I had my customary monthly luncheon yesterday with my local chapter of Women's Council of Realtors, a professional networking group that embraces "affiliate" members, and promotes professional growth of women Realtors.
The theme of the luncheon was "green" homes. Multiple vendors were invited, setting up a display booth to showcase their particular product or service. We had a chance to chat with a green flooring company, a home inspector who offers infrared home energy audits (cool!), a sun tunnel installation specialist (a super way to bring the natural sunlight into your home which I have seen for myself at a friend's home, just Google "sun tunnel" for more details), a green painting contractor, and more.
Of interest to me is the greenest of the green new condominium project (Winthrop Club) that started its marketing in my town of Evanston, Illinois, some three years ago, pitched it hard to the local Realtors as well as to the public, and couldn't gather enough purchase contracts to remain viable. The construction lender took control of the project and is now trying to get the empty units sold under a new name of "One Evanston." Yes, the timing was unfortunate for new construction in the Chicagoland market, and the green emphasis was not enough to pry open the checkbooks of buyers. My own experience with buyers indicates that buyers will accept a greener offering in a home, but not necessarily seek it out to the exclusion of more conventional construction techniques and materials.
I feel that "green" still has a long way to go before it is embraced by the vast majority of homeowners as an essential component of their lifestyle. But it's nice to think that we are slowly headed in that direction!
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