Green Real Estate Sales Data

I am struck by the lack of transparency that the Real Estate Industry has in getting trackable information about sales, especially green real estate sales.  I have been looking everywhere for information, while circling back to Green Works Realty's site.

   Over the past 2 years, Green Works Realty has been publishing sales information for tracked Environmentally Certified Homes throughout King County and Seattle.  The data is amazing!

This shows that there has been a increase of nearly 40% price on Green Certified projects. This is really astounding.

This graph shows how the market is really fluctuating these days.  The current market is fairly slow to pick up on Green Building Certification Systems, but with the addition of the checkboxes in the MLS (Green Works Founder - Ben Kaufman pushed to have them added a couple years ago) has given the tools for the Real Estate industry to track these sales.

There is not much information out there about Green Real Estate at this time.  If you are interested in seeing the report that Green Works has put out, click here.

Stunning Reclaimed Furniture with Deep Southern Roots

Stunning Reclaimed Furniture with Deep Southern Roots: "

Furniture made from reclaimed wood, whether it be from the wild or from a collapsing warehouse, expresses the human and natural history of the region it was plucked from. Last week I wrote about Urban Woods, an LA-based furniture shop whose materials reflect the unique environs of California. This week, Garden & Gun (one of my favorite southern magazines) turned me on to Turning House Furniture, a ...Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Beyond LEED: Living Building Challenge 2.0 Certification Unveiled

Beyond LEED: Living Building Challenge 2.0 Certification Unveiled: "

This week the International Living Building Institute released its new green building standard to the public at Greenbuild 2009. Version 2.0 expands on its already impressive focus to now cover social issues – any Certified Living Building must be net-zero energy, net-zero water, non-toxic, provide for habitat restoration on sister sites, and urban agriculture is mandated. The 20 imperatives, all of which must be addressed, go well beyond the simple efficiency standards that our industry seems content to comply with before calling a project ’sustainable’. Seriously, read this thing!

Read the rest of Beyond LEED: Living Building Challenge 2.0 Certification Unveiled

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Post tags: 'leed', Architecture, Certification, International Living Building Institute, Jason McLennan, Living Building Challenge, Social Justice, Sustainable buildings

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Perkins & Will Precautionary List

http://transparency.perkinswill.com/default.aspx  <-- link via Caroline James (Thanks!)

Perkins+Will Launches First Chemical Blacklist for Building Designers

By Jonathan Bardelline

Published November 10, 2009

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Tags: Architecture & Design, Green Chemistry & Toxics, More... Architecture & Design, Green Chemistry & Toxics, Materials, Toxics

New York, NY — Architectural design firm Perkins+Will has created a list of 25 chemicals that are commonly used in the building industry but also pose a number of health threats to humans and the environment.

With its new Perkins+Will Precautionary List, the firm is hoping to educate designers, architects and others in the world of buildings about the chemicals, their dangers and alternatives. Perkins+Will is also hoping that the list, which will grow over time, will spur the creation of alternatives where they currently do not exist.

"We realized that a lot of this information is siloed, either intentionally or not," said Peter Syrett, associate principal at Perkins+Will and one of the creators of the list. "This is an attempt to take what we thought are the most common questionable chemicals in our work as designers and identify them and a more cautious approach to using them."

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Each entry for a chemical on the free, online list includes the chemical name, its origin and source, a summary of its health impacts, a list of building products where it's commonly found, alternative materials, regulations, known and suspected health effects and links to government databases.

Some of the chemicals on the list are arsenic, bisphenol A, cadmium, copper, halogenated and brominated flame retardants, lead, mercury, phthalates, polystyrene and PVC.

"All these chemicals have either been listed or classified on government regulatory lists as cautionary chemicals, so we set that as a guidepost," Syrett said.

While government regulations are the minimum that companies must comply with, more and more companies in various industries are going beyond what the law calls for by redesigning products to eliminate or reduce certain chemicals that have been linked to health issues but are not yet regulated. One reason companies are taking that extra step is in anticipation of further regulation; the EPA is even calling for reform to the U.S.'s chemical law. Brand management is another reason; using suspect chemical bisphenol A, even in safe amounts, caused a huge backlash against water bottle maker SIGG. Pressure from environmental groups is another impetus; Greenpeace have been pushing for greener electronics for some time, and a recent report highlighted innovations developed by Apple, Sony Ericsson and others.

