With millions of old conventional brown buildings having been constructed over the last 100 years. These existing “brown” buildings continually emit more greenhouse gases, consume more fossil fuel energy and water. Nationwide these old inefficient “brown” buildings, are the low hanging fruit and ideal candidates for green contractors to upgrade using sustainable renovation energy/water efficiency techniques. Sustainable  renovation is a key to lower greenhouse gases. As there is no embodied carbon emitted. No new materials to transport from ground up new construction.

The first order of business is to order a HERS score from a certified ecorater This energy audit will help identify all the energy inefficiencies through out the entire building. An ecorater uses specialized diagnostic equipment: Blower door test, infrared camera, smoke test, and HVAC leakage detection. The cost of these energy diagnostic tests are from $300 to $1,000 which can be paid from the proceeds of the green mortgage. The energy rater will then provide the certified green contractor with a list of energy efficiency improvements ranging from the highest return on investment(ROI) to the lowest return on investment. In a typical existing brown building, the items in the most cost efficient order usually are: Seal air leaks around walls, windows, doors, ceilings and floors, with caulk or spray foam. Installing energy efficient CFL or LED lights, installing a programmable smart thermostat, EE hot water heater, upgrading exterior doors to thermal doors, adding attic, crawl space, and exterior wall insulation, changing out shower heads, faucets and  toilets to water efficient fixtures. sealing all HVAC ductwork, installing Energy star appliances, refrigerator, stove, and dishwasher. More expensive items include: triple pane windows, solar panels, and geothermal heating. All of these items can be paid for with the lower interest rate green mortgage.

Using the green mortgage lower interest rate these EE/water upgrades actually cost the homeowner nothing absolutely zero! Additionally for more savings, you can combine Federal, state and local tax incentives for the more expensive EE/water upgrades. Therefore under this scenario, your old existing  conventional “brown” home turns green. This is the future for existing brown homes, expanding green homes nationwide, and lowering greenhouse gases to achieve net zero by 2050!

The Net zero energy retrofit lab performed a three year study  Documenting how installing heat pumps, heat recovery ventilation systems, produced an 80% reduction in heating and cooling expenses. While decreasing indoor VOC’s.

As accurately stated above, the National association of Realtors (NAR) lobbies congress to not allow home energy ratings to be included in the MLS listing’s. The NAR falsely states: Adding energy ratings impede the sale of existing brown buildings. Negatively impacting the sale of the building, forcing home sellers/buyers to install costly upgrades. This is why ” The voice of real estate” NAR is promoting false propaganda and all home sellers should be aware of this misguided media. Therefore using a Realtor may not be the the wisest choice for selling your largest asset. Currently 12 cities/states ask for some type of energy information score disclosed during a real estate transaction. In Portland, Oregon disclosing energy scores are mandatory. Potential homebuyers clicked the energy information of the most efficient homes 14% more often. And clicked the least energy efficient homes 23% less often. Critical disclosure of monthly cost of ownership energy/water costs at the time of a real estate transaction is the perfect time to negotiate price and apply for an EEM/green mortgage to offset the EE/water improvements.