Tag Archives: green homes

Live…from the Built Green Conference 2012: Keynote Speaker Denis Hayes, President/CEO of Bullitt Foundation

Wow what a great lunch

King County Green Tools staff Patti Southard and Kinney (missed the other name) made introductory remarks for Mr. Hayes. First they gave us some statistics and diversion rates for construction materials. Newest edition of the Construction Recycling Directory just came out. He suggests that builders use 2 bins on sites so the sorting is done immediately because it is very time consuming to sort it later. He also mentioned the 20/20 Refit Challenge. Rehabilitating older homes to become healthy, comfortable, energy efficient homes is a lot more sustainable than deconstructing a structure and building something new It’s all about keeping materials out of the waste stream.

Patti thanks the staff at Built Green for creating such a great model that others in the country look to. Collaboration is key. She says every day we are working on making this a beter planet it is like writing a love letter to the Earth. She says we are lucky to have the kind of leadership we have in our area – with Denis Hayes, the founder of Earth Day, having joined our community. She shared her own memories of how Earth Day is a holiday not for religion or anything else, but for doing something for others and the plant.

Denis Hayes
Funny guy! Seems to be speaking extemporaneously. He said normally he gives a rousing motivational speech about becoming more green. But he doesn’t have to do that here, since everyone in the room is involved in the green building industry. He talked about how the Bullitt Foundation stat=started out in a hayloft, and since joining the organization the Board agreed to the construction of a green building. The piece of property the foundation owned called for something larger than an office for seven people, and now they have a 52,000 sq ft mixed use building. Billed as “The Greenest Building in the World” He said there are 26 geothermal wells that are 400 feet deep. ALL of the energy that will be used in this building will be generated by the building. Net Zero is not accomplished very often. Hayes talked about trying to meet the requirements of the Living Building Challenge. He spoke about sourcing materials for the building, finding contractors who would

Bullitt Center – Hard costs up through TI: 17% more expensive than regular Class A office space and found they can’t rent it for any more than regular Class A office space. If you are a tenant in their building and meet ll of your energy goals, you have no energy costs, it’s free. Society needs to start placing real value on things that endure. These major investments count for something. He talked a lot oabout the features that went into this new building. I missed the last tour a couple weeks ago! So I sent an email to find out when the next tour will be. Defnitely have to get it on it.

If I had to do it gain knwoing what I know now and this will sound ridiculous – this is the first time I have worked on a building, but it has given me a lot of humility. So he deerred t a lot of te experts, vendors, and contractors, for elements and aesthetics that if he woudl have won on if he had stuck to his guns. And he would hold out to have it his way next time.

High Point West Seattle Real Estate Update (4Q 09-today)

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.

Currently on the market are two condo suites (one 2-bedroom, one studio) and one large four bedroom home that is a short sale that came on the market last summer for $299,999 causing quite a stir among my neighbors. Looks like the deal flipped just before Christmas and the house is listed as Active for sale. (Sorry for being slow to notify you. If you are interested, you know how to reach me! I did several showings in July.)

See High Point West Seattle Real Estate For Sale

What has sold in recent months is pretty simple – townhomes (2), which happen to be more affordable than single family homes and often have the same square footage. They don’t appear to be short sales, although the 3 bedroom unit probably was since it was purchased in 2007 in the $425k range, and sold in November for $305,000. Man, if I could only had that home then for what I could pay now.

See High Point West Seattle Sold Homes (since 10/01/09)

I always find it interesting to see what also is pending – these are homes that have not closed yet, but obviously are a good indication of what people are interested in purchasing. There has been a small carriage house on 30th for sale since last spring, most recent asking price (as a short sale) was in the $149k ballpark. It just went to Pending on Sunday, so it looks like we may have a new neighbor soon!

See High Point West Seattle Current Pending Sales (as of 1/13/10)


And a new category that I am examining is Cancelled/Expired. These are homes that were on the market for months and never sold. The owners have given up on trying to sell them at this time.

See High Point West Seattle Homes Expired or Cancelled (since 10/01/09)

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

Latest Seattle green homes sales numbers are out!

The end-of-year sales numbers have been taken into account and the GreenWorks Realty ECert Report, a report showing a comparison of sales of environmentally-certified homes vs. non-certified homes in the City of Seattle and elsewhere in King County, has been updated.

The report covers from September 2007, when the Environmentally Certified Home checkboxes went into effect on the Northwest Mukltiple Listing Service web site, and December 31, 2009.


Environmentally certified homes in King County, the last three months of 2009, comprised 34% of the new home market, sold for $87,000 more per home, and were 9% smaller in size.

If you have any questions about this report and the value of investing in a healthy home for yourself and your family, both financial and otherwise, please send me an email or give me a call.

You can also visit GreenWorks Realty’s Facebook page for this and other updates and information regarding living a “green lifestyle” in the Northwest.

The “most divine” condos I have ever seen

Yesterday my company had its bi-weekly team meeting at The Sanctuary on Capitol Hill, and then took a tour of this historic landmark church-turned-condo. The model is now open, and the 4 and 5 story homes all have striking architectural features – many of them have the dome of the church as the ceiling in the individual homes.

Salvage and restoration was the primary goal of the new owners/builders, and he told us of the “Seattle seagrass” insulation that they found in the floor (albeit it was from NY), that they moved to the attic. It was impressive!

Most of the homes have private garages within the common garage, and two units also have private elevators. Most of the homes have some stained glass windows, and the sculpute work is just amazing. Oh, so are the bathrooms!!

For more information or a private tour, send me an email! I can’t wait to show this building to to my husband…I think we are going to go over there this weekend.

Photo: See photo gallery and read “Capitol Hill church now 12 new homes”

The Santuary’s web site has several other articles linked to it in addition to some artsy photos, but nothing can do it justice other than a real-life viewing.