Tag Archive for: benefits

Consumers Believe Green Certified Homes have More Value

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“This Consumer Green Preferences Survey, conducted by Green Builder® Media, is aimed to understand the sustainable lifestyle preferences, attitudes, behaviors, and purchasing patterns of adults aged 35-55 with an active and healthy lifestyle who are interested in sustainable living. The survey was fielded from March 11-31, 2013, with a sample size of 582 adults. Respondents were 67% female/33% male; 85% between the ages of 31-60, spread equally throughout the country; 81% are homeowners, 60% of whom believe they live a green life. ” Certified Green Homes are More Valuable

“Respondents also realize that a green home is more valuable: 85% of respondents thought highlighting the energy efficiency features of their homes would help their house sell faster and 87% thought showcasing the durability of the products in their home would positively impact a home sale.”

Looking for practical advice on how to value you a green home?  Complete this form and give it to the appraiser! Youtube video explains Green Appraisals

If you are looking to learn more about Green Certified Homes in the Midwest and how you can get involved, give us a call 616 458 6733 ext 1 or info@allianceES.org. has 7 years of over 1,500 certified green homes in the Midwest.

Both of these charts and quotes come from a big thanks to Green Builder Magazine.  Learn more

http://www.greenbuildermag.com/News/Headlines/Survey–Green-Life-Wanted#.UXVeVbVHSSp

http://www.greenbuildermag.com/Blogs/Sara-Gutterman/April-2013/What-Consumers-Really-Want#.UXGTnrVHSSp

 

3 Reasons for LEED in Minneapolis

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A recent homeowner describes their rational for buidlgin a green home in Minnnesota in a recent article in the Downtown Journal.

She outlines three reasons for her decision:

  1. Authoritative Source: the LEED rating system helped tremendously to guide us along the path toward building a sustainable home. Its 342-page reference manual provides green building strategies in five key categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. The rating system itself is a gold mine for any builder or remodeler to learn more about building high-quality, durable homes.
  2. Third-party Verification: LEED requires a Green Rater to come to the site, twice: first, to inspect the insulation (pre-dry wall, post-insulation); second, to test the leakage of the entire building envelope, duct system and air flow. These tests were inexpensive relative to the entire cost of the building, and it was more than worth it to have the peace of mind that the house was actually built to specification.
  3. Triple Bottom Line Benefits:  The green rater had predicted the home’s energy consumption to be 35 percent of a similar-sized home built to code, meaning the utility bills would be 65 percent less than if we had not built a LEED home.  The homeowner now has almost two year’s worth of utility bills to compare against the planned design. And they are coming in right on target — the bills are actually slightly lower than predicted!  In addition, a healthy home for their family and is a large step towards a sustainable lifestyle.

Learn why more people are building LEED homes.

Testimonials from LEED Homeowners

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Check out this new video that explains the benefits of living in a LEED-certified home from homeowners that are doing so.

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LEED for Homes Myth #3: The costs are expensive

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Recently, many people have told me they thought a LEED for Homes certification was going to cost many thousands of dollars – even over $10,000.  This simply isn’t true, at least not when using the Green Home Institute () as the LEED for Homes Provider.  So let’s bust this myth. Read more

Northbrook rebates permit fees for LEED buildings

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The Village of Northbrook has a great incentive program for green building. to promote Green building techniques in public and private sector construction projects, they are giving rebates for LEED-certified buildings.

Northbrook uses the LEED rating system to distinguish different levels of sustainability in construction projects. In turn, for building green, there is a rebate for Covered Permit Fees (permits issued by Northbrook’s Building & Development Department for new buildings, additions, demolitions, alterations and site work) based on the LEED rating of the project.

LEED Certification
Rating Permit Fee Rebate
Certified 10%
Silver 20%
Gold 30%
Platinum 40%

Bonus: if you’re one of the first LEED-certified buildings in a property class, the permit fee is completely waived!

So builders, what are you waiting for? Here is a link to Northbrook’s Green page, where Green Building Incentives are covered. Or click here to view the full green building incentive policy.