Building Seattle Green, from seattlepi.com, brings us good news from Washington. Green homes are selling faster and for more money than other homes. Danielle Johnson reports “Environmentally certified homes sold for 4.8% more and stayed on the market for 24% less time than comparable homes sold last year.” This is good news for the earth, and builders and home-based product manufacturer who have a head start on the greening market.
This reminds me of a similar study done by Prof. Norman Miller, where he found that green (LEED certified and Energy Star rated) office buildings and spaces were selling and renting for more money, as high as 30% more, than regular buildings of similar size and class. So we have evidence in both the commercial and residential sectors of real estate that it pays to go green. It pays while you’re operating a building (we all knew that) and it pays when you rent or sale.
(read more about Prof. Miller’s study)
It will be interesting to see the results continue to come in as more studies are done. For now, there isn’t a valid argument against it. Maybe our status symbols will update, and MTV Cribs will feature stars and athletes with extreme green diggs…
