.Green Lights the Way

Is it time to consider a Green upgrade? As a, EcoBroker, I am helping more and more buyers who are looking for Green homes. I am finding it is a plus, when I can actually point out the energy saving systems or healthy features of a home. It is becoming the new granite or stainless steel. But the truth is, there just isn™t much of it out there.

For those of you looking to buy a Green home, you may have to do the work yourself.

And those of you in the market to make some changes to your existing home, you now face the decisions, whether or not to choose a œgreen approach. Your reasons will be personal. It may be you want to save money on utility bills, maybe you want to conserve energy, perhaps you recognize the added value this will give to your future resale or feel the call to create a healthier living space for you and your family. Whatever your reasons, and despite your good intentions, you could get stuck just trying to figure out where to start

To save time and frustration bring in an expert. Yes there are experts in this field you can turn to. Whether you are just wanting to make simple changes, or planning an all out remodel, there is someone to navigate this for you. And depending on your project, we know people you can turn to.

They are called GreenPoint Raters, and they are trained to help you navigate the choices involved when adding Green elements to your home. Think of them as you interior designer for Green. They can take the stress out of knowing what the carbon footprint of the products you choose is, or what water system and energy saving devices will maximize your homes needs.   With greater consumer demand for Green more products are coming on to the market place, healthier products, a greater range of available products is now available to choose from. This is good but can be difficult too. With so much œhype around Green, who do you trust to really be sustainable and who is just, œjumping on the band wagon? There are now over 400 Green consumer labels currently on the market, and that can be confusing.

For instance I always knew about FSC certified wood. That is wood harvested from sustainable forests, which plant as many trees as they harvest, but I just learned about SFI. Sustainable Forestry Initiative, a fully independent, charitable organization dedicated to promoting sustainable forest management.   Umm where did they come from?

While growing choices is allowing prices to come down to compete with the traditional building materials, they are not always easy to navigate.

Here are some questions you may face when deciding to go green.

Let™s see how you would answer them.

Warning, it is these investigative questions that cause a person to convert over to the Green side and become obsessed, so beware if you choose to take this on yourself.

Here we go?  

 Do you choose FSC or SFI Certified wood products?

Do you go for a home certification such as Indoor Advantage or Green Guard, Green Seal or Energy Star?

Do you install solar panels, or is it more economical to seal leaks and add insulation?

What about your windows? Should they be exchanged? Or is that necessary?

Do you pick a tank less water heater? A solar hot water heater? Or maybe the œhot water on demand system?

The answer, it will depend on the age of your home, the location, your personal priorities and ¦ your budget.

This is what you hire a GreenPoint Rater to help with you with.

They can help you take the guesswork out of a lot of these decisions. Whether you are undergoing a whole house remodel, or just tackling one room, the Rater will work with you to make the greatest impact in the areas most important to you. The GreenPoint Rater uses a checklist, which allots points in five categories (Community, Energy, Indoor Air Quality, Resource Efficiency, and Water) and while the program is primarily concerned with the economy, comfort and health of your home, having the GreenPoint Rated label can also add re-sale value to your house.

A study in the Seattle region recently found that homes with œenvironmental ratings sold quicker and for more money than homes without a rating. This summer, the San Francisco MLS (Multiple Listing Service) became the first regional MLS in California to add GreenPoint Rated and other Green ratings as a search criterion. As homebuyers become increasingly concerned with energy efficiency and indoor air quality, the GreenPoint Rated label might give your house the edge it needs in the marketplace.The GreenPoint Rated program is an impartial, third-party verified rating system administered by Build It Green, a non-profit organization in Berkeley that promotes the advancement of Green building practices throughout California. By assigning a point value to each improvement you make, the program serves as a pathway to a more resource-efficient, healthier and environmentally friendly home.

Hear ye Hear ye,    

A  tentative agreement reached by the Senate to extend a tax credit for first-time home buyers, but alas its passage still remains uncertain.

Senators have agreed to extend the existing tax credit for first-time homebuyers and are offering a reduced tax credit of up to $6,500 to repeat buyers who have owned their current homes for at least five years,   but they are uncertain how to bring it to the Senate floor. Senate Republicans are likely to support the measure, House Democrats have raised concerns that it carries a high cost to the government

The tax credits would be available to homebuyers who sign sales agreements by the end of April. They would have until the end of June to close on their new homes, according to a summary of the legislation being circulated among lawmakers.

It is expected that income limits on people claiming the credit would be increased to $125,000 for singles and $250,000 for couples, from the current $75,000 and $150,000, aides said. The credit phases out for people making more than those amounts.

If the Senate passes the bill, it would go to the House, which passed a similar bill extending unemployment benefits last month. House leaders have also said they support extending the tax credit for homebuyers.  

So while we are not there yet, lets hope we keep it going in the right direction before the end of the month.

 
Many of the talks I give center around advising developers, builders, current homeowners and buyers how to build or retrofit homes and what to look for in a new, efficient, œEco-Friendly home. This month I would like to concentrate on the seller.  With more homes on the market and prices at a plateau or dipping, we are currently in a œBuyers market. If your property is priced well and people are showing interest, often it™s the œadded value from environmentally friendly upgrades that will tip the scale in your favor. These Eco-Renovations can make your house the better value.  

Start by making improvements that cut your energy bill each month. Change your incandescent light bulbs to CFL™s or LED™s. Replace appliances with energy efficient models. Tightly seal windows and doors with weather-strip and refresh caulk around sinks, tub and shower areas to reduce cooling and heating costs.

