Home of your green dreams

Real estate agents get eco-friendly training, help buyers and sellers find ways to live sustainably
By Christian Toto
Special to The Denver Post


Highland resident Lindsey Kruger knows a thing or two about living green.

The 29-year-old works in sustainable interior design, but she still is grateful she turned to a real estate professional who specialized in environmental concerns before buying her home.

Today's real estate agents are boning up on how they can merge their real estate savvy with the latest green innovations. "EcoBrokers" or Realtors with a "Green Designation" can help homeowners tweak properties to attract environmentally focused buyers or even connect homebuyers with resources to make their new homes more environmentally friendly.

The EcoBroker Kruger chose, Brad Sandler of Green Door Living in Denver, "steered me to people who would do work on my house in a sustainable way," she said.

Kruger installed bamboo floors, the material is known for its rapid growth, and added enough insulation to shrink her energy bills dramatically.

Evergreen-based EcoBroker International started instructing real estate professionals in the latest environmental stewardship techniques in 2002.

Green mission
John Beldock, EcoBroker president and chief executive, said his group has since grown to more than 5,000 members worldwide.

Members must take three days of classes to complete their certification and then four additional hours each year to retain their status.

Part of the EcoBroker's mission is to make sure clients can afford to go green. Members advise buyers and sellers toward the latest rebates, grants and other monetary incentives, Beldock said.

Lara Williams, a Fort Collins-based EcoBroker, said EcoBrokers must get to know the different grants and program available in their own backyards, such as a Fort Collins program encouraging homeowners to trade in their old porcelain toilets for water-saving models. The toilets are recycled by a local nonprofit for no charge and crushed and combined into an aggregate used as road base.

Williams said local buyers and sellers often look to her to help reduce their carbon footprint. "Now, that's taking a back seat to the energy-efficiency side of it," she said.

Real estate agents can opt to study with the EcoBroker program or take classes with the National Association of Realtors. That group began offering its own Green Designation program last year, according to Kristen Short, managing director of business specialties for the trade group.

Realtors must complete 18 hours of training to gain the certification. The Green Resource Council confers the designation, Short said.

The designation helps Realtors understand what makes a property green, and they can inform clients of both the costs and benefits of green building features. Realtors with the green designation can also tap a network of peers, from contractors to homebuilders, who work with sustainable techniques.

"What does sustainability mean in real estate? Smart growth, new urbanism, a more focused look at green consumers," she said.

Steven Caplan, an EcoBroker and green builder based in Boulder, said the environmental real estate field experiences daily technological advances. That means even EcoBrokers must diligently follow industry trends and stay connected to green builders to be of the most service to their clients.

"The EcoBroker designation, it's just letters. It's about going ahead and taking it to the next level," Caplan said.

Retrofitting advice
Ken Deshaies, an EcoBroker and owner of SnowHome Properties in Silverthorne, said EcoBrokers don't necessarily point homebuyers to the homes of their green dreams. To do so would reduce the number of available homes by a drastic number, Deshaies said.

Instead, they meet the homebuyer halfway, showing them homes that have potential to be upgraded in an environmentally friendly fashion. The same holds true for the sellers.

"I advise sellers how they can green their houses a little bit and showcase the green amenities already in the home," he said.

Sandler said he tries to tell his clients about not just the major renovations needed to go green but the subtle changes to defray energy costs.

He advises installing programmable thermostats, swapping out shower heads for low-flow models and being aware of phantom loads — the energy lost by having electronics and other appliances plugged in around the clock.

His best tip often involves taking an existing home and retrofitting it for maximum green impact. Older homes, with their thick walls and secure structures, offer a pretty good start for would-be retrofitters, he said.

Kruger has a few tips of her own for those seeking out an EcoBroker or green designated Realtor.
"Come up with a few questions to test how knowledgeable they are . . . and make sure they're really good real estate agents," she said.

All the green knowledge in the world won't matter, she said, if they don't intimately know the neighborhoods in question.

EcoBroker Announces Alliance with Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) to Benefit Consumers

The Association of Energy and Environmental Real Estate Professionals (AEEREP.org) and EcoBroker International (http://www.EcoBroker.com), proudly announce a partnership with the Residential Energy Service Network (RESNET). The partnership links AEEREP’s and EcoBroker’s real estate professional members to the industry’s most trusted source of energy raters, further helping consumers evaluate and make energy improvements to their homes in the face of mounting energy costs.

