We have come to an era where there’s a major shift in the paradigm about how we interact with the global environment. We have been here before but this time it’s vastly different for these reasons; 1) The technology to improve our quality of life while vastly improving the quality of much of our environment, is now cost effective. 2) There are continued reports about significant physical evidence that the earth is actually warning. These two factors will be driving the market for some time, and the Green Consumer will become a very sought after group.
You only need to see where hybrid car sales have gone over the last three years, and where the auto industry expects it to go, to see that this is a trend, not a fad. A few years ago many experts said that the car buyer will not pay more for a hybrid just to get 20 miles more to the gallon. Well the Toyota Prius is one of the hottest selling cars, and Ford and GM are racing to catch up with many new hybrid models. What these experts did not see is that many car buyers who would be buying a luxury car today for $50,000 plus are now opting for the $25,000 Prius.
Moving forward, this trend will affect every consumer product or service. How will it influence the home buying market? Initially, most homebuyers are just looking for their next home to be “conveniently environmentally responsible”. Factors such as the amount of insulation, the seer rating of the AC/heating unit, the energy ratings of their appliances, drought tolerant landscaping, will no longer be taken for granted. However, a growing number will be looking for LEED certified homes, with solar electric panels, solar hot water heaters, artificial grass, water reclamation systems,and more. They will also look for neighborhoods where dining or shopping are within walking distance or a short drive an electric golf cart (their second car).
In just a few years, the Green Consumer will demand; a) that their landscaper use electric weed eaters and leaf blowers instead of the current one with noisy, polluting two-cycle gas engines, b) that the fuel cell that powers their car also powers their house (Don’t laugh, Honda is rolling out their fuel cell car in 3 cities in California this year, and claim their fuel cell station will power the home as well), c) that their new custom home uses no electricity or natural gas, d) that their realtor is certified as a Green Realtor. MoveUP AZ is taking immediate action. We recommend that our Sellers make every attempt to make their home greener (see our video at www.youtube.com/MoveupAZ , for two examples). We council our Buyers that they need to look at homes with these “Green” factors. We work with builders that have been building Green homes for years. We are doing our homework, taking classes and will soon be certified as eco-brokers.
If you want further evidence of what I predict here, google the MSNBC article about the United Arab Emirates zero carbon city. In the middle of oil rich middle-east, they have broken ground on new a city that will be “The Greenest City in the World”.
Earth Day is April 22nd and we suggest you take an inconvenient step to go green. You can find a wealth of ideas at www.APS.com and www.SRP.com respectfully.
Michael & Shannon Collins
MoveUp AZ
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