A change of pace…this is great. Got this from someone on Twitter today.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32vpgNiAH60]

Certification Required for Lead Paint Renovations

Beginning in April 2010, federal law will require certification for contractors hired to perform renovation, repair and painting projects which disturb lead based paint in homes, child care facilities, and schools built before 1978. Contractors must also follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination, and continue to provide a Renovate Right pamphlet.

More information about lead based paint renovation requirements is available on the Environmental Protection Agency’s website.

As the self-titled “resident green agent” in High Point, I thought it was time for an update on what was available for sale here, and also take a look at what has sold in recent weeks. My last update was two months ago.

What makes High Point so great?
Well, first of all, it is in West Seattle. I have lived in West Seattle since 1997. And I won’t leave. It has everything I need so I don’t actually have to live, which is nice. And for when I do want to pop downtown for a night out, pick up someone at the airport, or go mall-hoping at Southcenter, all of that is within 15 minutes (using the West Seattleites travel tips, which I am happy to share).

It was wonderful to have the opportunity to buy a brand new home in a Built Green Certified Community right in my own neighborhood. I lived within a mile of this location for ten years, and watched the development of this community over that time with great interest. When I took a property tour in April 2007 I wasn’t looking for a new home and had no intention of moving – but what I found in High Point made me put my house on the market almost immediately, and the sale of our home on 18th Ave SW and the purchase of our townhome on SW Raymond all managed to squeek through right at the beginning of the real estate market fallout. We feel lucky that we managed to get moved and settled without any hassle.

The utilities are underground so the views are not impeded by anything…but trees. And I like trees. The old trees in High Point were saved during redevelopment and they *make* this neighborhood. There are great views of downtown, sunrise, sunset, trails in the woods, access to Camp Long and the Longfellow Creek Legacy Trail all within walking distance.

For the developer-identified benefits of living in High Point in West Seattle, check out these High Point Highlights.

So – won’t you be my neighbor?
Currently on the market are six 2 bedroom homes in Redwood High Point. Three of them are 2 bedroom townhomes, and three of them are suites. These are 3 star Built Green certified homes built by Polygon in 2006/07. (I live in a 3 bedroom townhome here.) All of these homes come with a garage (suites have one car garages, townhomes have two car garages). See Redwood High Point West Seattle Condominiums for sale.

And nearby…
Three 4 star Built Green townhomes and one 2-story 3 star Built Green home built by Polygon are offered for sale. See four other homes for sale in High Point West Seattle.

Three of the 10 homes currently being marketed for sale require lender approval (short sale).

There have been no closings on new purchases in the last two months.

I have been amazed at the number of homes going on the market here. Two of my Redwood (condo) neighbors priced their homes very well – one went pending in 4 days and the other in 10 days. One of the 4 star Built Green homes looking over the pond (priced at $555,000) went temporarily off market to review offers on February 25th. The fact that it has not gone to pending status means perhaps it might become available again.

See High Point West Seattle Current Pending Sales (as of 3/15/10)

I also examine Cancelled/Expired. These are homes that were on the market for several months and never sold. The owners have given up on trying to sell them at this time. I found only one, a studio condo, that was cancelled.

See High Point West Seattle Homes Expired or Cancelled (since 01/01/10)

If you are considering a move to West Seattle…
Call me. Or email me. Or send me a message on Facebook or Twitter. I know the Westside inside and out and can answer any questions you may have about what it is like living here. Just know you will get biased answers – because it is clear that I love it here and don’t see why anyone would want to move!

The listing links are only good for 30 days from the date of this post.

Ben Kaufman, GreenWorks Realty and Development      

Read education session summary

I know Ben Kaufman really well – I have been working as a real estate agent in his brokerage since November of 2008. Since February of 2009 I also have been managing the day-to-day operations of the office while also handling my own real estate business. The market has been challenging for many of us and I feel like I have been hanging on to my profession by my fingernails for a long time.

Ben’s statistics, garnered from the NWMLS data, keep me going. We are on the edge of a real estate revolution. And these numbers just keep me going, day after day. Plus I really believe in helping people find a healthy home and live a healthier lifestyle.

