At the time of this writing, I just came from a hearing at
the Massachusetts Statehouse in which Acting Commissioner of the MA DOER, Dan
Burgess, called energy efficiency the “first fuel” in the commonwealth. His comment
is indicative of the belief that energy-efficiency policy is one of the few
solutions that lower stress not only on New England’s ratepayers, but also on
the power grid as well as the environment.
Unlike other “fuels” energy efficiency does not have a furnace
that burns, or even a utility meter and breaker panel box. Energy efficiency is
invisible for most people; in fact, it is only present in its absence – as when
your utility bills drop. For that reason it has been hard for the average residential
real estate agent to effectively communicate energy efficiency benefits to
clients.
Consumer demand for energy efficient homes is rising,
however. A recent survey released by the Demand Institute stated that the
largest “satisfaction gap” determined that the largest unmet housing concern in
the U.S. was energy efficiency[1].
There is also no question that home buyers here in the Northeast, which has the
unfortunate combination high utility costs coupled with homeowners that use
large amounts of power to heat, light, and cool their home.
The central question is should a home seller that has
invested in energy efficiency improvements be able to capitalize with increased
equity at the point of sale? The answer is absolutely. The caveat is that you
MUST find the real estate agent that knows the contributory value of the
improvements as well as how to market them to potential buyers.
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