What is Green?

By: John Shaterian, REALTOR©, GREEN, LEED AP, Om Realty Group

Green, in my opinion, is a term without specific definition. The definition of green should ultimately be defined by the end user. There are many different green client types as well as different national and local certification levels of green. However, there must be in place an agreed upon set of parameters in which society can frame an end users individual definition. A government’s role should be to provide broad brush strokes for the parameters, and allow consumers sort out the details via the open marketplace.

There has been some talk of governments possibly mandating energy audits to be provided by the seller of a property prior to selling the property. An energy audit or rating is a highly specialized field that produces third party scientific and specific tests to rate the existing energy efficiency of a home. After a couple of different tests are run the results produce a numerical score that can be place on a HERS Index to understand the current level of efficiency. For more detailed explanation please visit www.natresnet.org. Should governments require this level of testing for every home in the current marketplace prior to sale,they may run the risk of stigmatizing properties that score poorly, not to mention the expense of a procedure whose results would yield no new information to anyone involved in the transaction. These tests best serve the buyer of a property in order to make improvements that will fall in line with the buyer’s own personal definition of green. Properties that undergo certification are generally required to have this testing done in order to help satisfy requirements for the certification, in which case the test serves a marketable function for the property.

I am a member of an organization in Chicago, Sustainable Real Estate Alliance, which is made up of a couple green Realtors®.We have been developing a method for differentiating green listings from traditional listings on the MLS via the addition of a few new search fields and a green disclosure document. We currently in the final stages of the process, and our hope is that it will be able to be implemented soon.

Comments

[Andrew Wilson]

Thanks for bringing the idea of green listings to the MLS. Green is an idea that should bring market value to real estate, which currently it does not clearly do.

Municipalities should be careful about pushing responsibility of code enforcement (and authoring) to third parties without carefully considering the consequences. Agreed that the private market is the best place to sort these things out.

Even as a LEED AP, I am somewhat concerned about the growth of LEED in this manner. I fear dilution of the brand. Others may disagree, but please read my article and let me know what you think:
Do We NEED Mainstream LEED?

Andy
[1016] Architecture Inc.

Inside the Brackets

[Robert Schildgen]

My wife is a registered broker and we have operated a development / listing company for the last 12 years in the city of Chicago. Additionally, I am the owner/CEO of Priority Energy; - a company specializing in energy efficiency and conservation. This includes energy audits - we are a certified rater trainer for RESNET - meaning, in addtion to rating homes ourselves, we train and educate energy auditors to perform ratings.

Clearly I'm biased when it comes to this subject, but there are many benefits to having an energy audit completed for agents/brokers:

For Sellers - An energy audit is a low cost (typically around $300) option for any seller to differentiate their home

For Buyers - It's a valuable add on when figuring out the total cost of ownership for financing, not to mention buyers of energy efficient homes qualify for more through energy efficient mortgages (EEMs).

If anyone would like to learn more about the value of an energy audit in the sales process; I would be more then happy to sit down with you and/or your firm,. Also, for a limited time, we are offering free energy audits to real estate agents/brokers.

Call (800) 737-2299 today or visit - http://www.priorityenergyplanning.com and click on Additional Resources - Help for Agents and Brokers