New Green Training Program for Real Estate

Both EcoBroker and STAR provide realtors with continuing education credits, certification upon the successful completion of an exam at the end of the courses, and ongoing support after they’ve received their certification. But rather than competing, the two programs may complement each other, so much so that John Stovall, EcoBroker’s vice president for business, said he would like to think of them as “associates … rather than competitors.”

Realtor Don McCoy of Exit Realty Group–Southern Oregon, agrees. McCoy, who has successfully completed the two programs, explained that differences in the teaching approaches may be reason enough for realtors to experience both. EcoBroker classes can be taken online over the course of a year, and are “fundamentally important for acquiring the language of green,” explained McCoy, who said he took his time with the material and “soaked it up like a sponge.” STAR, on the other hand, is taught in 18 hours over a two-day period, a format that may make it feel more advanced. “Agents are just going to forget (the information) if they don’t already know the language,” said McCoy. His advice to fellow realtors who are new to the green building aspect of their industry is to do EcoBroker first so that “then, when you do the Earth Advantage afterwards, it will make sense.”