Real estate broker pushes for home 'green auditing'

We all know the market is doing well in Toronto (Another Record in July!!!!!! etc.) And interest rates have gone up from crazy low to just very very low...

So I would like to steer this form towards things about housing. With today's focus on environmental awareness I truly feel that incentives given at the time of purchase would certainly help home owners tale the steps necessary to lower their carbon footstep.

What follows would be a great first step...

The Vancouver Sun
Fri 27 Jul 2007
Page: E7
Section: Businessbc
Byline: Kathryn Young
Source: CanWest News Service


Every Canadian home should have a mandatory energy evaluation before it can be put on
the market, says a Toronto real estate broker who is setting up a national green real estate
association.
"Within five years, we hope to have mandatory energy audits right across Canada on
every resale home," said Elden Freeman, executive director of the non-profit National
Association of Green Agents and Brokers, which has 15,000 members.
Freeman plans to join forces this fall with James Rodgers, executive director of B.C.'s
Greener Realty Association, to help teach real estate agents -- about 88,000 in Canada --
how to promote green homes and encourage homeowners to make energy-efficient
upgrades. In Canada, 40 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to the
construction and operation of homes.
"Realtors have a huge opportunity to be very effective communicators," said Rodgers.
"They're the ones sitting down at kitchen tables chatting about houses."
He and Freeman believe mandatory energy evaluations -- which assess insulation,
appliances, furnaces, air conditioners and exhaust fans, and measure how airtight a home
is -- are the way of the future. Britain plans to introduce them Aug. 1 for houses with four
or more bedrooms.
Freeman has begun talks with Ontario officials in the energy and environment
departments about energy evaluations as a way to reduce power consumption.
"Weak houses would be forced to improve or sell for less money," he said.
Rodgers began his green realty company in the Kootenay region 18 months ago. He
offers buyers $500 towards an energy audit or site assessment for solar, wind or microhydro
system.