Tax credit extended and expanded

The tax credit has been expanded for first time home buyers and expanded to include buyers that have not purchased a home in 5 years. It is an $8000 tax credit for first time home buyers and $6500 for buyers that have not purchased a home in 5 years.

I still think they should have allowed the credit for purchase with half of it going to energy improvements using a holdback. That would have benefited our national agenda of becoming more independent on fossil fuels and would have stimulated more sectors.

learn about improving you energy performance

Northwest EcoBuilding Guild
Western Columbia Chapter
Home Performance 101
Wednesday, October 28th
Meet and Greet 6 PM * Presentation 6:30 - 7:30 PM
Zion Baptist Church * Community Room * NE 9th and Fremont
NWEBG Members FREE * Non-members $5 donation suggested

45 degree difference with trees!!!!

I have always been a tree person. But I never knew the exact numbers or difference it would make to plant trees. Watch this video!!!

green multiple listing systems spreading

The largest multiple listing system in the country is in process of being greened. Why is this good news? That system covers several east coast states. Now we have greened MLS's on both coasts. Things tend to spread from the coasts to the rest of the country. To the average person that sells a house that will mean improvements made to a house to make it more energy efficient will be given a value. It will also mean buyers can see if the houses have things about it that decrease the energy needs and costs of running the house.

In the past houses were given value based on location and how fixed up they were. Now there will be a new factor, what has been done to it to make it more cost effective to run. Appraisers will have to come up with what the value is for the stand alone items. That is good news!

It could eventually lead to national loans that are available everywhere that take into account the energy efficiency of the house....

Support the new codes to allow us to move in the right direction

There is a group of building code proposals that would allow us to green up Portland more effectively. They all make sense to me. My favorite change is the building overhang change. That is such a huge thing. My how has 2'6" overhangs and I have ceiling insulation and when it gets hot, my house does not. It's the overhangs!

The zoning changes include "such as making it easier to install wind and solar systems on commercial buildings, develop green power alternatives, improve bike parking in multifamily projects, and allow rainwater cisterns and wider roof overhangs within setbacks. Below is a summary of the green items included in the package." (Mike Obrien)

The low tech ways of keeping your house cool

There is a lot of buzz these days about all of the technical methods of keeping a house cool. The low tech ways are pretty easy to do. Buy cellular blinds for the east south and west facing windows. Cellular blinds act like insulation if you keep them closed during the hot parts of the day, your house is kept cooler. If you don't like the look of the blinds, buy light colored curtains the light color does not absorb the heat.

If you have a basement and a forced air heating system, run the fan on that to get the cool air from the basement circulating in your house.

Ceiling fans are another inexpensive investment to make you feel cool.

For future cooling, plant deciduous trees to the south of your house. That will shade your house during the hot parts of the year and allow solar gain during the cool parts of the year.

Green Washing

I went to a class that was supposed to be a class on green washing. It ended up being a class on LEED. I just want to share with you what I think green washing is: for new construction it is not getting it certified to a minimum standard of energy star. From a real estate perspective this is the piece that translates all the way through, at least potentially.

From a building science perspective building to energy star is not very green at all. There are a lot of green build programs and ideas out there. Some have very high expectations of what the built environment can do. The living building challenge that the AIA has put out there is one of the places that the market is getting a push. Passive haus out of Germany is way ahead of anything we are doing in the US.

In my opinion, existing construction should be compared to other homes of the same era for it's green-ness. That way you are comparing an apple to an apple. There is plenty that can be done with an older home, like insulating. There are tax incentives to do a lot of what makes a building perform better.

It is not green to tear down a perfectly good home to put a new certified green home on it. Especially if you are scrapping it and putting the remains in the landfill.