“With renewed interest in residential energy efficiency driven by consumer demand for economy, comfort, environmental sensitivity and performance, now is a perfect time to create this consumer-focused partnership,” said EcoBroker CEO Dr. John Beldock. “EcoBroker and RESNET share a mission to improve energy efficiency and the environment, and both organizations offer consumers the experts they need to assist them in achieving these goals.”

This partnership enriches the competitive offerings of both memberships, introducing even more of EcoBroker’s real estate members to the innovative energy rating programs used to help consumers evaluate and make energy-efficiency improvements to their homes and qualify for the financing to pay for the upgrades. RESNET members gain access to new business opportunities and a strong referral network. EcoBroker educates its membership on the key benefits of RESNET through its core curriculum, web site and newsletters.

“As an industry leader in energy efficiency, we are proud to partner with EcoBroker who has done so much work to educate real estate professionals on this important topic,” said RESNET Executive Director Steve Baden. “We believe our memberships and the consumer will benefit greatly from this alliance.”

EcoBroker is the first and largest provider of green real estate training for real estate professionals. Through their unique and award-winning energy and environmental curriculum, real estate professionals acquire the knowledge to become a Certified EcoBroker® then assist clients in their pursuit of greener homes. Since 2002, EcoBroker has grown to 5,000 members across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, the Caribbean, and New Zealand.

In 1995, representatives of the national mortgage industry, the National Association of State Energy Officials and Energy Rated Homes of America founded RESNET to develop national standards for home energy rating systems and energy-efficient mortgages. In 2002, RESNET became a nonprofit and is guided by a board of directors.

Contact Us

You can reach EcoBroker International at 1-800-706-4321, online at http://www.ecobroker.com/.

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EcoBroker is the premier provider of green designation training for real estate professionals. Founded in 2002, the company has built a solid foundation of environmental education and outreach helping consumers and communities take advantage of energy efficiency and environmentally sensitive design in real estate properties. Through EcoBroker’s unique energy and environmental curriculum, real estate professionals acquire the knowledge and resources to become Certified EcoBrokers®. These real estate professionals assist clients in their pursuit of properties that provide affordability, comfort and a healthier environment, all the while reducing carbon footprints. EcoBroker has thousands of members in all 50 states and internationally.

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EcoBrokersTout Green Building Principles

When real estate agent Gina Vermilyea shows houses to potential buyers, she can point out what could be done to save energy and improve air quality in a home.

Her knowledge comes from being a certified EcoBroker, a "green" designation awarded to real estate professionals who receive continuing education provided by EcoBroker International. The Colorado-based company was founded in 2002 and already has members throughout the world as the demand grows for buildings that are energy efficient and environmentally friendly.
The National Association of Realtors also offers its "Green Designation" to Realtors who complete the association's courses on green building principles.

Vermilyea, who has been in the real estate business for seven years, became the first certified EcoBroker in Minnesota three years ago and is currently among 16 EcoBrokers in the state. An agent for Coldwell Banker Burnet, Vermilyea's office is in White Bear Lake, although her work brings her into southeast Minnesota where her market stretches from Northfield to Lanesboro.
"I really feel like I serve people above and beyond the regular real estate duties because I can help them save money and help the environment," Vermilyea said.

It's becoming more common for potential buyers to ask about the energy efficiency of a home, and some of are quite knowledgeable on the topic. "And other ones know that they want energy efficiency or a green home or healthier indoor air quality but they're not really sure what they're looking for," she said.

One glance at a home isn't enough to know if it's energy efficient.

"It's pretty hard to see energy efficiency by looking at a house, but you can see things that are not" energy efficient, Vermilyea said. Buyers should ask whether a home has a high-efficiency furnace, newer windows and is well insulated, since utility bills alone don't provide an accurate assessment of a home's energy efficiency.

If a home lacks those things, Vermilyea educates potential buyers about programs through the Federal Housing Administration and other agencies that make financing available for energy-efficient improvements.

These days, Vermilyea works mostly with buyers but she's previously helped sellers whose homes incorporated green building concepts.

It wasn't that long ago that a seller with solar panels on his home might have been told by his listing agent to take the panels off because they would reduce the home's value, Vermilyea said. In the past, she said, real estate agents didn't know how to market homes with green building features, but they realize today that there is a segment of the population excited about such homes.

Homes with green features can sell faster and for more money than other homes, Vermilyea said, adding, "All other things being equal, why wouldn't you pick the home that has that stuff?"

Article by Dawn Schuett: http://news.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=51&a=379841