Atlanta Green Home Sales Grow in 4th Quarter of 2009

I have just completed the 4th Quarter Report of Green Home Sales in Atlanta.  Certified homes are still selling closer to list price and in less time, but one thing that really stuck out to me in the 4th quarter was the percentage of certified sales compared to conventional.  The first report I did in February 2009, green homes were 4.8% of the market; for the first half of 2009, they were 8%; and for the 4th quarter they were 11.4%!!  That is a nice steady climb over a 12 month period.  Click on the link below to see the report or find it in the sidebar to the right.  http://greentothescene.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/4th-quarter-2009-green-sales.pdf

Pictures from Bring One for the Chipper

Here are some pictures from today’s Bring One for the Chipper event at the Sydney Marcus Home Depot.

Home Performance Education Seminar Featuring Matt Hoots

Green Series: Home Performance

Education Seminar – Wednesday, January 20

Seminar Information

• Date: Wednesday, January 20, 2010
• Time: 9:30 am, Registration
  10:00 - 11:30 am, Program
• Location: Atlanta REALTORS® Center
  5784 Lake Forrest Drive, Atlanta 30328
• Cost: FREE to ABR members
  $10 non-members
• Note: This is not for continuing education credits.

Registration

• Register online!
  PLEASE NOTE: You DO NOT need to create a new profile when you register. If you do not know your login id or password, you may request that it be emailed to you from the login screen.

About the Seminar…

Matt Hoots of the Hoots Group will be presenting a case study of one of their green renovations. This renovation will be getting multiple green certifications and is eligible for tax credits and rebates as a result of the energy saving components that were installed. Matt will review the certifications that the house received that are able to be listed on FMLS. In addition, he will show how the homeowner was able to receive Federal and State tax credits along with rebates from Georgia Power. Green technology that was used in this project included Solar Hot Water, Geothermal HVAC, Spray Foam Insulation, Energy Star windows, and Rainwater Collection.

About the Speaker…

Matt Hoots, founder and president of the Hoots Group, Inc began his journey towards a green design lifestyle and value system at an early age.  His parents taught him the basic principles behind energy efficient design and energy conservation.  As he continued his education at the Georgia Institute of Technology and became more interested in residential construction, he started to develop an appreciation for advanced building science.  As a leader in green design and construction, the tagline, “Design Green, Build Green, Live Green,” summarizes how The Hoots Group approaches each project allowing their clients to live in an energy efficient, healthy, and sustainable house.

You can read Matt’s blog at www.Sustainword.com

Update:  Here are some pictures from the event.

Recycle Your Christmas Tree in Atlanta

Before you throw out your Christmas tree this week, think about recycling it instead.  On January 9th, there will be locations all over Atlanta, and Georgia for that matter, where you can drop your tree off.  The program is called Bring One For The Chipper and you can find information about the program on Keep Georgia Beautiful’s website www.KeepGeorgiaBeautiful.org.  The mulch from these trees has been used in the past for playgrounds, local government beautification projects, and individual yards.  You can even sign up to have mulch delivered to your house.  Click on this link and enter your zip code to find the closest recycling center to you.  You will be doing everyone a favor by keeping these trees out of our landfills.

thanks,

Carson

Atlanta City Council Shelves Sustainable Building Ordinance

This is the headline of the latest email from the Atlanta Board of Realtors.  Well, not exactly.  The headline is “Council Rejects Expensive Building Code Mandates” which to me says something much different.  The email applauds the vote which shelved an ordinance that they say would have “crippled” the commercial real estate industry.  The Sustainable Building Ordinance would have mandated the use of sustainable building principles, practices, and materials for new construction as well as renovations and tenant improvements for existing buildings.  Is that such a bad thing?  I’d go so far as to say that would be a great thing, a great direction for the City of Atlanta and the industry as a whole, not to mention the people that are going to be inhabiting those buildings and paying the energy bills, but let’s not worry about that.

Here is a link to the article:  http://www.abr.org/index.aspx?page_id=3&resource_id=5478

Green Cleaning Supplies for the Home and Office

I had a nice lunch today with the Vice President of Enviroclean USA.  Their company provides green cleaning services for commercial buildings that strive to have a healthier indoor environment, including buildings that have the LEED certification.  Another part of their business is call GotGreenKits.  Now this is more of a retail arm that sells their cleaning products both in bulk and on a small scale.  Their kits are different because they come with a lot of really helpful information and it’s color coded to make it really easy (green bottle – green microfiber cloth).  It also includes an instruction packet that explains the purpose for each product, how to mix it, and how to use it.  In January they expect to be accepting online orders at their website www.GotGreenKits.com.    For $99.00 you can buy a kit that they say will last 1 year, and by the looks of it I think it will last much longer. That kit has a floor cleaner, window cleaner, bathroom cleaner, and an all-purpose cleaner.  You can view information about the company now at their website and be sure and check back in January for online purchases.

