REAL ESTATE - The Green Demand

15 Xeriscaping is best defined as which of the following? Page 15 of Green Real Estate

Replacing water-intensive plants with native, drought-resistant plants.

Which of the following factors can contribute to a home being in a good location for sustainability?

Large amounts of sunlight for much of the year

9 What does the acronym LEED stand for?

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Page 5

A homeowner replaced a showerhead with a low-flow showerhead. They plugged the drain and found that the showerhead could fill the 80-gallon tub in about one hour. What is the gallon per minute flow rate of the new showerhead?

CORRECT 1.33 gallons per minute

According to Yale's program on Climate Change Communication, what percent of survey participants believes that the United States should reduce its greenhouse emissions?

CORRECT 70% WRONG 50%

Utility districts oftentimes offer rebates on energy-efficient products to encourage homeowners to improve their properties. Which of the following is NOT true?

CORRECT All utility districts offer zero-interest loans on installation of insulation or windows.

3 What gas do most scientists NOT primarily blame for the rise in average global temperature? Page 4

CORRECT Carbon Monoxide Carbon Dioxide Nitrous Oxide Methane

Which of these methods will NOT help reduce a home's heating and cooling bills?

CORRECT High-durability materials

Which of these is true about retrofitting a building to be more sustainable?

CORRECT It may not always be a valid investment because some homes will be very difficult to improve inexpensively. WRONG The benefits will never outweigh the cost of the retrofit. It is never a valid investment, you're always better off building a new home

A client wants to produce a hyper-efficient home; they describe themselves as something of a "green warrior. Their two main goals are (1) to help the environment as much as possible, and (2) to spend as little money as possible in the process. Which of these options would likely be both the most cost effective and environmentally friendly?

CORRECT Purchase an old building with a HERS score of 110 and reduce energy usage to a HERS score of 90.

11 How many credits are required for the minimum LEED certification?

40 page 10 80 100 150

4 To counteract the worst effects of climate change, how much do scientists advocate that humanity must reduce its CO2 emissions? Page 4

40% to 70%

5 What is a "Carbon Footprint?"

A value for the amount of CO2 that an individual or household produces in a given year. WRONG The cubic footage that an individual's garbage takes up in a given year. A record of all the locations that someone has polluted the environment. The amount of carbon-based products that a person or household uses in a given year

What does a greywater system do?

CORRECT Recycling water used in the shower and sink for irrigation purposes.

Which of these improvements will have the fastest payback period?

CORRECT Replacing regular bulbs with LED bulbs WRONG Geothermal generator 6-kilowatt solar panel

What does a score of 80 on the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) mean?

CORRECT That the home is 20% more efficient than a typical new home

What government organizations developed the ENERGY STAR® rating?

CORRECT The Environmental Protection Agency & Department of Energy

Susan replaces all the old incandescent bulbs in her home with LED bulbs. By the time she was done, she had replaced 45 lightbulbs with more energy-efficient varieties. How much should she expect to save in energy bills each year?

CORRECT: $171

Ray, a real estate agent, has taken a training course on green real estate but otherwise has not had any training in sustainable real estate. He is showing a client a property that is in the middle of a LEED® retrofit and knows that the renovation is trying to make the home LEED® Gold certified. Based on what he knows, Ray believes that the house would qualify as a LEED® Silver building at this point in the renovation, but there is still some work to be done before it reaches the LEED Gold. What should Ray tell the client about the house?

CORRECT: He should explain to the client what LEED Gold will represent, but should make it clear that the home will not be LEED certified until an official inspection by a LEED certified assessor happens.

Access to which of the following can improve a home's value by making it more walkable?

CORRECT: Public transit like buses and subways WRONG Amount of traffic on major roads near the home

What is the difference between a tax credit and a rebate?

CORRECT: Tax credits are used to reduce an individual's taxes while a rebate is money that is sent to the homeowner

Which of the following is true of Federal solar panel tax credits?

CORRECT: Tax credits for solar panels are slowly shrinking as the years pass, so homeowners who wish for the greatest credit will need to begin their project earlier rather than later.

