Home  Expo "Greening your Home Workshop"

Saturday March 24, 2012 House Expo “Greening your Home Workshop”

1. Replace incandescent bulbs with CFL’s buy the ones that are Energy Star Qualified to ensure the savings & quality of the product. By changing the 5 most used in your home can save up to 75%. Or if you are able to buy LED lights you can save between 75-80% Energy Star Qualified LEDs use only 20-25% of the energy and last up to 25 times longer than the traditional bulbs.

2. Install Programmable Thermostat by making this installation you’re able to pre-set you’re A/C to energy saving settings while you are away or sleeping. It will do this automatically. Many models come with a filter sensor.

3. Replace your Air Conditioner Filters Energy Star recommends that you check your filters every month for excess debris that can restrict air flow.

4. Insulate your hot water heater & furnace by properly insulated hot water heaters & furnace you can reduce heat loss by 25-45% reducing your energy bill by 4-9%. Read the installation/warranty to make sure this doesn’t void the warranty. Installing a water heater timer in order for your water heater not to continuously run when you are not using it. Especially, if you are one of the homes that have two water heaters. A licensed plumber maybe needed for this process. You can also set your water heater at 120 degrees this will add to your savings.

5. Fill air leaks with caulking or weather stripping. Cracks around windows and doors can be major energy drain on your home as they decrease the efficiency of your heating and cooling system by allowing air to escape. Exhaust-vent covers like dryer vents, range hood vents, bath fans and other interior ventilation equip. typically terminate outside the house in a plastic or metal cover that has one or more louvers on it. The louvers are designed to be in the closed position whenever the fan is not in use, so that outside air doesn’t leak in. An energy auditor can identify these areas.

6. Water conservation- install aerators on facets and install a low-flow showerhead. Aerators attach to your faucets to decrease the water flow while maintaining high pressure. Water flow on every faucet in your home makes up around 15% of a typical home’s indoor water use, reducing the water flow on every faucet in your home can easily save a significant amount of water. Look for hardware with the EPA water sense label for products that are at least 20% more efficient than standard models.

8. Proper insulation in existing homes. The place where usually insulation needs to be checked is the attic. This will be one of the best ways to prevent heat loss and to keep your energy bill down. Make sure the insulation is in good condition and insulate with high quality insulation.

Rainwater Harvesting

Water can be collected in rain barrels that would normally pour off the roof through gutters downspouts. The purpose for this is:

It conserves water & helps lower cost and saves about 1300gals of water. This water can later be used to water your plants.

Another concept gaining popularity with homeowners is the creation of rain garden landscaped areas planted to wild flowers and other native plants that soak up rain water mainly from the roof of a house or other building. The rain garden allows 30% more water to soak into the ground. Rain gardens are important as cities grow and increased stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces becoming a problem.

Through my weekly readings on Real Estate trends and marketing strategies gaining popularity changing the way Realtors list properties. I found the following link Home listings note green quotient interesting to read how the GREEN real estate market is gaining popularity in ways properties are being listed on MLS's around the country. This is something that I have been advocating in my local market and ignored by committee's in charge of these advertising venues.
 
This only proves more my campaign against properties being misrepresented by real estate agents. The residential construction is gearing to provide buyers with verifiable claims of energy efficient features that buyers can enjoy in their homes on a monthly basis while at the same time being eco-friendly. MLS's around the country are making a stand in order to provide documentation backing properties claiming to be green. By MLS's taking responsibility on a database that should provide the utmost accuracy in its information in respect to each property being uploaded claiming to have some sort of green feature. We must always remember that paper holds a lot of meaningless words if they are not backed up with qualifications.

Not only is the MLS (Multuple Listing Service) providing the options for Realtors to pre-select properties that have some type of verifiable green features but also allows real estate agents with a better property selection incorporating the green features that a buyer maybe looking for. With an MLS that maintains their green features verified also allows lenders and appraisers with the necessary data to provide a correct evaluation of value for the energy efficiency enhancements.