About their Product:

From their website “Got Green Kits, LLC effective green cleaning chemicals that are safer for people, pets and the environment! Our chemicals are biodegradable, non-toxic and derived from natural and renewable ingredients whenever possible.”

Nick Hodson Video Presentation on Energy Efficiency

I stumbled upon this video of Nick Hodson doing a presentation on Energy Efficiency called “Energy Efficiency: Challenge and Opportunity” on UCTV and then searched it out on the internet.  I haven’t had the chance to watch the entire 50 minutes but the last 10 minutes were good and so are the first 10…  Check it out  at http://iee.ucsb.edu/content/nick-hodson-video-presentation

Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture Featuring Al Gore

Last night I went to the Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture at the Ahavath Achim Synagogue in Buckhead featuring Al Gore.  The former Vice President essentially went through the nuts and bolts of his new book “Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis”.  It was a super energizing event that had the place on it’s feet and cheering, giving you the impression that everyone was going to walk out of the building, go home and retrofit their homes and get us back on the right track…and that’s what it’s going to take.  He emphasized the need to embrace renewable energy sources like solar, ground source heat pumps and wind.  One of the possible solutions that caught my ear was a 100 mile square solar collector proposed for the Arizona desert could collect 100% of the energy needed to power America.  That’s a big deal!  A major roadblock for that would be the transporting that energy across the country.  Our current system wastes about 60% of it capacity getting to your house and that’s not good enough.  These kinds of ideas will shape our future and the lives that our children and grandchildren lead.

He spoke about scientists all over the world trying to come up with the next great invention that could naturally remove carbon from the air…and many are making great strides to do so…but guess what?  It’s called a tree, and you put many together and they are called a forest!  That’s what trees do, and all we are doing is tearing them down.  Preservation and Conservation have to be on the forefront of our minds and our actions.  There are many things in our nation and world to be concerned about these days.  Farming responsibly, eating well, conserving what we are blessed with, and living in a healthy and efficient environment will naturally solve many of those issues.

You can check out his book at http://www.algore.com/

USGBC Georgia Residential Speaker Series

Last night we had the first USGBC Georgia Residential Speaker Series event.  The event was held at a LEED Platinum Modular home in Marietta.  In addition to having the LEED Platinum certification, it is also certified by EarthCraft House, ENERGY STAR & the NAHB Green Program.  The home was built by New World Home and they were gracious enough to let us have our first event there.  Harry’s Farmers Market catered the event and provided a beautiful spread.  Mark Jupiter came in from New York to lead us on a tour of the house and explain the process of building a modular home, the products that go into it, and what makes it green. 

This particular home was built in a factory near Hilton Head, SC.  Once it is built, it’s put onto several tractor trailers and driven to it’s current location in Marietta.  The house is then put back together and that day the home is about 85% complete.  From that point it takes about 8 weeks to put the finishing touches on the home and then you are ready to move in.  They have a great video running in the kitchen that shows the house being built.  You can visit their blog and see the videos at www.NewWorldHome.wordpress.com. 

Our next Speaker Series event , Sustainable Landscaping Tips & Trends will be on October 28 at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.  You can register and view more details at http://www.usgbcga.org/index.php?option=com_events&type=event&task=details&id=127.

Thanks again to Carol and her team for putting it together and everyone at New World Home and Harry’s Farmers Market.

 

 

Carson Matthews
www.CarsonandCarol.com

The Green Building Council of the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association

The Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association announces the launch of the Green Building Council.  The official launch will be at the Fall General Membership Meeting September 24th.  Complete details of the event and launch can be found at http://www.atlantahomebuilders.com/uploads/100018_pdfs/102528.pdf  Here is a little information about the Green Building Council and its goals:

The Green Building Council brings participants in the planning, building, remodeling, marketing and selling of high-performance green homes and related products and services. The council aims to provide and promote green certification programs and educational opportunities for its members and the public. The council provides a forum for professionals in the construction industry to promote green home standards and best practices, to network with others in the industry and to take a proactive role as leaders in the green housing industry.

Don’t miss the Fall Membership Meeting, details below.  

The Nuts and Bolts of Green Building featuring Peter Pfeiffer 

Thursday September 24, 2009
4 p.m. Registration 5:45 p.m. Program Begins
Villa Christina, 4000 Summit Blvd, Atlanta, GA 30318
$30 Greater Atlanta HBA member, $40 non-member
Additional $15 walk-in fee for attendees who do not pre-register.

click here to register  

If you are on LinkedIN, please join the Green Building Council, a subgroup of the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association. 

If you are interested in joining as a charter member of the Green Building Council, visit http://www.atlantahomebuilders.com/uploads/100128_Shelly/102530.pdf