- Dennis Norman
As green building gains in popularity and buying a green home grows in importance with buyers, agents and brokers need to be knowledgeable and informed about green building and green homes.
So what is “green building”? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines green building as the practice of:
- Increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use and harvest energy, water, and materials; and
- Protecting and restoring human health and the environment, throughout the building life-cycle: siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction.
To learn more about green homes and become more informed and therefore a better resource for clients, agents can turn to many places including the following:
- For REALTORS(R) the first stop should be to check out NAR’s Green Resource Council where you can work toward earning NAR’s Green Designation which is the only green designation for agents and property managers recognized by NAR
- U.S. Green Building Council - A non-profit organization that promotes green building and established the LEED certification. Their site is loaded with information, publications and presentations explaining every aspect of green building you can think of and hundreds of links to more resources. One of my favorites is their Green Home checklist which will help your clients evaluate homes they are looking at, or their own home, to see how green building concepts have been, or could be, incorporated into the home.
- National Association of Home Builders Green Building Program - One of my favorite features of this site is their “Green Scoring Tool” which, although it will take time to complete, will allow you to answer questions about a new home or renovation project and give you the “green score” for the home. Along the way you learn what is important when trying to build green. The site also features a page that gives homeowners information on the financial incentives of going green.
- Healthy House Institute – Since a major focus, and benefit, of green building is indoor air quality this site is a great resource as it focuses on products to help have a healthier indoor environment. This site is littered with Google Ads, but if you can overlook that, there is a lot of information here.
- US Department of Energy – Energy Guide – This site has a lot of useful information on conserving energy.
I have only touched the tip of the iceberg here as there is a ton of information and resources out there when it comes to green building and green homes but the information here will give agents and brokers a good place to start. Not everyone is going to feel the need, or have the desire, to get their Green Designation from NAR, but by spending a little time of some of the sites mentioned you can still become better informed and be more prepared for your clients questions about green building.
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