Green Building is a success story. It has passed the hurdle of acceptance and is now spreading throughout the supply chain.
Example: Last year, CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP), which publishes the largest for-lease and for-sale commercial real estate database, began highlighting LEED-certified commercial properties in its 2 million –plus listings database so that realtors and other professionals could pinpoint high-performance green buildings. There are about 200 LEED-certified properties in the database so far; now they’re adding Energy Star ratings.
In February, green home listings were added to the Regional Multiple Listing Service for the Pacific Northwest. This enables real estate agents and appraisers to compare properties with and without efficiency and green features to see how they affect sales prices. It may eventually encourage lenders to offer larger loans to borrowers with resource efficient houses because of lower utility costs.
As more green buildings come on the market and as more tenants and homeowners demand them, the realtor community has taken notice. Now viewed as the next big trend in the industry, green building was the theme at this year’s Northeast Real Estate Conference & Expo. 200 realtors attended an introductory seminar on green real estate and clearly wanted more.
Real estate brokers can now get certified as green realtors. Two certification programs are available to help them learn the language of green building and understand the effectiveness and benefits of green features.
First, brokers can take a year-long online course offered by EcoBroker. The company has trained about 1700 realtors from 42 states, Canada and the Caribbean over the past four years. Brokers can also attend a 2-day STAR workshop offered by Earth Advantage, a third party certifier of green homes. Sustainability Training for Accredited Real Estate Professionals (STAR) educates the real estate community to communicate knowledgeably and effectively about the green features and benefits of new and existing homes. Both firms offer continuing education credits and certification after passing an exam at the end of the course.
Earth Advantage director Sean Penrith says that real estate firms want to certify all their brokers – the response is phenomenal. STAR classes are currently offered in Oregon and southwest Washington, but Earth Advantage plans to go nationwide. It’s in the process of licensing STAR to green building organizations in seven states starting in 2008.
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www.ecobroker.com
www.earthadvantage.com
www.CoStar.com
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