Air quality can be bad enough outside; do what you can for interior. Refresh interiors with zero or low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) paints. Use FSC woods or Bamboo flooring with non-toxic bindings, and linolium, cork, or œgreen carpeting everywhere else. That œfresh paint and œnew carpet smell is toxic off-gassing which can last for weeks, sometimes months, after the paint has dried and installation is over. It is especially dangerous for young children and older adults but it effects everyone. And clean the HVAC grills and ducts which can trap and spread dust and allergens when the system is switched on.

Reducing water usage in drought prone Southern California is a huge feather in your Seller™s cap. Start by checking your water meter while no water is being used. If it™s moving, you have a leak. Listen for running water in the pipes or bathroom. Even a small leak can add up to big waste; fix them all. Install water conserving plumbing fixtures and water flow constrictors on sinks and showers. If you aren™t replacing your toilet with a low-flow toilet, place one or two half-gallon plastic bottles filled with water in your toilet tank. This practice saves up to one gallon of water each time you flush. Waiting for the water to get hot in the shower can waste gallons of water every day. Reduce this running water waste by replacing old water heaters with œinstant on water heating systems and water pressure pumps.

Outside, œRain Barrel watering systems for your landscaping can cut down on water usage “ water from one 1.5 inch rain storm gathered from a 750 sq. ft collection area will fill nine 60 gallon barrels! Soaker hoses and drip irrigation are much more efficient than sprinkler systems. And you can train your plants to be more self-reliant by watering rarely and thoroughly to encourage roots to grow deeply into the ground.

Once you™ve created your home™s œGreen Pedigree, comparable houses on the market will have a hard time competing. Features like these show you care about your world and environment and make your property much more attractive to the educated buyer.  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

In a follow up to my last blog, I ended with notice to you that California was looking into a ban on large screen TV™s. I have been following that thread to see exactly what that means and have found Noah Horowitz, Senior Scientist and Director of the Center for Energy Efficiency, San Francisco, CA who has been involved in this for years.  He puts a friendly face on the issue.In his opinion the Califorinia Energy Commission (CEC) proposed energy efficiency standards for new TV’s that are sold in California are: œThese standards will cut the power use of new TVs by 30 to 50% and will save Californians almost a $1 billion dollars a year in the form of lower electricity bills. He writes. He believes that these standards will push the industry toward more efficient designs. He further states œWe wholeheartedly support their passage and are doing all we can to make sure this happens. I have been representing NRDC and our more than 1.3 million members and e-activists during the Commission’s more than 18 month proceeding.

So that makes it a good thing for our pocket books and our energy consumption. Note: Only TV™s 58 or greater are involved in this proposal.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      So the news is California has postponed the regulation. They are allowing more time for the industry to comply on their own. Like three years. In the meantime watch for news from the folks at the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). They are a DC-based lobbying group who is doing everything it can to prevent such regulations which includes a web based campaign centered around the misleading name of “Californians for Smart Energy”. They oppose mandatory standards and are claiming its usual litany of fabricated predictions of dire economic consequences, massive job losses and empty shelves. Noah reminds us, that trade associations have been spreading these stories on behalf of manufacturers for over 30 years. Every time California considers efficiency standards for things like air conditioners, water heaters, refrigerators and now consumer electronics. California, to its credit, has moved ahead anyway. And guess what – not a single one of these adverse impacts was ever observed. Today’s air conditioners keep you just as cool, your refrigerator keeps the food just as fresh, and after passage of the TV standard you’ll still get that great “high def” picture. Instead, California has prevented the need to build several costly power plants, new product features continued to develop, and the only difference most consumers observed was lower electric bills.So if you are in the market for a new Large screen TV and want to stay energy compliant for years to come, look at Samsung and Sharp who have recently introduced some of the most energy efficient models on the market. Even better, pick up a Vizio. Vizio is local California based company who is a leading selling brand of flat panel TVs in North America, and they have  expressed their support for the Commission’s standards.to follow developments in this rapidly changing industry as they occur go to http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/nhorowitz/  In the meantime, for a more factual based and detailed summary of the proposed California efficiency standards and critique of the misconceptions created by CEA and perpetrated on California consumers, read on:Economic impact - These standards are good for California’s economy. With the use of off the shelf technologies and additional innovations that are coming very soon, there will be little to no incremental cost to meet the standards. Due to their lower energy use, these standards will put billions back into the California economy in the form of lower electric bills.Jobs – CEA talks about thousands of lost jobs in California. First of all no TV production or assembly occurs in California, or the US for that matter. There is no basis for CEA’s predictions of harm to the independent retailers. These retailers will continue to offer their customers a wide range of hi-end models to choose from.   For example, you can already buy state of the art 52 inch TVs with new LED backlights that are only 1 ½ thick, have   amazing contrast ratios, and easily beat the proposed 2013 standard.TV Choice - The standards are performance based and technology neutral. The standards also scale with size, meaning bigger TVs are allowed to consume more power. In other words, consumers will continue to be able to choose any type of TV, whether it be LCD, plasma, DLP or some technology not even in existence today. Despite the misleading headlines that California is banning big screen TVs, one will continue to be able to buy TVs of any size, period. Market Status - Today, more than 3 years before the standard goes into full effect, there are almost 300 models that already meet the Commission’s Tier 2 energy efficiency requirements. These are made by all the leading manufacturers including Samsung, Vizio, Sharp, and Sony, as well as several of the lesser known, low cost house brands. Just like the computer laptop makers have, the TV industry is also expected to move towards LED backlights which will provide additional savings.Environmental Benefits - We will prevent the emission of just under 3 million tons per year of CO2, the main heat trapping pollutant responsible for global warming, once all TVs installed in California meet the Tier 2 efficiency levels.   In addition we will save as much power as that generated by a 500 MW power plant.