The Perkins+Will list can be searched by chemical name, building category (like flame retardants, heavy metals and wood additives), building divisions and sections (concrete, masonry, finishes, etc.) and health effects.

The list got started when Perkins+Will interior designer Chris Youssef was working on designing a cancer center and, since a cancer center would be the worst place to have unhealthy chemicals lingering, wanted to avoid using any known or suspected carcinogens.

Now that they have compiled their research on the chemicals, Perkins+Will hopes to make more designers aware of the chemical impacts and help open up dialogue about safer alternatives between designers and suppliers. Youssef said that dialogue will hopefully lead to the creation of safer alternatives for chemicals that have no alternatives.

"Our goal is a simple one, that we should not specify products that are harmful to humans, animals and the environment," said Syrett.

North America embraces Conservation Practices

There is a nice short article over at "The Green Life", here is the text and link from it.


http://bit.ly/2VDNiN <-- article

Despite the frustration of stalled talks leading up to Copenhagen, negotiations in North America are moving forward. Last week, Mexico's president, Felipe Calderón, announced at the 9th World Wilderness Congress a trilateral partnership to address wilderness conservation -- the first formal agreement by nations to cooperate on a continent-wide conservation matter.

The agreement, which was signed by the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, will benefit North American wilderness regions during a crucial environmental period. Its intent is that the countries share successful conservation experiences and monitoring and training practices, including financing projects to protect wild places.
The partnership will also be instrumental in climate-change monitoring and adaptation, as it will better allow for analyzing ecosystems, migratory wildlife, and natural resources across borders, even while accommodating native approaches to wildlife conservation.

--Michael Mullaley

GREEN - The First and Only Recognized Certification for Real Estate Agents and Property Managers

Interesting contrast between the GREEN label and EcoBroker.

The only article I could find that compared them is skewed to Ecobroker. I am still on the look out for a good comparison of EcoBroker to NAR GREEN...

You can the article I found below:
http://activerain.com/blogsview/1008979/eco-broker-vs-nar-s-green-designation-

What is Green Real Estate Vlog Introduction Video

Diversity versus Ecodevelopments

I have followed major Seattle developments from the ones in South Lake Union to ones over in Columbia City. I have been struck with this reoccuring question as to what is an ecoproject versus a project that is good for the community around it. I moved to Seattle about 7 years ago for the eco-movement here and have stayed. One thing that first struck me was the homogenous nature to the place where I was at. Go to Ballard, go to Fremont, Capitol Hill, all places where a 20-something would go but mainly one that is white. I wondered, why is it that these are the places where I am "suppose to" go to?

I recalled that I was drawn to live in the Southeast (Beacon Hill, Ranier Valley, etc.) because of the diversity of people that I would come in contact with. I was a white person in a sea of diversity, a place where I grew up and one that I seek. In a city with just over 70% white population (see census), it is interesting how the majority are moving to "up and coming neighborhoods" because a project is "Eco" or well more affordable. So is it better to move to those neighborhoods because it is more affordable and you can afford a new eco home, but that potentially causes others to move because their neighborhood is changing, pushing them out.

At Bainbridge Graduate Institute, some students and I are delving into the issue of creating Diversity in Communities. Can a community be built that fosters, grows and maintains diversity? I hope that this question can come to every development as it chooses a market that is different than the types of people that currently reside in the area. I hope to share the results of our Creative Sessions about this issue in future updates. Click on the tag "diversity" to see all the blogs about it.

Ecobroker....

I am still wondering of the real value and power that the EcoBroker brand brings to the Real Estate Industry. I have heard conflicting information here in the Puget Sound as we have a strong Green Industry outside of a certification system.

(Article feed from google reader to this blog)
Ecofriendly Real Estate Practices Minus The Greenwash: "Part of being “green” means making some thoughtful decisions. As an EcoBroker, I find that clients often say they want to be green because they have a romanticized view of what this entails, aptly named greenwashing.
The reality is that they are usually not sure what it really means. In many cases, they find that going [...]"

Timing

Now is a critical time in deciphering the articles about this and that building going LEED, Built Green, 'Green', 'Environmentally-Friendly', or 'Eco'. This is a dedicated blog to the work that the Real Estate industry is doing to quantify Green Real Estate.