AMBAG is offering a FREE Energy Survey to empower homeowners to get the most satisfaction & comfort from
their homes and reduce fossil fuel consumption.
Jeannie Collins,
Certified ECOBroker, Realtor and Certified Green Building Professional with the cooperation of NETWORK ALLIANCE
REAL ESTATE are sponsoring the Green Resource Library. Tips, Calendars & Coupons
for the Energy Survey can be picked up at their kiosk in the Capital Mall or their office at 2121 41st Avenue, Suite 102,
Capitola, CA 95010 831-475-1000. (Jeannie's Cell 831-331-5423)
TIPS FOR HOMEOWNERS!
Increase you home's energy efficiency & Lower your bills in the process:
Energy Star Appliance are a Quick & Easy Fix…the cost can work out in the energy savings
much sooner than you think!
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=heat_cool.pr_winter
Department of Energy's Energy Savers website
http://www.energysavers.gov/homeowners.html
Flex Your Power Energy Saving Tips
http://www/fypower.org/res/tools/energy_tips.html
Green-It-Yourself Brochure for Residents
Green-It-Yourself (PDF format, 747 K)
is do-it-yourself guide for residents that offers green ideas in three major categories of home improvements: energy efficiency,
water conservation and green materials. Produced by RecycleWorks of San Mateo
County.
CA Regional
Water Quality Control Board Notice of Public Hearing Pilot Desalination Project May 11, 2007
http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/wt/public_hearing.pdf
An article
from Realty Times:
'Green
Building' Isn't As Simple As Building Green
'Building green' is Energy Star ...& U.S. Green Building
Council's ...benchmark requirements for more sustainable and conservation-minded construction materials, designs and technology.
Building green is a holistic effort including energy conservation
designs and sustainable materials and techniques, but it is also mindful of land use and preservation, building workforce
housing close to jobs and including transportation choices.
Building green goes beyond sustainability to "surpassibility,"
ecological design that integrates itself with living processes, not just to reduce harm on the environment, but to revitalize
and invigorate the natural habitat with responsible human interaction.
Sprouting new branches of definition in the evolutionary process
of defining itself, green building isn't just building codes, development rules and planning strategies.
Building green is a movement that's gaining momentum, in part,
because it isn't always easily defined, relegated to single set of standards, or pigeonholed as a trend.
However, the movement's freewheeling approach is having some
value-based downsides in a housing market where uniform standards and guidelines are the norm for establishing property values.
[the reason for the library by the way]
That doesn't mean building green isn't here to stay.
It is.
What's driving the green trend is the growing concern over
global climate change; ever higher energy prices; consumer demand for design, products and services that promote health and
wellness; and greater proof green building does not have to cost significantly more to build. Even when it does cost more,
inherent energy savings quickly offset those upfront costs, according to the Urban Land Institute, which recently convened a "Developing Green" conference in
Pittsburg, PA.
Most green building, however, is a commercial effort.
"It's more on the commercial side where cost savings, capital
improvements are all very much inherent in the appraisal process.
[I'm serving on a committee to have Green
Features specified in the MLS to give more information to appraisers with the goal to change this.]
On the residential side, it's still a pretty new thing," says
Bell Consulting's Randall Bell, a real estate appraiser and realty economist from
Laguna Beach, CA, who researches property value factors from a host of perspectives from locations to disasters.
ULI conference participant Shyam Kannan, director of research
and development at RCLCo in Bethesda, Md., cited its home buyer preference survey which revealed only 10 percent of the respondents
based their home purchasing decision on energy savings; 3 percent based their decision on the use of green materials in the
construction.
"An overall lack of consumer demand for green housing has
-- as yet -- kept the movement from gaining the same amount of traction in the residential sector as it currently has in the
commercial sector," ULI reported as a consensus among conference participants.
Apparently, even the potential for greater property value
hasn't swayed consumers in droves.
As long ago as the late 1990s, research by Rick Nevin, at ICF International determined for every $1 you save on your annual fuel bill, your
home value will jump by $20 or more. That savings could be achieved by performing energy-efficient or "green" home improvements.
But there was a catch. A Catch 22.
- Appraisers said they didn't calculate energy improvements
in terms of increased value because standards didn't exist to accurately measure increased value from energy-related upgrades.
- Standards didn't exist, because the data base of home owners
with energy efficient home improvements was too small to consider during a typical home sale, refinance or home equity loan
appraisal.
- Caught in the vicious circle, home owners weren't compelled
to help increase the data base by completing more energy efficient home improvements because they couldn't enjoy any increased
property value. Traditional, value-tested home improvements including kitchen and bath remodels, master bedroom suite redos,
room additions and other popular alterations were simply a better deal.
Change has been slow.
"It's (green improvements) not visibly affirmable. If you
walk into a home and see an extra bath, it's visible. With energy efficiency the only time you are cognizant of it is when
you pay the bill. That's real, but it's not a selling point, said Ted Faravelli, Jr., a San Jose, CA-based expert witness, forensic real estate analyst
and managing director for the California Association of Real Estate Appraisers.
Faced with rising fuel costs, home owners are more energy-saving
conscious, and they make more energy efficient home improvements than ever, largely to save money, but without the added benefit
of increased property value.
An appraiser can make an adjustment for major energy-related
improvements, say solar panels, solar water heating and the like, but smaller home improvements that generate energy savings
still do little to add to a property's value.
The Catch 22-Factor has kept consumer demand for green building
relatively low, compared to the commercial effort. The residential sector constitutes a mere 2 percent of the green building
industry, according to ULI.
"I think the trend, over time, will see more and more of that
(residential green building) coming to the forefront. It's inevitable," says Bell.
During the conference, Kannan cited another of its surveys
in which 91 percent of prospective buyers said they would pay extra for amenities related to health and fitness, and 41 percent
said they would do so even if they could not recoup their costs.
Kannan described three groups of buyers most likely to propel
the green home building industry:
- "Forest Greens" have little purchasing power, but buy for
altruistic reasons.
- "Greenback Greens" are interested, but price sensitive and
buy green versus non-green based on cost factors.
- "Healthy Green" are highly educated, more affluent "cultural
creatives" who equate energy conservation with healthy living.
The "healthy greens," says Kannan, will drive the residential
market for green building.
Copyright © 2007 Realty Times. All Rights Reserved.
Source: Realty Times Last Updated: 05/08/2007
12:31 AM CDT
