Appraising a home is difficult work that’s made more difficult with the growing popularity of high-performance homes. Appraisers have access to training to learn how to better value energy-efficient homes, but a lot of what’s in the home is behind the drywall. Or may not be apparent with a site visit. Which is why I like this addendum created by the Sustainable Finance department of the Earth Advantage Institute.
Research suggests that homeowners with solar PV will recoup the cost of their solar investment upon sale of the home. Homes with PV systems sell for a premium over comparable homes without PV systems, according to a study of home sales in California from 2000-2009 by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
In 2007, the Portland Regional Multiple Listing Service (“RMLS”) began tracking sales of homes with a green certification such as Energy Star, LEED for Homes, or Earth Advantage New Homes. The Earth Advantage Institute, an Oregon-based non-profit doing work in the green building sector, annually reviews this information in order to glean home valuation trends.
Rebecca Guymon and Joe Turner are the owners of Breezeway House – the first certified Passive House in Utah and in the western United States. They’re unique because only a handful of these ultra-insulated, airtight, low-energy homes exist in the United States. So I asked Turner to share his experience building and living in a Passive House and he was kind enough to respond. This is mandatory reading for anyone interested in owning a Passive House.
