New Green Home Trends In 2010
Although the building industry had a dark year in 2009, Green building seemed to somehow stick out and shine. According to the Multiple Listing Service date, certified sustainable green new homes actually rose the past year in the northern west coast areas like Portland and Seattle. This trend is believed to spread over the U.S. and green building is expected to grow within new home sales. Already new home sales are on a rise from a year ago with March of 2010 seeing the biggest jump in new home sales in 47 years. So what trends can we expect to see in 2010 in green new homes?
1. Energy Monitoring Home Dashboards. The increasing demand for energy efficient homes, the development of a custom web-based display panel within the home, will show real-time home energy use. This sophisticated produced can break down the real time energy use of homeowners appliance, which will help a homeowner change the way they use their electricity. For example the way an electric car miles per gallon indicator encourages the owner to adapt their driving habits, green new homes that offer these Dashboards may encourage homeowners to reach lower energy use. Dashboards will also increase the probability that homeowners of green homes will reach the Energy Performance Score.
2. Energy Efficient Green Home Labeling. Like the miles per gallon label you would find when searching for a new car, energy rating systems for new homes has become popular among legislators. This energy rating system will make it easier for homebuyers to see the energy efficiency of one green home compared to another. Each homes score will be available on the MLS.
3. Lenders and Green Homes Make for a Better Bottom Line. Lenders have come to the conclusion that green new homes are better for their bottom line. By seeing a trend of green home owners being more responsible and less probable to default on a loan, due to the fact that most green home owners are more accountable and likely to place higher value on home maintenance. Green home owners are also less likely to default due to the decrease in energy coast. Lenders are now working to get reduced-rate loans, insurance packages for green new home owners.
4. Less Is More. Back when the housing market was booming, a larger homes lead to greater equity. However since that “bubble burst” this is no longer the case. With energy prices expected to rise over time, and the Federal Reserve likely to raise interest rates during 2010, homebuyers are likely to feel more at ease with smaller new green homes.
5. Water Conservation. Did you know that residential water usage accumulates for more than half of the publicly supplied water? The EPA decided in December 2009 to implement WaterSense. WaterSense specifies that new homes will need to reduce water use by 20 percent than conventional new home. Mandatory energy labeling in Europe already documents the water efficiency.
6. Net Zero Homes. A net zero home is a green home that generates more energy than it uses over a year. This is done by building a fairly small new green home that is extremely energy efficient and uses onsite renewable energy like wind, solar or geo-exchange systems.
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2 comments:
Attitudes to energy are changing. Until fairly recently, this may not have been a particularly big deal. Most people now would pay more for an energy-efficient home. I believe that in the future, a green home will be more important than a fashionable home.
We know that consumers are becoming more interested and engaged in their electricity consumption. It’s a big budget line item and for a long time we have just accepted and paid it each and every month. We really see consumers getting much more interested in becoming more active in managing electricity consumption and taking steps to drive it down. $’s and cents are the primary motivator but there is also a great deal of satisfaction taken for doing the right thing and making a difference.
What we know definitively is access to better information – real time information can make a huge difference in reducing electricity consumption. There are many academic, utility sponsored and manufacturer sponsored research studies and the general conclusion is just better information alone can reduce consumption by 5-15%. For a family spending $100 - $250 per month on electricity that’s a big deal. When we aggregate the potential impact from millions of homes reducing their consumption by 5-15% that’s a huge impact for the economy and a huge positive impact on the climate.
There are proven energy monitoring options on the market today. For as little as $100 families could gain access to this real time information today and begin to take control of this important issue and important monthly budget item.
We have been in the business of real time electricity information since 2003 and it’s gratifying to see this momentum. You can find more information from us at www.bluelineinnovations.com.
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