Historically, important information on a home such as energy ratings, third-party building certifications, or solar electricity generation has not made it into for sale listings. Thousands of dollars of value may have been lost because trustworthy data was not available for listing agents, appraisers, and potential buyers to react to at the time of sale. That lack of data has prevented appraisers and lending institutions from accounting for those market reactions.
Since 2017, GBR has provided green home data to the public and real estate multiple listing services. The SaaS (Software as a Service) platform provides verified data directly from sources such as the U.S. Department of Energy’s Home Energy Score program, LEED® for Homes, National Green Building Standard (NGBS) Green Certified program, HERS® Index Scores, and other third-party verification programs. Single-family and multifamily home performance data from Built Green for the Western Washington region, will now also be included in GBR. Built Green certified homes must meet a comprehensive, holistic set of green criteria and they must be at least 10 percent more energy efficient than the Washington state code to earn a Star level rating. The Emerald Star level, the highest level of certification under Built Green, requires Net Zero Energy use- where the home produces as much energy as it uses on an annual basis – and at least a 70% reduction in water use. In 2019, 73% of all newly constructed single-family homes in Seattle were Built Green certified.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Green Building Registry to ensure our real estate and home buying community members have access to this important Built Green information,” said Sonja O’Claire, Built Green Program Manager. “Our builders and verifiers put in an immense amount of work to ensure their Built Green certified homes are as eco-friendly and comfortable as possible. It’s important our community can access this data when selling, appraising, or looking for a home of their own to correctly evaluate one of the most important investments they may make.”
David Heslam, executive director at Earth Advantage, stated, “The Built Green program has been charting the course for green home construction in Washington state for many years. By adding the Built Green certifications to the Green Building Registry, it will make those high-performance homes more visible in the marketplace. Selling agents, buyers, and even appraisers will be able to find this documentation with ease.”
About GBR
GBR is a single-source solution for the public and real estate industry to facilitate auto-population of verified green data into listings throughout the United States. GBR was built and is maintained by the 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Earth Advantage, Inc. Earth Advantage’s mission is to accelerate the adoption of high performance and sustainable, residential building practices. We focus on three key pathways for success: promoting green home standards, linking green home data to the real estate market, and providing professional and workforce training. Visit: the GBR website, us.greenbuildingregistry.com to learn more. For more information on Earth Advantage visit: earthadvantage.org
About Built Green
Built Green is a holistic green home certification program of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, established in partnership with King and Snohomish counties in 1999. In addition to certifying green homes, remodels, multifamily buildings, and communities, Built Green hosts a membership network of companies and individuals involved in the green building industry, conducts research, and markets the social and environmental benefits of green building. The program’s mission is to serve as the driving force for environmentally sound design, construction, and development practices in the state of Washington’s cities and communities. Since its inception, Built Green has certified nearly 40,000 housing units and over 21,000 buildings. The program has partnered with local governments and utilities to create green building incentive programs, which have helped spur uptake in the region.
If you would like more information about this topic, please call Meg Garabrant at 503.310.9138 x62, or email meg@greenbuildingregistry.com