Green Center

Jerry Mueller, Broker for Jerry Mueller Real Estate Inc has successfully completed the National Association of REALTOR’S® Green Designation Core Course and Residential Elective Course, earning Jerry Mueller the NAR’s Green Designation. Jerry would like to offer his expertise as being a source for obtaining many various sources of information about going green and what going green can mean for you. There are many facets to living a greener way of life from some very simple steps that can be taken too many systems for sustainable renewable energy. The NAR Green Designation provided me with advanced training and resources so that I may:

Respond to growing consumer demand for green homes and buildings as well as green home and building features.
Guide the discussion of green and sustainability as these issues relate to real estate.
List and market as well as guide buyer clients in purchasing green homes and buildings
Incorporate green principles in their day to day practice.

Green and Public Awareness: Awareness of green is at an all time high. While awareness is growing, many consumers are not sure what “green” really means. Different industries and organizations define green in different ways. For some, the term means an environmental movement. For others it means a political movement. For most consumers, green means “earth friendly.” In simple terms, green refers to lessening the environmental impact from society.

To calculate the carbon ecological footprint please refer to the following sites:

As a world community we all face the fundamental facts that we currently are relying on limited resources, such as, petroleum, natural gas, coal, nuclear (due to uranium), Arable land, and freshwater.

As a world community we have an opportunity to utilize renewable resources such as solar and wind generated power, hydroelectric power, geothermal power for home and commercial use (ground source heat pumps and more), Wave/Tidal generated power, Sustainable agriculture (non-contaminating, wildlife and water preserving approaches to agriculture).

Burning Fossil Fuels Releases Greenhouse Gases. Petroleum, natural gas, and coal are termed fossil fuels. Burning of fossil fuels not only depletes the resource and degrades the environment around mines and oil and gas wells, it releases gases into the atmosphere. Setting aside opinions on the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and atmospheric warming, accumulation of these gases is harmful. The impact of Climate Change on Public Health has the potential negative impact which will be severe according to the EPA. Rising temperature changes in the US will impact portions of the population such as those with cardiovascular and pulmonary disease, elderly, children, city dwellers and millions of Americans living in areas with unacceptable levels of airborne particulate matter, leading to respiratory problems such as decreased lung functions, aggravated asthma, chronic bronchitis, heart attack, and arrhythmias.

The impact of Buildings on the environment are significant, such as 72% of electricity consumption, 39% of energy use, 38% of all carbon dioxide emissions, 40% of raw materials used, 30% of waste output ( 136 million tons annually), 14% of potable water consumption.

The Core Principles of Green are:

Practicing resource efficiency and conservation
Practicing social responsibility.

Green Pricing is offered by utility companies for consumers to participate in supporting the utility company for a greater level of utility company investment in renewable energy technologies. Net metering is a way that the consumer can provide its own renewable energy source and slow down the meter to cut electric costs, using solar or wind power.

Water efficiency and conservation methods include:
Conservation or efficiency pricing, and rainwater harvesting and catchment systems. Collecting rainwater can be used in non-potable water uses, such as landscape use and non potable plumbing uses such as toilets.

Sustainability is defined as “the ability to satisfy the basic needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to satisfy their needs.” Sustainability is commonly simplified to a formula of people, planet and prosperity. Websites that measure sustainability of cities are www.sustainlane.com and www.cnt.org

The U.S. Green Building Council is an excellent source of information and that web site is www.usgbc.org

Out of 149 countries ranked for environmental performance the US is ranked 39th. Switzerland is 1 and Norway is 2.

What makes a home or building green? For many consumers the “greenness” of a home or building is determined by whether or not it has a nationally recognized certification or rating. The most widely recognized certification and rating programs in the U.S. are:

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification
Energy Star
Home Energy Rating System (HERS® index)
National Home Builders Certification, National Green Building Certification.

The web sites for the above list are as follows:

Click on these links for more information about going green:

Today Energy Assessments are available for your home similar to a home inspection. There are 7 tests that can be done today to check the air flow of your ducts, the air tightness of your home, heat loss factor from windows and doors, tightness of air ducts, test to detect moisture levels in a material, measuring energy consumption and intermittent loads of appliances, and a pressure meter between conditioned rooms and non conditioned rooms. Having these tests done could identify easy fix solutions to loss of energy and reducing energy consumption.

More than 90% of homeowners and homebuyers surveyed have shown interest in going green. The green motivation from a McGraw-Hill Construction survey indicates the reason behind going green is (1) operational costs and savings (2) environmental concerns, and (3) occupant health.

Resource information provided by the State of Delaware are:

I look forward to working with you on finding answers to your questions about going green, whether you are remodeling or retrofitting your home, selling your home or buying a home. Please contact me with any questions you may have.

Jerry Mueller, Broker, REALTOR, Green