Green Energy and Your Home

Thanks to dedicated research, new green energy technologies are everywhere, decreasing our dependence on fossil fuels. Over the past three decades, research and development in green energy has exploded. Providing hundreds of promising new types of technologies that can reduce our dependence on coal, oil and natural gas. Sounds pretty amazing right? But we still have to ask the question, what is green energy and what impact does it have on the Real Estate Market?

Green energy is defined as a natural source coming from sunlight, wind, rain, tides, plants, algae and geothermal heat. These are renewable resources, meaning they are naturally replenished. Fossil fuels on the other hand, are a finite resource that can take millions of years to develop and will continue to diminish with its use. Renewable energy sources have a much smaller impact on the environment than fossil fuels, which produce pollutants such as greenhouse gases and contribute to the climate change. To gain access to fossil fuels it typically requires either mining or drilling deep into the earth, other in ecologically protected areas.

Solar power is the most prevalent type of renewable energy. Solar energy is used to heat buildings and water, provide natural lighting and cook food. From installing rooftop solar panels to putting in new triple pane windows and EnergyStar appliances, people today make all kinds of home upgrades that save energy and lower their utility bills. But when they opt to sell their “green” home, it’s often less than clear how such upgrades are valued in the real estate market by appraisers, lenders, or purchasers — or even how information about a home’s energy characteristics should be conveyed to real estate agents and potential homebuyers.

Beyond listing information, another aspect of the home buying and selling process where energy efficiency comes into play is the home appraisal. When appraisers appraise a home, there are a few different way that they can do that, but the majority require that the valuation from the appraiser be based on comparable properties in their neighborhoods.  this point, there’s really no way to see if there are comps that have energy saving features. It is predicted that energy efficiency improvements will, in the future, help homeowners in two ways: make the property more appealing, more marketable to a future buyer, and secondly, make the property a little bit more valuable than other homes that don’t have these energy efficiencies that are in place.

Resource Credits to : Stephanie Rogers & Chris Mooney