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If You’re not Taking Climate Change Personally,
You Should Be!! 

As a real estate professional, you are in a unique position to really make a difference.  Naturally, we all need to do what we can to reduce our “carbon footprint”.  But, as a real estate agent or broker, you can affect more than your own contribution to climate change.  You can affect a community!

You Need to be Prepared – The Climate Change Issue Isn’t Going Away

• Do you really understand what it means to go green?  Are you staying up to date with green real estate issues?
• Studies conducted by McGraw Hill show that 2/3 of consumers are paying attention to “buying green”.  Do you know how that will affect you and your clients?
• How long do you think it will be before MLS organizations routinely add data fields to their databases to track green issues related to your listings?  How will that affect your buyers and sellers?
• If a buyer or listing client asks you how to improve a home’s “green rating”, how well prepared are you to give them informed answers?
• What if H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, passes with a provision that would create a system of energy labels for homes and buildings across the country?  Are you ready to help a seller raise their rating or a buyer determine the cost for making adjustments themselves?
• Do you know the professionals in your area who are well-versed in building or retrofitting homes to be more green?

Why Go Green?

You don’t need a primer on the dangers of climate change.  The devastation to the planet is well known.  And, it’s happening now.   Heads of state are meeting in Copenhagen this year to work toward setting internationally binding targets to limit carbon emission.  When that type of an agreement is finalized, the push for green real estate will escalate even further.

I don’t think getting a Green Designation is useful just to serve a niche market. 
I think it’s a necessity for professionals in the industry now -  and in the future! 
What do you think?