WC Archive

"For the standard home upgraded to R2000, the internal rate of return was calculated to be over 14 per cent–greater than that achieved by other low risk options, such as bonds," says Pressnail, who adds that the returns are even greater if fuel escalation costs are considered. "Since houses built today have a 100-year lifespan and since energy prices will surely rise, the economic and environmental case to build better houses now is even more compelling."

Choosing a high-efficiency home over a minimum standards home can pay for itself in less than seven years, and has the added benefit of reducing noise (with double-pane windows) and reducing the hassle of having to deal with "minimum standard" construction.

Sustainablog points us to GreenHomesForSale.com, a website showcasing homes that are described as "green" (energy-efficient), "healthy" (non-toxic building materials, high-efficiency air filtration), and/or "natural" (homes made from adobe, rammed earth, etc.). They have listings for many states in the US as well as a handful of homes in other countries. The overall number of homes listed is relatively small, and the vast majority are homes out in the countryside -- so while the construction may be green, they're still contributing to sprawl. Nonetheless, the listings are a good reminder that environmentally sustainable home building does not have to mean quirky design.

ECOBROKER is a bit more informative than the GreenHomesForSale site, albeit less convenient for people looking for homes. Although it has a search feature, there's no way that I could find to just browse listings. Most of the information seems directed towards brokers looking to start listing homes on the site and buyers looking to find an agent who understands the green home market. More useful were the discussions of different green building topics, from building materials to mold mitigation to passive solar vs. photovoltaic. They also discuss the so-called "Energy Efficient Mortgage" program.

The Energy-Efficient Mortgage is a US program backed by Fannie Mae, the FHA and the VA, providing an amount of up to 15% of the home's appraised value (at the same interest rate as the rest of the mortgage) for building or retrofitting with energy-efficient improvements. The underlying logic is that the monthly mortgage payment can be slightly higher than it would otherwise be because the monthly energy expenses will be significantly lower. The program therefore allows energy-efficient projects to be paid for over an extended period at a rate far lower than a typical credit card or bank "home improvement" loan.

It's not quite the same as the UK "Ecomortgage," which supports the purchase of already-built sustainable homes, but is certainly a welcome program for homeowners considering upgrading to greater environmental standards.