I find this article very relevant to my local real estate industry simply because I see so many listings on our MLS being misrepresented by their listing agents, our MLS has a green initiative at a certain level, but denied by many agents and boards until a need to list a property that may or may not have a green feature that an agent wants to highlight. The use is merely a marketing gimmick for the agent and creating the greenwashing effect.

Although, I have addressed this issue with the appropriate individuals over seeing the MLS and even provide guidelines issued by our own organization being NAR (National Association of Realtors) nothing seems to change in the way real estate properties are listed but yet many agents as well as brokerages flood the web with articles about how GREEN conscious they are and even provide some sort of ways on how to become energy efficient but neglect to be responsible enough to take a stand and follow the green MLS guidelines . This only proves that this green initiative is used only to deceive the consumer. 


My professional advice to buyers & Sellers is to be an informed consumer. Want to know more about Thomasville real estate without the fairy tales? contact me. I am an Ecobroker Certified agent @ Rose City Realty, Inc.  Green homes is my forte. Call Rose City Realty, Inc. at 229-225-9225 or email me at Info@EcoHomesGA.com for more green real estate information.

Thomasville, GA does have the first and only TRUE Energy Star Qualified built home listed by Rose City Realty, Inc. and listing agent is an Ecobroker Certified Agent trained in the benefits of owning a verifiable green home. MLS# 902243 It just does not get any GREENER than this.


I ask this question to all of you in the real estate industry. What green initiative does your MLS implements?

As sellers continue to lower their home prices in order to attract buyer interest, sellers will put on hold all upgrades due to the lack of return in their investments especially with green features. It is safe to say that a logical person cannot think a seller will pour money into upgrading their homes with green features and not increase their home prices. Buyers as well as some real estate representatives do not have the knowledge or training to distinguish between a standard upgrade to a green upgrade. That's were an Ecobroker Certified agent like me comes in to explain to both the seller and the buyer what the differences are.  As I say, you get what you pay for; buyers cannot expect to buy TRUE energy efficient upgraded homes at rock bottom prices. Buyers will find homes that are misrepresented as green homes that merely mention one or two green features that may or may not save them money but yet are quickly listed as green features with no validity to them leaving the consumer with the burden of researching the features for what they are buying into. 

I disagree with statements that tell sellers to upgrade one or two things in their homes in order to list their properties as green properties. This is called GREENWASHING and unethical and simply jumping on the bandwagon and bad advice. My beef is not with the green upgrades it's the fact that one component alone does not make an entire home green. Unfortunately, the real estate industry in Thomasville has not change much what sells is not the features and characteristics of each home on the market but how big and cheap a home is. Here is a link on how a home buyer should approach a home they are buying http://massrealestatenews.com/price-per-square-foot-is-misleading-for-real-estate-values/

So, it is interesting to read articles where supposedly sellers are pouring money into green features and green material upgrades to their homes without any price increase and how our local industry is so geared towards green homes is just mind bugling, funny and just insane and far from the truth I just cannot help it in setting the record straight. 

I know, I know I will be hated by others in the industry for being so forth coming and talking negatively and some will even try to hush me but am just calling it as I see it and consumers need to know the truth and not be filled with fairy tales about the real estate market. Do not get me wrong, sellers can make green upgrades and I encourage it because the seller will enjoy the savings while the house sits on the market and contributing towards the environment until the energy hogs of big homes are sold out but there is a procedure in doing these upgrades and when done right the value will be there.

People……… adding energy efficient features and green materials to a home will increase the building cost and to retrofit a home you will pay for those upgrades it will not come at a cheap price. In a new construction energy efficient windows come standard in itself it is not an upgrade unless you go into a triple pane window or a lower U-Factor window. I can tell you that you will pay a price for these upgrades that will ultimately reflect on your selling price. Who in their right mind thinks that these upgrades do not affect the home price?  A seller will think twice before investing in energy efficient upgrades if they are not able to get a return from their investment. 

I read so many articles advising sellers to incorporate one or two green features in order for sellers to misrepresent their homes and attract buyers to their listings. Sellers are mislead with the wrong advise and are used as another marketing gimmick and buyers are smarter than that. I can tell you this as a seller myself of the first and only true ENERGY STAR QUALIFIED home in Thomasville that incorporates not only one or two features but many verifiable energy efficient features providing me with an amazing energy & water savings (my pot of gold) and to tell you it does not get any greener then this and yet this home sits like every other home seller. You may ask why? And I will tell you the God honest truth. Large spec homes built to the bare minimum code standards at rock bottom prices is the order of the day.    

