EQUITY GREEN

Convert to Plug-In or Buy Brand New?

Wired Magazine ran an interesting article this week about Intel CEO, Andy Grove, calling for 10 million plug-in convestion over 4 years.  We are talking about your Ford F-150, your Toyota Tundra, your Chevy Silverado, your car or your truck.  For between $10,000 and $15,000 (price currently unknown) you can slap a electric vehicle conversion kit and see an increase of 30-50% in your fuel economy.  One company, EV Power Systems, is testing a kit that wouldn't change or modify the engine, emissions system or any other major piece of equipment under the hood.  So, I guess my question is...

Signal Tower by Architect Jean Nouvel [Paris]

The Signal Tower, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, will be the 2nd tallest structure (behind the Eiffel Tower) in Paris, featuring 71-stories and 1.5 million square feet of retail stores, offices, apartments and hotels. 

"One of the most innovative aspects of the Signal Project is its original design of the facade and internal energy systems. Every piece aims for maximum optimization of energy by the use of passive systems using natural light and air force as natural sources of energy. The project also uses the principle of reuse & recycling to minimize the energy required for the functioning of the whole. The result is a significant saving of 40-45% on the average energy consumption."--OMA website

++Office For Metropolitan Architecture [Signal Tower feature]

Green Developers and Homebuilders!

There is no doubt that homebuilder sales have been adversely affected in 06.  A number of markets have been affected by a build-up of new and resale home inventories, higher interest rates, higher cancellation rates, particularly in markets that have experienced rapid appreciation or investor activity, or both.  Home prices were down in 3Q.  Many homebuilders expect or anticipate the negative trends to continue through the remainder of 2006 and possibly into 2007...with weakened demand for new homes, homebuilders were compelled to offer price discounts and selling incentives to attract buyers (Homebuilder sentiment slips in December).

So, with the increased popularity of green building...coupled with the current state of our real estate market, and I began to wonder if homebuilders push green initiatives (query: is it worth their time and effort?) on their customers.  Do they sell/advertise/encourage green building or is it one of those things that is initiated by the homebuyer.  I decided to test it out.  This is by no means a scientific study...no samplings of the population were taken...no standard deviations were computed...no interviews were conducted.  Caution:  this technique may not be indictative of a company's committment to sustainability or green building... but I thought it would be interesting to see what happened.  So, I took the ten largest (arguably) homebuilders in the country and then visited their websites to see if they gave space to green issues as it relates to building a home.  The homebuilders I researched were the following (in no particular order):

1. Perry Homes
2. Trendmaker Homes
3. Pardee Homes
4. Winchester Homes
5. K. Hovnanian Homes
6. David Weekley Homes
7. Pulte Homes Inc.
8. D.R. Horton Homes
9. Kimball Hill Homes
10. KB Homes

And the winner is...Pardee Homes, hands down!  In a respectable second...KB Homes.  None of the remaining homebuilders had any green information on their website.  Pardee Homes had a really good space on their website dedicated to "environmental commitment."  Not only was it informative but it could help customers learn how to enhance their home with green or sustainable building features and options.  Kudos Pardee!  Overall, I was a little surprised that the big guns didn't have a bigger green presence on their respective websites.  Why do you think 8 of the largest 10 homebuilders don't have a section on their website devoted to green and sustainable building?  I am interested to hear what you think!