It’s Getting Easier Being Green

September 8th, 2006

With all due respect to philosophical frogs, being green in Portland is a pretty popular thing to be, and will soon be getting support from the real estate industry.

Sometime in the first quarter 2007, your Portland-area real estate broker will be able to search for homes that feature construction methods, home designs and building materials that are earth-friendly, according to local and national standards.

While green building certification results will be limited to new construction only, new fields will also be available for existing homes that have high-efficiency furnaces, solar systems, etc.

According to the RMLS (Regional Multiple Listing Service):

The new search form will allow real estate agents to select one of the following green building certification programs from a pull-down menu: Earth Advantage, Energy Star and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for homes. In addition, agents will be able to indicate other home features that can contribute to energy efficiency and ecological design such as a high-efficiency furnace, cork or bamboo flooring and partial solar power.

Coverage in the Oregonian :

“The green building data will enable real estate professionals to search for houses that have met green building standards as easily as they search for houses for sale by high school or ZIP code. The RMLS’ recent decision makes Portland the first — and likely the largest — metropolitan area where a real estate listing service will make green building information available as part of standard search capabilities.

Green building groups called the new search ability a testament to Portland’s status as a leader in environmentally friendly practices in home construction and commercial buildings. It shows the rising popularity of energy efficiency standards, they said, and could help promote awareness and higher property values for homes that have such qualities.”

Like Kermit says:

I am green and it’ll do fine, it’s beautiful!

And I think it’s what I want to be.

Brian Libby at Portland Architecture touched on this and other sustainable design topics recently.

Technorati Tags: environment, green, sustainability, Portland, construction, MLS, listings

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Related posts:

1. Green Livin’ and Recycled Houses
2. Build It Green, Portland-Style
3. Moving? Consider the Cost (of Living, that is)

Entry Filed under: Livability, National News