Green Homes Sell for More, are Six Years Newer on Average
With Earth Day just around the corner, Redfin, a full-service real estate brokerage, released a list of 10 neighborhoods across the U.S. with the largest number of green homes, and a list of the top green neighborhoods within 20 major metropolitan markets. To compile the list, Redfin data scientists searched through homes for sale on Redfin.com to find those with “green” features mentioned in the listing.
Green features include solar panels, low-flow faucets, dual-pane windows, energy-efficient appliances, environmental ratings such as ENERGY STAR® and LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and green home building projects like “Built Green” in Colorado or “Green Built” in Washington. The ranking is based on the proportion of “green” listings out of total listings in the neighborhood over the past two years.
A lot of people shop at second-hand furniture and clothing stores to save money and to find interesting items that are no longer available in popular stores. However, the next time you shop at your local second hand shop keep in mind that you are also being an eco-friendly shopper. Furniture manufacturing companies have a huge negative impact on our environment and we would do well to buy less newly manufactured furniture and instead take a look at second-hand shops for alternative choices. On the other hand, there are also several furniture companies who deal with recycled materials, so before you buy your next piece of furniture do your research and look around in second hand stores, you might be surprised by the quality of furniture you’ll find.