LOS ANGELES-Green, for lack of a better word, is good. But it doesn't come without a price, or risk, according to Timothy Corbett, president of Pasadena-based SmartRisk. Speaking yesterday at AIA-Los Angeles' inaugural conference on public space and design, he said the green building boom has created increased challenges to designers and engineers of those projects.

Corbett explained that clients of green projects have heightened expectations of the finished product. But sometimes what they envisioned doesn't measure up to what they see, leading to claims filed against the project's engineer or architect.

Corbett said the claims carry a broad range of complaints. In one case, the client cited a US Green Building Council (USGBC) study that promised healthier and more productive employees in a gold-certified building. "The tenant demanded a rent rebate and the owner sued the design firm for negligence for believing it would be a non-sick building," said Corbett.