Sep
12
Green Building & Sustainability
Posted by Joe Menashe under For Realty Professionals, Green Real Estate
Looking for that nitch that will differentiate you from the pack? In the last twelve months we have formed a “Green Team” at the Hasson Company Realtors in Portland, OR. These agents are a group committed to educating themselves about the importance of green building and remodeling, sustainability and impact on our environment. Until a year ago, most residential real estate agents in our area didn’t have a clue that they were living in one of the greenest states in the union. As a few large condominium projects in our South Waterfront area became completed, I visited their showroom to learn that most of these new buildings were LEED Certified. I had no idea what that meant. I returned to my office and googled LEED. A new world of sustainability and environmental impact opened up before my eyes. My first question to myself was, ” why don’t residential realtors know about this?” I called the city of Portland office of sustainability and asked if they had someone who could come to our branch and speak to us about these issues. They were so excited that I called, they had not been approached by a real estate company before. Since then, we formed the Green Team made up of approximately 60 agents. On August 30th, over 40 of these Green Teamers became certified through Earth Advantage STAR program, Sustainable Training for Accredited Realtors. We have become the conduit of information for our clients interested in green building and remodeling and for those who want to make better decisions that affect our air quality and environmental impact. We know we are blazing a trail that will become standard and basic required knowledge for realtors within the next couple of years. This field is a fast moving target which requires a commitment to education and communication with the grass roots organizations who until now have left realtors out of the equation. What started as a quest for knowledge has turned into a movement that will pay large dividends. Clients looking for green realtors can find them listed on the Earth Advantage website as well as listed as certified green agents on the Hasson.com website. Those agents who pass the test for EA certification are able to use both the Hasson Certified Green logo and EA STAR logo in their marketing. Take a good look, tomorrow has arrived today.
Joe Menashe
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