John Richau's Page

One of the tired questions that keeps lingering in the real estate world is... "what is a greened up home worth?". We know that in new construction the value and profitability of green homes is there. We have studies that prove that there are fewer callbacks, higher prices, faster home sales, superior customer satisfaction and reduced energy usage. But this is for new homes. What about the existing housing stock?

Last February I had a chance to present on the valuation of

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Big fan, big fan. Green Earth Equities is buying foreclosed homes and greening them up. The result is increased tax base, improved indoor air quality, home ownership in areas traditionally populated with rentals, green jobs, and raising comps for entire neighborhoods. win-win-win-win.

Below was swiped from http://greenearthequities.com/… Continue

Appraisers are often unaware of emerging valuation methods available to determine the added value of a home that's energy efficient or retrofitted to green standards. Dave Porter of Porterworks, Inc., a Real Estate consulting firm that specializes in promotion, education and consultation in sustainable enterprises, is working to educate the Real Estate industry and HERS raters. Notably through its Green Lending Specialist certification.

It's puzzling to me to hear stories of appraisers that loo… Continue

Think last summer's PGE bills were high? Hold on to your wallet, they're about to soar to new heights.

I thought I had my finger on the pulse of utility rates in our area. I was wrong. Seems PGE had another rate hike Jan 1, 2010. This is bad news for our city since those dollars will leave our local economy and affect those that are most vulnerable. The ray of hope, though, is that as a community we may get serious about efficiency, catapult the local PV industry even greater heights, an… Continue

Veterans who once crawled around attics and other claustrophobic spaces in homes in Iraq and Afghanistan, searching for hidden weapons and suspected terrorists, are now crawling through homes in the United States to track down air leaks and missing insulation. They are part of a new wave of veterans who are turning the skills and determination they developed in the military to a new mission: that of reducing Americans’ energy use and carbon emissions.

“We think veterans are uniquely qualified t… Continue