Ben’s presentation is using the latest ECert report that includes statistics comparing the sale of environmentally-certified homes versus non-certified home

• Environmentally certified homes in King County, from November 2009 through February 2010, comprised 37% of the new home market, sold for $85,550 more per home, and were 9.8% smaller in size.
• Environmentally certified new homes in Seattle sell for 9.2% more per square foot in 24% less time and make up 34% of the market.
• Environmentally certified new homes in King County sell for $71 more per square foot in 7% less time and make up 26% of the market.
• Third party verified new homes with an environmental certification in the City of Seattle sell for 22% more per square foot in 12% less time and make up 6% of the market.

Important to note: $1 in electricity savings is equal to $20 in value on the appraisal report – and most appraisers don’t know that.

There are a lot of builders out there that don’t understand the value of the environmental certification and how it can boost sales.

Here’s a shocker – 70% of the waste in our landfills is from building construction.

There are different kinds of green buyers. (See chart)

Ben recommends prioritizing for energy efficiency first, then prioritize for health (i.e indoor air quality, other issues)

GreenWorks Realty was the first real estate brokerage in the country to specialize in green properties. The company was founded on the idea that a local neighborhood real estate office is the perfect place to build authentic relationships, greener lifestyles, and sustainable communities. Real estate professionals are at the heart of critical transactions bringing buyers and sellers together that often signifies a central transition point in people’s lives. The company drives its mission by focusing on the building blocks of sustainable community, green building and community designed properties. The company focuses on meeting the needs of their clients through integrity and quality service.

They believe that every home can be a greener home that offers a healthy, cost-effective place to live, while reducing harm to our environment. To achieve this goal, they not only help clients find or sell existing green homes, they also offer a Healthy Home Package, free to their clients who purchase a non-green home. The package includes a home assessment and customized report of retrofit priorities and simple upgrades to reduce energy consumption, improve indoor air quality, and enhance resale value.

GreenWorks is committed to green values throughout their business practices. The company performed an in-depth carbon footprint analysis and implemented carbon reduction measures into company culture and policies. They are a triple-bottomline company focused on successful transactions and providing an unbeatable client experience.

I am happy to be working with such an amazing group of educated and green-minded people.

There will be video of this session available later.

Dave Porter of PorterWorks, Inc.

Read the education session summary

Link to the presentation made during this session:

Okay, I got here a little late, I was having a great conversation with Paul McFadden of The Legacy Group. He introduced himself by saying he follows me on Twitter, which was very cool.

Dave Porter is a funny guy. There is a video camera going so maybe this session will show up somewhere later. I wonder if they will bleep him? hehe

There is a huge problem in properly valuing green homes. Yes, the cost of a green home may be a little more than a non-certified home. Usually it will be less than 10% of a price difference. The long term investment made by the person who buys an environmentally-certified home should be properly appreciated and valued. The problem is the appraisal process now is based on the past performance of the marketplace. There are a number of guidelines that appraisers follow which just can’t properly accommodate environmental features in homes.

What we need is an appraisal process that will take into account the future performance of that particular home, not just “the market”.

So Mr. Porter asks: Why the comps? Who made that the sacred cow?

Dave suggests that nit might be more appropriate to compare an environmentally-certified home in Seattle with a similarly green improved or built home in Kirkland. The the sustainable features of a home become more important than just geography.

He said there is a report floating around at Fannie Mae that he cannot get his hands on that actually shows numbers that say that there is a 11% higher foreclosure rate found in non-green homes. The suggestion being that green home buyers are a littlre more astute and vested in their homes.

Dave gave a number of resources that will change our lives, or at least give buyers and agents a chance at arguing value. Challenge an appraisal that is low. In your letter write, “The appraiser needs to be competent in green building construction. If the appraiser is not qualified to value green properly, an appropriately qualified appraiser should be assigned.”

Some other tools:

1) The Marshall & Swift Guide Book of Green Building Costs

—Added detail on 3/18/10 —-

2) According to Rick Nevin and Gregory Watson “An Increase in Property Resale Value occurs in homes with solar electric systems because these systems decrease utility operating costs.” According to a 1998 US Appraisal Journal article by Rick Nevin and Gregory Watson, a home’s value increases $20,000 for every $1,000 reduction in annual operating costs from energy efficiency.

Read Evidence of Rational Market Valuations for Home Energy Efficiency by Rick Nevin and Gregory Watson for the US EPA.

