Offering developers a team approach to enhance the efficiency and aesthetics of pre-1980s homes in Arizona, the G Home program from green educator G Street targets developers that remodel 10 or more homes per year. The reason, founder Philip Beere says, is that the developers work on a high volume of homes and, since they’re already upgrading mechanical systems, interiors, and landscaping, they have ready access to areas in the home where they can incorporate efficient practices and products. The program has expanded from Phoenix to Los Angeles, Denver, and Portland, Ore.
G Street creates a team for each home project that includes an interior designer, a RESNET-certified energy rater, a landscape architect, and a G Street project manager.
The program educates developers so they can use what they learn on the first three houses to create a remodeling template for all the houses they remodel. Each remodeled house is certified under the National Association of Home Builders’ National Green Building Standard and receives a HERS rating. To help increase sourcing efficiency, G Street partnered with Lowe’s to provide materials.
The developers pay G Street a fee of $5,000 per home for the first three homes, and $1,800 per home thereafter. Beere’s hope is that the renovations increase return on investment and help the homes appraise higher. Educating appraisers about the value of energy-efficient upgrades is also key. Recently, a G Home in Phoenix was appraised at $172 per square foot, compared with $95 per square foot as the highest appraisal of a standard house on that same street in the past three years.
—Nina Patel, senior editor, REMODELING.
