Portland homes seek green labels

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Ann Griffin, Earth Advantage Institute's sustainable community program manager

Green homes, little more than a novelty just a decade ago, now account for nearly one in every four new homes sold in the Portland area.

In the year that ended April 30, 403 homes, or 23 percent of all new residences, were certified by the Portland-based Earth Advantage Institute or one of its rivals, according to figures based on data compiled by the Regional Multiple Listing Service.

The Earth Advantage certification is the most popular in the Portland area, but is just one of several certification programs for single-family residences.

Others include the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Homes, the federal Department of Energy’s Energy Star program, and the National Association of Home Builders’ Green Building Standard.

RMLS started tracking green homes in 2007 and found that green homes began accounting for a higher percentage of home sales. Builders expect green will continue to gain market share as buyers seek homes that cost less to heat and cool and are constructed with more durable material.

Locally, Earth Advantage certification dominates the Portland market.

Green homes don’t just command an increasing share of the marketplace. They also command prices that are on average 18 percent higher than their uncertified counterparts, according to the RMLS figures. The average green home sells for about $332,500.

Home builders and residential brokers say customers are driving builders to adopt green standards. A growing availability of greener building products makes it easier and increasingly affordable.

"It’s coming from a place of demand. Buyers are demanding it," said Hilary Bourassa, a broker with Oregon First who holds the Earth Advantage Institute’s designation for brokers.

Bourassa and her business partner, Darcie Pelsor, bill themselves as Portland’s "green team" and say much of their business comes from buyers and sellers interested in homes built to tread lightly on the planet.

Earth Advantage said it has certified about 11,000 homes nationwide since about 2000, when the organization was still part of Portland General Electric’s energy efficiency program.

Certified homes run the gamut, from entry level to luxury, said Ann Griffin, sustainable community program manager for Earth Advantage.

Spokesman Tom Breunig said home builders are a big part of the reason certification is gaining acceptance in the market. The organization seeks out the city’s most active builders and has found most receptive to the concept. A myriad of incentives from groups such as the Energy Trust of Oregon also encourage green building.

"It’s a pretty sweet deal," he said.

Legend Homes, formerly known as Matrix Development Inc., is one of Portland’s largest and best known green builders. It adopted the Earth Advantage Institute’s green home standards six years ago. It continued to use the certification program through two years of bankruptcy and a reorganization that concluded this spring.

"We’re building new homes," said Jim Chapman, president. "We’re adding homes to the inventory of the region. It seemed irresponsible to add homes that wasted energy."

Legend highlights its green features, including solar panels on a subdivision in King City, in its marketing. Among other things, the builder guarantees energy costs for the first three years in a bid to win attention and to educate cost-conscious customers.

"That seems to ring a bell," said Chapman, who said "green" is a natural message for new homes. "The biggest reason to buy a new home is it’s far more efficient. It’s almost impossible to make an existing home be as efficient."

Growing consumer demand for certified green homes resulted in the first-ever all-green Street of Dreams program in Portland this year. Organized by the Home Builders Association of Metro Portland, the 2010 edition of the annual showcase of upscale residences included both Earth Advantage and LEED for Homes certified projects.

Shaina Sullivan, the association’s green building coordinator, said the idea was to educate consumers about the benefits of low-energy, low-water-use and other techniques to improve indoor air quality and boost the longevity of the home’s technology.

During the show, labels explained green products which ranged from shower heads to pervious pavement used for driveways.

Sullivan said educating consumers continues to be the biggest challenge. Buyers will choose green homes, but often not at the expense of a lower-cost option.

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