Cindy's Blog

Well, with summer here, and the heat in full force (or at least the humidity!) energy consumption is definitely at a high. We've of course all gotten so spoiled by our constant air conditioning that we hardly know what to do if there's not a deep chill greeting us when we walk in the door.

Regardless of your feelings on climate change, there's scarcely a leg to stand on in defense of our general energy wasting ways. You may have read or heard about (even here) about energy audits- what they are, and what they do, and how they can help you save energy in pretty much any season.

What you may or may not know, however, is that there is a growing trend (though probably very slowly growing this way- Richmond is a bit behind the times on things like this) for energy audits to be required for the sale of a home (typically for homes only 10 years old or older).

While San Francisco and Berkeley, CA have had these measures in place twenty years or so, things are definitely spreading, primarily in the Western states. Austin, TX is in the thick of things right now, having just passed a measure requiring an audit (but not repairs/ remediation as some of the other locales) before a sale takes place.

TheWall Street Journal did a piece on this this past week-(http://tinyurl.com/rbxg5y). The law in Austin doesn't require repairs to be made, but it does require that the items needing remediation be disclosed to any potential purchasers. This is obviously causing some issues with both homesellers and real estate professionals, but seems to be the wave of the future- even though there may be some growing pains along the way.

This has already been done in the UK, and of course the Californians are more familiar with the whole package. As the tax credits and "green incentives" grow, hopefully, this seems to me to be a great way to drag some of these homes into the 21st century, and help us all use a bit less energy.

I would be curious to know what the reactions would be in this area were this to come to fruition here. I'd love some comments here, from Richmond area residents/ homesellers/ other real estate professionals.