Regionally, buyers in the North and South placed a greater importance on heating and cooling costs, probably due to more extreme temperatures in those areas of the country. The survey also found that buyers who purchased more recently built homes placed greater importance on environmentally friendly features than buyers who purchased older homes; nearly sixty percent of buyers who bought homes built in 2011 said heating and cooling costs were very important, compared to less than thirty percent of buyers whose homes were built before 1910.
To help its REALTOR® members meet the growing consumer demand for green building practices and energy-efficient homes, NAR created the Green Resource Council in 2008. The council administers NAR’s Green Designation, which provides advanced training in green building and sustainable business practices so that REALTORS® can seek out, understand, and market properties with green features; nearly 9,000 REALTORS® have earned the Green Designation.
The National Association of REALTORS®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
Information about NAR is available at www.realtor.org.
