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Thanks!

Jeff

I do try to green my transactions by negotiating green. That might mean I get a higher performing furnace or something else like that. If there is a 500 dollar mandated audit in there… I may not be able to get that work done. Frankly I would rather hire the person installing the better performing furnace than I would an auditor. (please understand that that is in a context of a first time buyer that doesn’t have a lot of money)

I do think having mandated audits like Europe does is a burden.

In my area the PUD’s already collect money to pay for a free energy audit, which we are not allowed to use during a sale of a house. I think this should be allowed to see if it produces the desired results or not. I know that the “free” audits that we pay for every month, don’t have a very high success rate in producing the work to the property that would reduce energy consumption. I am not sure it would produce different results by inserting it into a real estate transaction.

If we are going to have mandated audits for the residential sector, the scope should be about the building envelope, not the already performance tested and labeled appliances and HVAC. I think most people don’t understand how important the building envelope is in relation to the energy consumption of the house.

It would be a lot less expensive to look at the building envelope than it would to look at the whole house every time there is a sale on it. If the audits include thing like the appliances and HVAC and light bulbs, it becomes necessary to relabel more frequently. I think this piece needs to be rethought.

Personally I would rather see people spend money on the improvements.

If there is a greened MLS with the green certs for new construction and with all of the stand alone items like the appliances and HVAC, added insulation, double and triple paned windows etc, then an energy label really isn’t necessary. From the perspective of getting the green value for a greened or green cert home it is not necessary. Appraisers and Realtors are able to find the green value. It also isn’t necessary in order to market greened or green cert homes. People understand the labels ~ passiv Haus, LEED and Energy star.

Audits should be available for people that want to and can afford to do the improvements. I have used auditors to deep green houses. That is a great resource for someone that can afford to do so.

One other thing to consider. All over the country there is scope of work that has to be done in order to close a transaction. Here we have to replace sewer lines and decommission oil tanks. I don’t remember the state but they have to replace all the plumbing fixtures. We also have to take out wood burning stoves. I am not intending to provide an exhaustive list. But all of that costs money.

Let me know what you think.