Winter is here and everyones heating bill is on the rise!

However! All is not lost! Read our post on how to winterize your home to save money on your heating bill for a few energy and money saving tips!

The long term solution to energy efficiency and making those savings stretch is through greener real estate. We have written many times about green real estate since the term first started becoming popular, however the initial uptake by developers was slow and those homes were priced slightly higher than regular properties. Now there are more and more developments and a general trend in the real estate industry to get rid of the “Green Real Estate” term and in so doing, making all real estate “green”.

We even have examples of green homes locally here to Ann Arbor – See our post “Examples of Green Ann Arbor Real Estate Building in Washtenaw County”

The figures are shocking and show how the push for greener real estate is needed and how is can help boost the economy. In fact according to a new study from the U.S. Green Building Council and Booz Allen Hamilton, construction in the green-building industry will support 7.9 million jobs over the next four years while pumping into the American economy $554 billion. Currently, 2 million American jobs are supported by the same industry and more than $100 billion in gross domestic product and wages is generated. From 2000 to 2008, $178 billion in gross domestic product was contributed to the economy and 2.4 million direct/indirect and induced jobs were created or saved which generated $123 billion in wages.

With buildings in the United States being responsible for 39% of CO2 emissions, 40% of energy consumption, 13% water consumption and 15% of Gross Domestic Product per year, making green building a source of significant economic and environmental opportunity to start to reduce those figures now and save some money in the process.

Even the National Association of Realtors went green with their headquarters in DC!

Also as homeowners of green property would understand, their homes are more desirable for having these green features already incorporated which can lead to a higher sales price when it comes to selling!

Click here to search Ann Arbor Real Estate using our complimentary Ann Arbor Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Kathy Toth and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Ann Arbor Real Estate needs.

Search all listings in Michigan with pictures and tours…Free!

Kathy Toth & Team: Ann Arbor Area Real Estate Experts

www.KathyToth.com

Keller Williams Realty

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