How Green is Your Realtor?

The upside in looking for a new home during these uncertain economic times is that it’s easier to get expert help to find a home that is green and healthy. Now there’s over 4,000 Realtors who've become Ecobrokers. Their environmental curriculum covers everything from energy efficiency to solar energy, indoor air quality and green financing. An Ecobroker can help you assess the green features of a home and recommend changes if you are selling or buying.

Some firms have an impressive team of green experts. A shining example is the Green Key Real Estate (the first and only green real estate company in San Francisco), led by Chris Bartle. He’s also on the board of Build It Green, a member of the California Association of Realtors Green Task Force and a Certified Green Building Professional.” Ecobroker, Carson Matthews writes that “A tight well built house gives you the foundation to add all of these other (green) ingredients.” Just be sure that your well-sealed home doesn’t keep more air pollutants inside. You want your home to be green and healthy.

Get a Green Broker When You Buy or Sell Your Home

That choice is not only smart for the planet and for your health, it means that the property may be more valuable to the buyer or the seller. Why? Because a broker who is steeped in what makes a home green (energy-efficient, air cleaning system, solar, etc.), can help other eco-minded buyers or sellers to size up a property, make green improvements and more.

For example, Meghan Clair is the kind of caring trailblazer I would pick as my Realtor if I were buying or selling my home in Hawaii (rather than in Sausalito, where I live). Also I love living in this hilly village by the bay.

Back to Clair. She cares deeply about the environment and supporting people in finding a healthy green home in which to live. That's why she studied to become the first certified Ecobroker in Maui. Now that's a concrete way to support the Aloha spirit and way of life.

As Clair points out, "Green real estate refers to a property designed or built to reduce environmental impacts; create a safer, more efficient living or working environment; reduce operating cost; and improve occupant health." Even the wealthy are going green at home - not just to save the world but to preserve their health.