In contemplating content for this article I pondered a while on the power of one. One idea, one person, one small step, one action, one will and the effects those things can have on the world – ONE-DERFUL.

We hear many stories over the centuries of people who believed so passionately and spoke so strongly about an issue that they were able to raise the awareness of the social consciousness until everyone cared enough to help make strategic changes of significant proportion to help make the world a better place. Now the power of one is making a huge difference again. This time not only will it change the world but its goal is to save it.

For decades groups of concerned people have been scoffed at as “tree huggers” or activists are finally having their day.

People in general are waking up and noticing that the latest environmental movement starts with them; they are taking notice and more importantly starting to care enough to do something to help, however small the action may be.

I am of course talking about the power of the GREEN movement. There is a growing belief by many that we as an individual power of one can make changes to our day to day environment at home, at work and at play which will contribute significantly to this universal quest of saving the planet and its resources to ensure the sustainability of the earth for generations to follow. Pretty powerful! I believe the power of Al Gore movie “An Inconvenient Truth” can really help raise the social consciousness.

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Visit the website of just about any builder or new home community and you will see a list of the environmentally friendly attributes of the homes. Going green, making sustainable choices, reducing our carbon footprint and environmental impact – these aren’t just buzz words – they are extremely important to today’s consumers, to our communities, and our planet. Don’t let the new home builders get all the credit for their eco-friendly policies. It doesn’t matter how many ENERGY STAR® appliances they put in a home, it will almost always be better for the environment to buy an existing home than to build a new one.

Environmentally friendly features are likely to save home owners money as well, as they are often related to energy savings. The financial benefit is especially great when the green elements are already in the home – there are no up front costs such as replacing existing appliances or light bulbs, or installing new systems such as solar panels.

Appeal to conscious home shoppers by highlighting the green aspects of your listings. Be on the lookout for items such as these that may be already present or easily and inexpensively added:

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I had the pleasure of speaking with Tim Dalene of Hampton’s Green Alliance in New York the other day. He had an impressive story to share in regards to Green building.

Hampton’s Green Alliance (HGA) is a non-profit organization, created to be a Green resource for Green building on the east end of Long Island. For this project they brought together a group of local sub-contractors who specialize in difference areas of Green building and came up with innovative ways to create efficiencies within the home.

Their goal? They wanted to create a house where they could answer questions previously unanswered like how much would a Green house cost, what would need to be done, what kind of energy efficiencies could be incorporated — basically what does a Green home mean?

Taking the foundation of an existing home on Long Island that had burned down, this is the story of how the community came together to rebuild it, entirely from recycled and sustainable materials, so the home would be “carbon neutral” and would have “net zero energy”, meaning the homeowners will break even after 8 years, and ultimately not pay for electricity or gas, estimated at a $230,000 savings.

Listen to the HomeGain Radio Clip (approx 10 minutes):

Visit the HomeGain Green Real Estate page.

Listen to more HomeGain Radio calls.

To celebrate Earth Day today, HomeGain is delighted to share feedback, comments and participation from real estate agents across the country who support and practice Green real estate.

Today we published a press release for the Top 9 Green Home Improvements for Home Sellers.

Agent Blogs

Agents Practicing Green

• Do everything possible via laptop and avoid paperwork. We now have a lawyer to ratify the contract and have the bank accept a scanned copy of the contract instead of over-nighting approved original offer.
• We work hard to keep printed paper to a minimum. Email and scanning is wonderful!
  Our office is hosting a shredding day and e-waste event. We also recycle bottles and cans and we re-use paper in the fax machine. We also turn out the lights when they are not in use.
• My office is near paperless due to a Tablet PC.
• I became a Certified EcoProfessional. I changed the way I live, where I buy my food, Greened my real estate business and also buy electricity generated by wind.
• I use the back of all printed listings as scrap paper for call notes, to do lists, grocery lists.
• We have unplugged all non used electrical items so we are not wasting any trickle charges to unused appliances, lamps, motors, etc.
• “I am providing a paperless business model to my clients. Every document is signed on my computer and all the files are in PDF format. How’s that for lessening our carbon footprint!”- Jaime Sparks
• I have planted a home garden, walk when possible, and reuse items or donate them to charities. Continue reading this post

“Reuse, Reduce and Recycle” is a tune my grammar school son chants all the time. He learned it in school and I have even found myself chanting it at times. And as with anything, once something gets in to your head you find yourself applying it to your everyday life.

As Earth Day approaches I am excited by how I have applied some of the “Green” principles of my son’s song to my own home staging business in Marin. As home stagers, we try to have environmentally sustainable designs that improve our environment rather than detract from it.

REUSE & RECYCLE

The most obvious is that we reuse our furniture for home staging. And when we need to add to our collection we try to buy locally so we can reduce transportation costs and waste.

When clients are thinking of replacing their upholstered furniture I suggest that they have their furniture recovered rather than just throw it away. Upholsterers can recycle the furniture to look like new, with half the waste as buying new, and half the cost.

REDUCE

Lighting is also an easy way to be eco-friendly. Before any open house Realtors turn on all of the lights in the home. This creates light and a welcome environment. This is also something I do before a party when I want my guests to feel welcome and the energy in the house come alive. But before wasting all of that wattage consider using only compact florescent light bulbs. Switching from a traditional light bulb to a CFL is a simple change everyone can make to reduce up to 20% of our greenhouse gases without skimping on the ambiance.

Another way we reduce waste is to reuse our packing materials over and over again rather than have our moving companies use new materials. Continue reading this post

A few months ago we announced the top 12 do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvements for people selling their home.

With the environment and sustainability in the hearts and minds of many Americans, HomeGain has also surveyed Realtors for the top 9 GREEN DIY home improvements.  Nearly 1,000 REALTORS® responded to the survey.

While the results show that green home improvement projects may not be as popular as traditional non-green improvements (percentage of Realtors who recommend them), the GREEN trend does seem to be catching on as people realize the benefits. (See Realtor comments below.)

According to a McGraw Hill study, 70% of homebuyers would rather buy a green home than a non-green home in a down economy. The Management Information Services/ICMA has said that “landscaping, especially with trees, can increase property values as much as 20 percent.” According to Move.com, to date, around 1,100 Realtors have earned the NAR Green Designation (out of 1.3 million registered Realtors in the U.S.).

Based on national average cost and return on investment (ROI) to sellers…

The top 5 GREEN home improvements that Realtors recommend to home sellers are:

1. Plant native trees and plants ($141 average cost / $399 average price increase / 284% average ROI / 65% of agents recommended)
2. Replace air filters ($76 cost / $201 price increase / 266% ROI / 63% recommended)
3. GREEN home staging ($223 cost / $445 price increase / 199% ROI / 47% recommended)
4. Weather strip and caulk doors and windows ($169 cost / $313 price increase / 185% ROI / 68% recommended)
5. Install programmable thermostats ($146 cost / $249 price increase / 170% ROI / 62% recommended)

The complete 9 GREEN home improvements are as follows:

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