Realtors get green training

Location, location, location? What about insulation, insulation, insulation?

Sarah Olson salivates over a well-padded house the way other real- estate agents might get excited about master-bedroom suites and granite countertops. Programmable thermostats and R-values - a construction industry standard for measuring thermal resistance and evaluating insulation's effectiveness - turn her head.

In a world where going green is going mainstream, real-estate agents are getting earth-friendly, too, taking classes to bone up on industry trends and green living.

Agents can get training through the "EcoBroker" program or earn a green designation through the National Association of Realtors.

Buying and selling green

• Utilities: Ask to see utility bills. "I do believe this is going to be the norm," said Dee Parrish, a local EcoBroker. "If you have two houses that are similar and you have one house that you can prove that the energy bills are $50 lower, that's probably going to relate to 5 percent more on home value for the buyer." Also ask if the home has had a recent energy audit, which can tell you how energy efficient it is.

• Insulation: Ask about insulation — what kind does the home have? Are there storm doors and windows?

• Southern exposure: Does the home have a southern orientation? That can help natural cooling and heating. And the house's direction and roofline can affect the potential for installing an active solar device, such as a solar water heater.

• Appliances: Are Energy Star appliances included in the asking price?

• Marketing: Think about green ways to market your home — even something as modest as an established compost pile or an organic garden. How walkable is the neighborhood? Is there a grocery store within walking distance? A library? A gym? Public transportation?

• Association: Is there a homeowners' association, and do they allow residents to hang clotheslines?

Olson became an EcoBroker while she was working for Coldwell Banker in 2007, then she left to start Leap Realty in March 2008.

Olson helped Toni Moran, a physician's assistant, buy her first home in Clemmons in October.

Moran thought about looking for a house last year to take advantage of the tax credit. She got serious last summer. A co-worker suggested Olson.

She told her that she was an EcoBroker. Moran didn't have any idea what that meant, and to be frank, she was a skeptic - at first.

Olson does everything a typical real estate agent does - evaluates curb appeal, tells sellers to cut clutter - but she also markets homes and helps buyers look through an environmentalist's eyes. Energy-efficient features such as programmable thermostats and Energy Star appliances catch her attention. Features such as organic gardens, low-VOC paint and southern exposure are pluses.

"In every home she would point out the good or bad, which was good because I had no idea," Moran said. "Every showing was an educational process. Other agents can point to other things also, but she knew intricate details on how to fix things ... ways to make heating more efficient, how to make current systems more effective through insulation."

"I have to work on making (my house) a little greener. But Sarah showed me ways that I could."

Replacing her aging appliances with more energy efficient ones is on her to-do list.

But is green real estate just another tree-hugging trend?

Agents are banking that earth-friendly features will also save homeowners money. Moran may not live in a LEED-certified house of the future - but she does have low-flow toilets, and her water bill is lower in her 1,800-square-foot house than when she lived in a 1,200-square-foot apartment.

"Green is green," Olson said.

"Green building is just essentially saving money. It's not really a fad," said Michelle Wardlaw, a spokeswoman for the National Association of Realtors.

"Ultimately, the consumer is concerned with the fact that the shower is hot, the beverages are cold in the fridge," said John Beldock, the president of EcoBroker International "It is about how the money moves, and I think that's where things shake themselves out. Now the bottom line is important, not the trophy of being green."

The NAR introduced its "green designation" for Realtors in November 2008. Since then, about 4,000 Realtors have taken a 12-hour course, then opted for a six-hour elective in green residential or commercial properties or green property management.

Most business for green-minded Realtors comes from existing homes, and the clients who are coming to them are not necessarily looking for an eco-friendly agent, local agents say.

"It's more of an added service," said Dee Parrish, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Triad who became an EcoBroker a couple of years ago. "Everywhere you go, you hear 'green,' and it's confusing."

EcoBrokers earn their certification through a three-day class, and they must take four hours of continuing education each year. There are about 5,800 EcoBrokers worldwide and 228 agents in North Carolina working on their certification or who have completed it, according to Linda Besler, EcoBroker's director of membership services.

The training also helps them point sellers and buyers to tax credits and energy-efficient mortgages, a mortgage that credits a house's efficiency in the loan.

Olson got interested in green buildings after her then-8-year-old daughter, Emily, developed asthma from mold in their house. It changed the way Olson looks at insulation and cleaning products.

At the same time, she was wondering how she could use less paper and fewer resources in her work. She organized the first local green home tour, and founded Green Drinks Winston, an environmentally minded networking group.

This year, she wants her agency to go paperless - agents will carry small laptops so clients can sign documents electronically rather than print out copy after copy - and she has kits for buyers and sellers that include compact florescent blubs and foam insulation that fits under light switches and outlets, green-themed books and a remote-controlled surge protector to easily turn off electronics when they aren't in use.

In her own home, she and her husband, Jon, have added foam insulation, rain barrels, and even cut down on amount of paper towels and napkins they use, opting for cloth instead.

"I'm more of an environmentalist than I've ever been, but I'm still a normal person," Olson said. "I'm just a Jane Doe, and something clicked."

lgiovanelli@wsjournal.com.