Green Real Estate

If you are a current builder, it might be a good idea to look into building more homes that are energy star rated. This holds true for not only affordable homes, but also for very large custom homes. The saleability of a house that is built to be efficient and cost effective is much higher than a house that is built traditionally. Many people are starting to really keep their finances closely monitored and watched, so a great selling point for an energy star home is that it will cost less per square foot than other homes that were not built with energy star ratings.

When building a house to be energy efficient, there are many areas of the home that will be directly affected by the way you install certain things. This ranges from specific windows, to specific heating and air systems. Some builders might believe that the cost of an energy star home will be much more expensive than building a house traditionally, but this is not true. There are certain techniques in building a house that is friendly to the environment and low on monthly utility bills that home builders can learn and use so that the construction cost of the home does not go up too high.

The main thing to consider when building an energy star home is how well the house will hold heat, or how well it will hold cold air. A major consideration of this is where you plan on installing insulation around the home, and what type of insulation you use. Be sure to use energy efficient insulation that is proven to hold heat better than other types of insulation. After selecting the right type of insulation, a builder should not only install it in traditional areas such as an attic or exterior walls, but also plan to install it in some interior walls as well. The floor is also an area where builders should install insulation to truly separate the different levels of the home.

Things that work well with the highly efficient insulation that is installed is to use high grade windows that protect the interior of your home from UV rays, and help keep outside temperatures from making your HVAC units run constantly. Your HVAC system will be highly efficient from the units all the way to the how the duct work is installed. Most steps to becoming an energy star home are small to take, but they end up saving the future home owner a lot of money on cost of living.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that green real estate is getting more and more common each and every day. Rather, all you have to do is sit in at a city planning commission, and look at the plans being permitted, and the presentations being presented. It’s all about green, because that’s what sells the concepts, and the building projects to the planning commission, and to the public.

Everyone is worried about the CO2 carbon footprint of every new building being built, and everyone is asking about alternative energy, and energy efficiency. Everyone in the real estate industry knows that any time you want to build anything, there will be environmentalists sitting in at the planning commission meetings, and the City Council meetings. It’s true that you can’t please everyone, but if you want to build something, your real estate better be green, that’s true now, and I’m sure would be true well into the future.

Not long ago, I sat in on a LEEDs certification class and I recognized some of my buddies who are the solar panel business, and they were giving talks to the contractors, and union workers in the construction industry in our city. Everyone is getting in on green real estate. In fact, in many cities if you buy a vacant business building, and apply for business permits, they ask you what you are going to do to improve the efficiency of the building. If you don’t have the right answer you don’t get your permits, you can’t open the business.

If you are buying an existing and ongoing business, the city often puts stipulations that that building must be made green. That means there will be some retrofits needed, some weather proofing, and other things added. This is one reason why green real estate is getting greener every day. Please consider all this.

Every year green technology is progressing and improving, becoming to a degree more user friendly and applicable, even for owners of Mackay homes. New ways of collecting power and energy in an earth friendly way were initially developed on a large scale, for commercial purposes and at a very high cost, but that is all changing. Now, it is possible to implement and develop green technology in the home, at a very cost effective cost that will benefit the earth continuously, and our pocketbook now.

There are several ways to improve the way you use energy in your home, and you don’t have to be a millionaire to make it possible. Every home in can be slightly remodeled to include green initiatives including solar panels to harness solar power, wind turbines, and water conservation. It is not reasonable to consider that every home can go entirely green all at once, but small changes are possible and do help.

Several do it yourself installations to your home can be done in a couple hours, day or weekend. Installing a rain collection barrel just requires the purchase of the barrel and installation to a rain gutter. Water saving appliances are another great idea that will save you plenty of money over time, and reduce the overall amount of water that you are using in your home.

Other more involved technologies will require that you speak with qualified technicians and let them guide you in purchases and installation. Solar panels are a smart way to harness power that is regularly in supply, and while the cost might be high initially, the money you save every year make it a great investment. Wind turbines are another option and ideal for large homes, duplexes or small businesses because of the space they require and the amount of energy they can harness. In some cases, these investments might end up creating more energy than you need and provide an income for your family.

Each of these ideas take time to implement, but they are entirely possible for every homeowner to consider and then use in their own home.