Quietly and with little fanfare, a movement of green financing options has been slowly growing. The idea is simple: a green building has lower operating costs, enabling the homeowner to afford a larger mortgage.
The Energy Efficient Mortgage Program (or EEM) was developed for Fannie Mae by Housing and Urban Development to encourage people to buy greener homes. The maximum mortgage available is only $160,950, making this Federal EEM obsolete for most homebuyers.
Sustainable Capital seeks to fill this void by providing a full line of green mortgage products. But Sustainable Capital has gone well beyond mere energy efficiency in their thinking. By factoring in other green benefits such as improved health and higher worker productivity, they hope to offer even greater incentives to homebuyers.
Rather than waiting for these mortgage products to become available, individual mortgage brokers have taken the initiative to focus their company on green customers. Ryan Hamilton, director of San Francisco based Valencia Green Financial, wanted to work with like-minded clients. According to Hamilton, he launched the company "in response to the expressed goals of our clients to combine financial success and ethical, environmental responsibility." They donate up to 5 percent of each commission to non-profits.
Even real estate agents can get into the act. The Certified EcoBroker program offers a means for agents to distinguish themselves and attract green-minded buyers. To date, nearly one hundred agents have been certified in California alone.
Chris Bartle, founder of San Francisco based Green Key Real Estate, wanted to combine his personal values into his business. "By working with green minded clients and connecting them with green service providers and products," says Bartle, "we hope to help make San Francisco the most sustainable city one sale at a time." Naturally, Bartle is a certified Ecobroker.
When New Resource Bank opened their branch in 2006 in San Francisco, they became the first bank in the nation to focus on green entrepreneurs and sustainable businesses. New Resource Bank is targeting small to medium sized green businesses and provides financing for adding solar panels to your home or office. Hopefully this new model of banking will serve as catalyst for other financial institutions to follow suit.
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