built green

As green buildings become more mainstream, real estate brokers will become key players in marketing these buildings to potential buyers. However, there are as yet few mechanisms available to allow brokers to speak with authority about the sometimes technical features of green buildings.

One program, Ecobroker®, is attempting to change that. According to its website, http://www.ecobroker.com, EcoBroker is an educational and marketing program “designed to help communities across the United States and internationally take advantage of and encourage energy efficiency and sustainable design in real estate properties." The program provides continuing education credits as a way to educate real estate brokers and industry affiliates about green buildings through a series of courses that allows them to become certified EcoBrokers® and address buyers’ and sellers’ increasing sensitivity to building features like energy efficiency and environmental design.

The program, which is available online, addresses environmental issues such as radon, asbestos, lead, water, mold, indoor air quality, and other issues that may arise during real estate transactions. It also covers energy efficiency technologies, sustainable energy options, and green mortgage options for energy efficiency improvements. It explains green home certification programs, such as Built Green® Colorado, Energy Star Qualified Homes, and LEED. So if you're in the market for a green house, see if there are any Ecobrokers in your area before you start to look. It could make finding your green dream home a whole lot easier.

This is natural clay plaster over compressed earth block, I left a small amount of block showing. This brown coat is a mixture of 1 part straw, 1 part clay, 2 parts sand... ad water makes it's own sauce. It is easily applied with a mud trowel and then smoothed with a wood float, however it is very labor intensive, but a lot of fun. You can cover it with a natural clay plaster color coat, clay paint or leave it raw.

We applied this plaster mixture over raw compressed adobe / earth block, as well as drywall that we primed with a BBS plater primer. we then used the air hose to blow sand on the freshly primed surface and allowed it to dry. This Natural Clay Plaster over Adobe / Earth Blockcreates great grab for the fresh plaster coat and increased production. Solstice Develoment Group www.SolsticeDev.com