Our work in sustainable and regenerative real estate has illuminated the ever growing demand of people that are looking to live more sustainably.

You can be sure that businesses are paying close attention to this growing values-driven consumerism trend as well. The costs of certain technologies have been driven down where once things such as solar panels were prohibitively expensive. Now you’re quite likely to have several houses on a block with PV panels. New technologies such as windows and roofs that harness energy are quickly becoming a reality.

Two trends in particular seem to be emerging beyond the conversation around energy efficiency.

The first trend takes a nod from regenerative agriculture with an emergence of interest in permaculture. Where this integrative ecological approach was once seen as fringe just a few short years ago, the word has entered into mainstream vocabulary and people are starting to incorporate the principals into their yards, farms, and even suburban neighborhoods. There has been a proliferation of documentaries and films that have become popular on Netflix and Amazon on this subject, making it easy for people to get exposed to these age old yet seemingly novel ideas since that knowledge transfer was lost generations ago.

The second trend is driven by an Internet-of-Things, technology-centered approach to sustainability. An incredible amount of “smart” home products and systems are getting hocked at shoppers. Bluetooth blinds, thermostats, lights, outlets, refrigerators; the list goes on and on. The rate of technological integration into our lives is startling, with the marketing messages promising efficiency, convenience, and deep learning.

The issue that many homeowners now face is they simply don’t know where to start or what to do.

The preconceived notions of “green” real estate are often outdated, made only worse that the amount of marketing and misinformation on the internet is at fever pitch.

Another issue is just the sheer amount of areas that homeowners could address and how quickly the price tag adds up. You can easily drop a lot of money and not actually see where any of the money physically went in a house.

The reluctance for other people comes from them simply not knowing if they will ever see their money back. They want to know what their return on investment will be. When they turn to professionals like the Realtor community to get insights into how much increased value a sustainability-related improvement would create, it is unbelievable the amount of absurdly terrible advice that comes back.

This lack of knowledge comes from the fact that Realtors are not sustainability experts. They have no education or training in it. They only see it through a marketing and liability lens. One of the most shocking things is that a large contingent of Realtors believe that solar panels don’t add value to a property. They advocate to be safe rather than sorry in case a solar panel makes the roof leak, or that a potential buyer may not want to take over a solar panel lease.

Our consulting services at Latitude help property owners assess their property from roof to soil to see what options exist and to give an actionable roadmap that starts with a cost/benefit analysis.

Our job is to be an educator for what is possible, as well as to listen what your vision is for the property. We play connector and give access to resources and the trades that work in your community. Our mission is to demystify sustainable real estate solutions so that homeowners feel empowered to take action and live their values.