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.

Portland's green market over the 400K (there was nothing over 680 to compare)

This is the housing market under 400 green v new construction

Greening the market

I am going to post two studies I did on the green housing market. I did this at the request of a real estate instructor. But the information is good for anyone interested in development or just buying or selling a house. I looked just at new construction for trends. What I found was (and I already knew) that greened housing especially in the lower ends sells more quickly at more per sq ft. I broke it out into housing type because there is a huge variation. I will post the two studies so that you can see!

I certainly see a trend in building green. It has not yet occured to the luxury market to do this. So I will blog about it when they catch up to the times.

Just saw the coolest house with a cobb structure on it

I have to blog about this house I just saw. It is on a small lot 50x100 and there are three structures on it. The old farm house has been renovated... the reclaimed materials way. For example the bathroom has walls made of old cabinet doors and old wood parts from other things. The shower suround is made from recyled tiles and plates and things. I loved this place.

The cobb building wasn't available to view but it is like most cobb homes, small and very cute. They remind me a little bit of knomes and are perfectly suited to a moss filled climate like ours.

There was also an outdoor/ indoor shower made of the recyled tile and the like. ( you would heve to see it to really appreciate the in and outside part of the home.

This is a piece of the green movement that is bottom up change rather than the top down method. What I love about it is there is so much room for ART!

By the way it is on the market under 250... want to see it?

Showings are up!!!

RMLS statistics show that showings are up 8.1 percent!!! That is good news for Portlanders because RMLS covers a large area. Some of the areas it covers have a slower market than ours. That means Portland market is returning to a more balanced market!!! Don't forget real estate is local.