What were you doing 40 years ago? If you were an adult, you were driving a car that averaged 13 miles per gallon of gas, and the gas cost roughly 36 cents per gallon— that is, until October 1973, when … Read More
Lending institutions (and most of corporate America) tend to forget about the “art” of cultivating ‘trustworthy’ relationships and setting appropriate expectations with their customers and teams. Why is this so important? There are two ultimate reasons to consider … Read More
Passive Houses were originally pioneered in North America in the 1970s, and in the past two decades, a new exemplary model for high building performance design emerged in Germany: Passivhaus. This German high-performance building model and rating system is a … Read More
This week I had the privilege of speaking to the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin at their Green Boots 2013 event, “Marketing, Valuing & Financing Green Homes.” Green Boots is a residential green building education series, sponsored and developed … Read More
Small scale solar energy installations are gaining in popularity, and the big utility companies are scared. Thanks to a practice called net metering, some consumers generate their own power via solar panels, and sell the excess power back to the … Read More
To better understand how a green, high-performance loan should work, we should first review how conventional mortgages and interest is calculated. It’s important to note that all green projects, whether a new construction project or retrofitting an existing home, are … Read More
Most of us pay attention to the increases in the cost of gas, oil and electricity, but we often overlook the price of water, which is becoming more expensive. For evidence, see this September 2012 report by USA Today, “Water … Read More
What’s a green mortgage and where can you find one? What’s a green mortgage and where can you find one? That’s a loaded question these days. Unfortunately, there is no verifiable, transparent answer. Web searches regarding the subject of … Read More
When we think of high-performance homes, we usually think in terms of producing or conserving heat or electricity. But it‘s also important to conserve another resource that impacts our health and our environment: water. Across the world, water is becoming … Read More
Despite all the interest in energy efficiency, the market provides little support for property owners who want to finance construction of new, energy-efficient properties or improvements to existing buildings. The new “green appraisal” movement is trying to change that, but … Read More