—End addition—

3) PITI should also include Utilities and Maintenance in the calculations. (PITI=principle, interest, taxes, insurance)

EEM/EIM loans are different and not all of them require a HERS rating or EPS score. (EEM=energy efficient mortgage, EIM=energy improvement mortgage)

The FHA appraisal only needs to be for the un-improved loan amount. Example: $400k house that is going to get $20k in improvements. It makes sense that the appraisal should be for the current condition of the property, not what the improved condition will be after additional loan funds are used to improve the property. FHA have a 5% allowance for energy improvements. Also talk to your lender at stretched ratios of the 33/45. The buyer should only need to qualify at the unimproved loan amount, not the loan amount that includes money for improvements.

The greenest loan there is right now is the FHA 203K streamlined loan. I actually had a listing sell in 2008 using that loan. What’s nice about the 203K is that there are no quotes required in advance. You get part of the money when you close, and you submit receipts for reimbursement for the second half of the allowance. I can’t remember off the top of my head how much the total allowance was for at that time.

Dave recommends the HERS or EPS score of homes be included in the recording of the title. Home buyers, when they become sellers, will probably have lost the certificate. If it was recorded then that environmental certification is never lost.

The presentation for this session is available online, and he is going to email me the link. I will update this post with it when it is available later today.

I need some sugar!

Read educational session description

Heather Swift, founder of Cohabitats opened with “In King County, growth is happening at the expected rate, but not in the expected PLACES.” I never really thought about it that way, but it is obvious especially in King county.

She said there are some trends presenting themselves now, including something called Biophilia – the desire to be with nature.

“What’s good for the wildlife is good for all.”

As a Wildlife Tracker Heather is really able to know and explain what animals are currently on a piece of land (example: a mother bear and two cubs) tells the residents they need to secure garbage, put the bird feeders really high, and maybe make the cat an indoor cat (she showed a slide of Lost Cat posters on power poles – very sad).

Speaking next is Cory Parker of

Jones and Jones Architect and Landscape Architects.

His presentation was titled “Art of relationships between building and landscape.” I am filming these segments, but it is of the speaker and not the slide presentation that will be available later.

He said structures require a lot of energy because as soon as you put them up they begin to decay. Even you can see this on your annual tax assessment statement – typically the land value goes up but you will see the building value go down (this is me talking, not Cory).

The goal is to reveal the natural order, an integrated building and landscape.

Is this marketable?

He says yes – people are contacting them asking for green buildings. But it’s not for everyone. There is a niche for it. People are interested in blending the indoors with the outdoors.

Speaking last is Ellen Southard of Site Story for Salmon Safe, founded by Pacific Rivers Council, a 501(c)3. Sometimes called a “salmon safe evangelist”, she explains that Salmon Safe is about certifying land management so that it protects watersheds. Salmon Safe standards are designed to integrate with other local green building standards such as Built Green and LEED for Homes. Certification is phased over five years along with the project (development, building, community).

Salmon Safe has a very entertaining public awareness campaign going right now, tongue-in-cheek even along with other Seattle-centric tourism campaigns. Tag lines such as See.Sip.Stay.Spawn.

She closed with showing the video about Sal the Salmon – here it is via YouTube.

Final piece of advice that comes from Ellen in response to a question from the audience. Everyone loves those free wildflower seed packets that are given away by some environmental organizations. DO NOT PLANT THEM unless they are sourced with Washington local wildflowers. Many of those packets contain plants from Texas or another state and allowing these plants to get a hold here totally goes against “right plant right place.”

Time for lunch!

The Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish County is a major sponsor and organizer of today’s Built Green Conference. Built Green is a part of the MBA-KS.

At the beginning of the morning the Mayor of the City of Bellevue spoke. David Kile talked proudly of the Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center, a great achievement. I happened to visit the center a couple of weeks ago and have some very nice picture intended for a separate post (stay tuned).

Mr. Kile introduced Deputy King County Executive Fred Jarrett, who also spoke of the green efforts of new King County Executive Dow Constantine. Next Aaron Adelstein, Executive Director of Built Green of King and Snohomish Counties spoke briefly and introduced our keynote speaker Mr. David W. Orr.

Read the Keynote Speaker bio of David W. Orr at the Built Green Conference web site.

