Project Mass

More Buyers Looking For Eco-Friendly Homes

BOSTON (WBZ) ― This is a hard time to sell a house, but there's one part of the real estate market that is still hot. Some realtors wish they had more green homes to sell. These types of homes often come with bamboo flooring, which is considered a renewable resource, instead of traditional hardwood. They are also often built to maximize natural light and with recycled beams. Energy efficiency is also a priority, and many of them run on solar power.

Those types of environmentally friendly features appeal to Brian Salazar. He's in the market for a green home to replace his current house in Wakefield. "It's just to have a better environment for our kids, for ourselves. A better home to live in, and one that is less expensive to operate."

With sales down more than 8 percent last year, this is considered a buyer's market. But that has not been the case with homes that are green. "The supply is small right now, and demand is growing, growing, growing, and everyday our phones are ringing more and more," said Suzanne DiMeco of Boston Green Realty. 

Architect Brian Scott of Milton designed a green two-family for a vacant lot in Watertown. "The interest is going up for two reasons. Generally people want to do the right thing, if they know about the right thing. The other thing is that it makes good sense. It can save money at the end of the day, particularly in terms of utility costs."

Soaring energy costs are on a lot of people's minds as oil tops $100 a barrel. But so is health, and green homes are less toxic. Brian is concerned about "The off gassing of paints and adhesives and carpet that you use. All of that plays into the amount of contaminants that you have in the air in your home."

Green homes, which are usually more expensive, are still a small part of the housing market.

Blanche Evans, editor of www.realtytimes.com, says home buyers are catching on. "When green cars were introduced, Americans responded with the hummer and the hemi. We just didn't get it. Bigger isn't necessarily better, and now our society is paying the price. We are being shamed into thinking about the rest of the planet, but we are also learning that there is no downside to going green." Brian believes that more and more homeowners are going to start demanding it. The challenge is finding one.

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