Earth Advantage Partners with the GreenHome Institute to Provide Certification Data to the Green Building Registry

[Portland, OR July 2023] —Earth Advantage^®, Inc. and the GreenHome Institute announced today a partnership to deliver GreenStar Homes certification data through the Green Building Registry^® (GBR). This partnership will provide easy access to this Certification data to the market and help facilitate inclusion in real estate listings.

Historically, important home data such as energy ratings, third-party building certifications, or solar electricity generation has not been included in sale or rental listings. This lack of data transparency has prevented appraisers and lending institutions from creating a thorough valuation, resulting in the potential loss of thousands of dollars of value per home, and preventing buyers from making a fully informed purchasing decision.

Since 2017, Earth Advantage’s self-funded, Green Building Registry has provided home performance data to the public and real estate multiple listing services. GBR partners with programs to provide verified data directly from sources such as the U.S. Department of Energy’s Home Energy Score program, LEED^® for Homes, ENERGY STAR^®, HERS^® Index Scores, and other national and regional third-party verification programs.

“The GreenStar Homes Certification program provides a clear pathway to upgrade all homes easily to increase sustainability, but without recognition and market comparison, it’s hard to find value. As someone who lives in a certified home and derives value from these efforts, it is important to ensure the expansion of an easy-to-understand and easy-to-find listing of green-certified homes. We are thrilled to collaborate with and promote the US Green Building Registry in this regard!” says Brett Little, Education Manager at the GreenHome Institute.

David Heslam, Executive Director at Earth Advantage states “The GreenStar Homes Certification has been utilized for over ten years. Earth Advantage is excited to help make these certified homes more visible to everyone in the market.”

About the Green Building Registry

The Green Building Registry (GBR) is the largest single-source for building performance data in the United States. GBR contains over two and a half million records of data on single-family, multifamily, and commercial buildings. Additionally, the GBR API allows any MLS, lender, or other data consumer or provider to connect directly to the information contained in the registry. Visitus.greenbuildingregistry.com for a free property search. 

GBR is a wholly owned and self-funded initiative of Earth Advantage, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Earth Advantage is helping the US housing industry to create a more informed and humane residential real estate market. For more information on Earth Advantage visit: earthadvantage.org

About the GreenHome Institute

The GreenHome Institute is a Grand Rapids, MI-based non-profit that works around the US with a mission to empower people to make healthier and more sustainable choices in the renovation and construction of the places we live.  GHI provides education, consulting, and certification services for residential green buildings, including our GreenStar Homes Certification Program, which offers free tools and resources to help anyone green up their new or existing residential project. GreenHomeInstitute.org

If you want to start your GreenStar Homes Certification project, go here https://greenhomeinstitute.org/greenstar/

If you would like more information about this topic, please call Meg Garabrant at 503.310.9138 x162, or email meg@greenbuildingregistry.com

Ralf is passionate about climate sustainability and social justice. As a board member of the GreenHome Institute, Ralf looks forward to applying his extensive entrepreneurial and business experience to promoting and supporting the organization’s mission.  Ralf works as International Product Manager for building envelope systems at Sparta MI-based tesa tapes, focusing on air and waterproofing solutions for energy-efficient and sustainable buildings.

A GreenHome Institute member since 2018 she is as a licensed architect for over 30 years.

Debbie has designed hundreds of low-energy passive solar homes for clients across the United States and Canada in many climate zones.  She obtained a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Arizona and has been a licensed architect for over 30 years. In 2002, she founded Sun Plans Inc. which specializes in internet-based, sun-inspired, passive solar home design. Debbie authored The Sun-Inspired House: home designs warmed and brightened by the sun which is available in the ever-expanding eBook from Sun Plans with over 150 house designs.

Her design philosophies incorporate Passive Solar Design Strategies; Guidelines for Home Building developed by NREL and are continuously evolving to adapt to the ever-changing low-energy construction methods and climate changes as well as other housing and energy technologies related to green building. She believes in efficiency first and building as small as possible as prerequisites to good house design.  Her work has been published in Solar Today, Mother Earth News, Fine Homebuilding, Home Power, and Home Energy. In December 2022, she presented The Basics of Passive Solar Home Design webinar for GHI. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNEBqgmYx6I )

As a member of the American Institute of Architects, she understands architects, but with her typical services, her services align well with designers, draftsmen, engineers, and builders. Debbie has worked in construction, been the general contractor on her previous home, and coordinated a renovation on her current home. She is a LEED-GA and an active member of the American Solar Energy Society where she serves on the board of directors, the solar buildings technical committee, and the committee for the National Solar Tour that showcases many forms of sustainable living and buildings across all 50 states.

Debbie is passionate about how the sun can warm and brighten the interior of homes but enjoys being outside more than inside. She works very hard at connecting the two by bringing in the outdoors with careful attention to window placement which varies with each climate, piece of land, and family preferences with custom designs. Debbie has lived in a variety of places with cold, moderate, warm, humid, and dry climates. She enjoys traveling and exploring new places from the mountains to the sea, and being with others who share her love of the sun.