Walking the Talk: A Realtor's LEED for Homes Platinum Gut Rehab in Washington, DC.

Amy Levin and friends I was a pretty lucky guy this past week. Firstly, I got to be in Washington, DC near the peak of their spring blossom season on a picture perfect day. Secondly, I was there to talk with National Public Radio's Robert Siegel and realtor Amy Levin about her LEED for Homes Platinum (pending) gut rehab of a townhome in Mt. Pleasant, the first such project in Washington, DC and one of just a small handful in the nation. The best way to learn more overall about this amazing project is to hear the story that recently aired on NPR's All Things Considered. But BuildingGreen LIVE decided to talk a bit more with Amy Levin to learn just how and why a realtor took such a deep plunge into the world of green building. Coming from a family of realtors, Amy has been involved in housing, property improvement, and property investment most of her life. But about two years ago, she became convinced that building green presented a real opportunity — that building green can pay builders back, even though there may be some additional up-front cost, because the public is willing to pay for the small premium. She set off looking for an existing property to prove it. "When 1834 Ingleside Terrace was listed, my offer was the first of many great ones," says Amy. "But it was the fact that I wanted to do a green renovation that convinced the owner to accept mine." A pretty good start to her sense of what green building can mean in the marketplace.

Amy then turned her attention to just how she was going to green the gut rehab. "I wanted a program that provided project oversight, one that would deliver results I could market," Amy recalls. She had heard quite a bit about USGBC's LEED programs for commercial buildings, and that led her to the LEED for Homes program, the Southface Institute (the LEED for Homes provider for the DC area), and Asa Foss, a LEED for Homes rater. Asa turned out to be just the right combination of expertise and encouragement that Amy needed to tackle LEED for Homes at its highest level, Platinum. "I found the right program and the right people," says Amy. "You can't make a LEED for Homes Platinum gut rehab easy, but Southface and Asa provided the direction and depth of understanding that made the process manageable." So, what did Amy discover at 1834 Ingleside Terrace about green building and if it pays:

• She found an appraiser who valued her townhome at about 10% higher than comparable properties, one who listened to Amy's explanation of the green benefits of her approach and said, "Oh, it's like prepaying for efficiency."
• She found interested buyers making offers that would more than cover the additional investments in green she had made in the property, even though the property is not even listed.
• She found prospective renters more than willing to pay a clear premium for the health, energy benefits, and what Amy calls the "cool factor" of her green home.
• She found about a dozen wonderful paintings in the basement that one E. J. Martin used to pay part of his rent, salvaged art that now graces many of the walls of her LEED Platinum home.

I have met a lot of realtors in my 20+ years in the homebuilding industry. Amy is the first I have met with a deep and broad understanding of both the technical and business advantages of true green building. But something tells me that Amy is going to have quite a bit of company, and I use that term intentionally for its potential double meaning.

More at the project's website. (As noted in the comments below, this link seems to be experiencing sporadic difficulties. If it doesn't work when you try it, give it another shot later. The site contains quite a bit of good info.)