From www.davidworr.com 

David Orr is a funny man. He admitted up front that PowerPoint presentations are wonderful except no one can read the data or see the graphics clearly on the screens (even though there are two here in the room), cracking "Cover your left eye and…,"

His presentation is titled "Down to the wire: Greenbuild in a hotter time"

David says we are at the end of the era of cheap fossil fuels. I think most of us will agree with that. He had some slides with some CO2 stats (carbon dioxide, that causes global warming).

Mr. Orr went on to say that last year David Archer said "The climate impacts of releasing fossil fuels will last longer than Stonehenge, nuclear waste, longer than time capsules, far longer than the age of human civilization so far. Each ton of coal that we burn leaves CO2 gas in the atmosphere. The CO2 coming from a quarter of that ton will still be affecting the climate one thousand years from now." (I could actually read this slide!)

The scientific consensus (about global warming) among those who study climate for a living is 100%. It’s coming faster than anyone expected and we need to act fast.

He told the builders in the room "You need to build a different kind of building, one that can last and survive in the new climate."

He presented a tale of two deficits. One is economic, which he believes is solvable in a few years. He said that it’s not possible for the laws of economics that are 234 years old can be made to work with those of evolution ~3.8M years in he making.

The second is a Climate Deficit. And then there were a ton of slides with stats that he chuckled about, saying "You can’t see it but it says…"

I thought this was a very cool quote:

A few solutions are to

1) Optimize systems, not components (ecology)
2) Focus on end-use efficiency before supply (physics)
3) Consider full-cost, not short term costs (economics)

There were about 4 more ideas on the this but he switched the slide too fast for me! He’s on the clock and trying to stay on time (I think we started late).

"Complex problems require system solutions."

"We are seeing an emergence of ecological design arts/sciences."

Can we take what we know, join it together, and make a new downtown?

In Oberlin, Ohio, Mr. Orr’s day job is to create a 13 acre "Green Arts District" to push downtown renewal. (Mr. Orr on Wikipedia). The "Oberlin Renaissance" is a partnership that is emerging to create an amazing post-fossil fuel city and economy.

"If you’re hopeful, you are required to do something about this problem. If you despair, you do nothing."

The audience at this morning’s Built Green Conference Keynote session.

Here’s the final upshot: Design for

1) Community & region (not just individual developments)
2) Integration across all sectors (not just buiding). Put together food, energy, transportation, economy, education
3) Resilience…security
4) Fairness.

"We have to figure out how to use our skill sets – yours and mine – to build economies as a part of green building."

All checked in and booth set up for GreenWorks Realty. I am here today courtesy of Frause Communications, who extended me a media pass as a live blogger – and then even got me a table to type at since the keynote speaker session is set up with just chairs. David W. Orr has started speaking, so check back for notes about his speech.

My official announcement/reminder that I will be “live blogging” at tomorrow’s Built Green Conference at Meydenbauer Center. Be sure to check back often tomorrow, or my Facebook and Twitter (@GreenSpacesRE) pages.

The #hash tag for tomorrow’s conference will be #BGCSea

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA_Er7g97Nc]

GWR Associate and Built Green Certified Professional real estate agent Wendy Hughes-Jelen makes her official announcement and reminder via video that she will be “live blogging” at tomorrow’s Built Green Conference at Meydenbauer Center. Frause Communications has awarded Wendy a “Press Pass” for the 2nd year to provide… live updates that are made accessible to the public on the internet.

You can read Wendy’s reporting of the keynote speaker David W. Orr’s presentation and keep abreast of her selected sessions tomorrow by visiting her blog at GreenSpacesRealEstate.com and on Twitter @GreenSpacesRE.

David W. Orr has won the Millennium Leadership Award from Global Green, the Bioneers Award and the National Wildlife Federation Leadership Award. He is the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics the Special Assistant to the President of Oberlin College, and a James Marsh Professor at the University of Vermont.

Don’t miss this story on the Green House page of the USA Today site.

Your old jeans might not fit anymore or may be way out of style, but they can still be put to use. An expanding campaign is underway to collect denim and use it to insulate Habitat for Humanity homes.

Bring in an old pair of jeans to The Gap and receive 30% off a new pair – and your old jeans will be recycled for insulation!!

Isn’t this a great photo, By Jacquelyn Martin, AP