Forest To Save A Few Trees: The Problems Behind Green Sprawl,” September, 2007, Greenbiz.com 
  • “Local Regulations Still Catching Up To Meet Green-Building Requirements,” July 13, 2007, Central Pennsylvania Business Journal
  • “Green Projects Take Patience,” June 22, 2007, Philadelphia Business Journal
  • “The Role for Attorneys In the Practice of Building Green,” June 14, 2007, Legal Intelligencer
  • ABA Environmental, Energy and Resources Year in Review, 2005, 2006
  • “The Effectiveness of Pennsylvania’s Act 2:  Are Good Mechanics Enough?,”  Temple Journal of Science, Technology and Environmental Law, Fall 2005

Ms. Shapiro has been featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer, ABA Journal, Lexis/Nexis, Treehugger.com and Greenerbuidings.com.

Ms. Shapiro received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Development Studies and Modern British History from Brown University. 

Ms. Shapiro is admitted to practice in the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 
 
  Practice Areas

  • Green Building Law
  • Sustainable Project Financing
  • Regulatory Drafting
  • Contract Drafting
  • Land Use
  • Conflict Resolution

Professional Associations

  • Board of Directors, Delaware Valley Green Building Council
  • Co-Chair of the ABA State and Local Government Section Subcommittee on Land Use/Environmental Law

Education

  • J.D., University of Pennsylvania (2005)
  • B.A. Magna Cum Laude, Brown University (1997)

Bar Admissions

  • Pennsylvania
  • New Jersey