What gas is it that scientists believe the greenhouse effect results from?

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

What are the LEED® certification levels?

Certified, Silver, Gold, Platinum

What's a good first step for locating programs to help clients reduce the cost of energy-efficiency upgrades?

Check with the local utility districts

6 What is "green washing?" Page 7

Claiming that a product or service is sustainable or renewable when it is not.

8 Which government agency will punish a company that make false claims about their product's sustainability?

FTC page 7 EPA HUD FCC

The FTC is able to punish a false claim of sustainability in which of the following ways?

$10,000 fine per offense WRONG Upwards of 10 years in prison License suspension or revocation

What is the maximum loan amout for a California Residential Energy Efficiency Loan?

$50,000

A client approaches you with two homes they are interested in. One home costs $180,000 and is an average home, with about $2,500 in annual utility bills. The other home is a hyper-efficient sustainable home and costs $210,000, but only has $500 in annual utility bills. If the client purchases the sustainable home, how many years will it take before the higher initial cost is paid back by utility savings? (ignoring the intangible benefits that come with conservation and sustainability)

15 years.

7 New or renovated government buildings must be built to which sustainability standard? Page 6

LEED Gold or better

2 What is geothermal heating? Page 19

BEST CHOICE Pushing water through a circuit of pipes in the flooring and sunken into the ground in order to achieve neutral temperatures in the home throughout the year. Capturing the hot air that escapes from cracks and vents in the ground and funneling them into a home to replace centralized heating. Intentionally building a home sunken several feet into the ground to take advantage of subsurface warmth in order to reduce the need for insulation. Drawing the home's water from a deep well, making use of magma in the crust to heat the water and replacing a home's need for any hot water heater.

Which of the following is NOT a green indicator that can signify that a home is environmentally friendly?

Green Leaf certified WRONG ENERGY STAR® certified LEED® certified RESNET HERS score

What is the act of claiming that there is an eco-friendly certification on a home when there is actually no certification?

Greenwashing WRONG Eco Fraud Pretending Green Marketing

The focus on green real estate and the number of people seeking sustainability has grown because of a wide array of market factors. Which one of the following is NOT a growth factor?

Increased demand for multiple-family homes WRONG Meeting governmentally imposed targets Reducing building operating costs Increased building value

14 What is the primary use of a typical greywater system? Page 13 of Green Real Estate

Outdoor irrigation

10 The process for obtaining a LEED certification involves which of the following?

Paying a fee and registering for a third-party review of the building's design and efficiency by a USGBC certified reviewer. Page 9 Any building created by a LEED certified contractor will be immediately granted a LEED certification. A LEED certification can be earned by paying the USGBC a fee; no inspection is required.

12 What does a homeowner need to do to earn an Energy Star® rating?

Replace all appliances with EPA/DOE certified, energy-efficient versions.Build the building to modern codes and energy standards.Retrofit the home with energy saving devices that achieve a net-zero energy use.Have a rater verify that the home is 10% more energy efficient than homes built to code.

1 Which of the following improvements could take the longest to recoup the cost of installation?

Solar panels WRONG Insulation LED light replacements Low-flow toilets

What nickname have we given to the warming effect on the global climate based on an overabundance of gases and vapors in the air absorbing heat?

The Greenhouse Effect

What is the Prius Effect?

The idea that people are much more willing to make environmentally friendly decisions if it is done in an obvious way that makes their eco-friendly decision visible to people around them.

13 What is the primary purpose of RESNET?

To ensure that homeowners are educated about the importance of energy efficient buildings.To produce a national standard for home energy ratings.To annually retrofit 0.5% of American homes so that they become Net Zero homes.To inform homeowners and business owners about annual savings resulting from reduced water and electricity usage.

A client asks you what they can do by themselves to improve their home's sustainability since they only have about $1,000 to make the most impact on their carbon footprint. Which of the following would you NOT suggest they do?

WRONG Replace all regular bulbs with LED bulbs Replace the insulation by themselves

Which of these methods will NOT help reduce a home's heating and cooling bills?

WRONG Vacuum-sealed windows