Through my weekly readings, I came across some overwhelming information from no other then our President Obama and his new HomeStar program incentives that are offered to homeowners to make their homes more energy-efficient, saving families several of hundred of dollars on their utility bills.

In reading these articles, which I have linked here in order to educate the consumer and more so people in the real estate industry that are still in denial about the energy-efficient qualified new home construction that many cities, counties and states are on a fast track in building and selling. I was just tickled to death, when I read all this information about energy efficiency and how it is affecting major industries especially the real estate industry. This is something I have been preaching for about the past three years and many in the real estate community just saw it as a marketing gimmick or just did not get it or for some odd reason, from lack of knowledge, assumed that these high performance homes just needed to be comparable to minimum code built homes. Although, more of them are using illusory words to attract the environmentally concious consumer to their products practicing GREENWASHING. These swindlers will soon be slammed with reprimands not only from authorities from their own organizations but from the government. Consumers need to be protected in many ways then one because buying real estate is a big investment that buyers can't just turn around and get rid of so quickly.

Cracking Down on GREENWASHING (Government driven)

The Green MLS Tool Kit ( Guidelines from NAR)

Who are "Green" Buyers and Sellers?

How about Some "GREEN" on the MLS?

Why Green Building

Cost of an Energy Efficient home versus standard spec home

In today's real estate market, energy-efficiency is seen everywhere you turn. This is an issue that can be avoided but soon will be hard to ignore. For those who think it is just merely a trend of today will soon see it as the norm of tomorrow. We even see it with auto makers putting out energy-efficient cars because it is mandated by our government. Consumers can now have the option to buy a car which due come at a premium with higher fuel standards saving consumers at the pump and receive government tax credit for their purchases offsetting consumers investment and saving them for years to come.


Homes are no different. Homes are a major contributors of greenhouse gas emission and through programs like ENERGY STAR, LEED, HOMESTAR, and many others out there qualifying new and retrofit home construction adhering to higher standards,being sustainable, kind to the environment as well as providing a healthier more comfortable home and saving homeowners money on their utilities bills. Yes, I do understand that some people do not care for this and the larger the home and cheaper they pay for them is their thing and that is great different homes for different folks,right.

Now, I ask you, who in the world doesn't want to save money? Being in the real estate industry, I hear people say how much money they are spending on their utility bills and I ask myself "am I the only one listening to these people?" On the other side, I constantly hear these energy efficient homes being called "homes that don't fit in", "homes that are overpriced" or "homes that are bullies" bluh, bluh, bluh and all these comments coming from no other than professionals in the industry that sadly refuse to either educate themselves on what the overall benefits of these homes are or just do not want to admit that "they" themselves do not "fit in" to the real estate market of "Today" and understanding the aspects of the new era of building and retrofiting to energy-efficiency. Professionals that refuse to admit to the changing market will soon stay behind in the real estate of yesterday and as consumers become more savvy buyers will steer to professionals that are better educated in the modern real estate industry.

I will say this to consumers and to my peers soon we will see steps taken mandating improvements in building efficiency by 50% through our building codes. There has been improvements in the residential sector with the IECC 2009 but sadly to report that this 30% improvement by the Energy Efficient Code Coalition is ONLY voluntary to be used by cities, counties and state authorities. These authorities more often than not will give their dumbs down due to their local politics and deep concerns in adding new building codes because it will be harder to get builders to get the proper training.

So, many elect to ignore it, turn a blind eye and believe they can live in a shell and avoid change or fear of the unknown and the effect it may have in their lives, and the way they do business and I completely understand but, whether you want to admit it or not this trend will become the norm forcing all of us to make a change.

What's your take? I would love to hear your views from your neck of the woods and your experiences in your market.

10 ways to be a REALTOR Bully

By Ines Hegedus-Garcia on October 5, 2009 | 34 Responses