Green Builder Media CEO Sara Gutterman talks with Alan Machuga, who built his own high performance learning laboratory home, and Pearl Certification's Cynthia Adams about how advanced technology and home certification translate into appraised value. They discuss the appraisal addendum, MLS reporting and why certification acts as a translation layer for buyers.
00:00:02:07 - 00:00:35:21
Sara Gutterman: Ellen and Cynthia, I'm so excited to be here with you today for this discussion because in my decades of experience in the building industry. I have never seen so much momentum towards net zero carbon, net zero energy and sustainable building in general. And now we're having very active conversations with our builder, architect, energy raider, other building professional colleagues and manufacturers about getting to a net zero carbon built environment.
00:00:35:21 - 00:00:58:21
Sara Gutterman: So let's begin our discussion today by talking about how high performance systems and home certifications, or cost effective tools that can enhance the sustainability of projects, decrease ongoing operating costs, and increase the long term value of home ownership. You know, how does that all pencil out and what's what what? How do we how do we measure it all?
00:00:58:21 - 00:01:19:16
Sara Gutterman: And what do we know are meaningful upgrades and upfront investments versus ones that might not make as high of an impact? Now, Allan, you recently completed your own home. But Yuga Labs, which is intended to be a learning laboratory. Can you talk about how the combination of advanced technology and home certification optimize home value?
00:01:19:18 - 00:01:52:21
Alan Machuga: There is a lot of investment choices that need to be made around the tech that is now going into a home built. I'll include insulation as part of that tech. Right. So insulation, lighting decisions, your Mac decisions, your water heating decisions. And if you're driving towards the more energy efficient rating or guess what. There's a price tag on what I would say.
00:01:52:23 - 00:02:15:00
Alan Machuga: Sarah. Building off of what you're seeing in the industry. Right. The government's right there right now. So the rebates exist to help consumers get into the higher end product, if you will. But what was stunning to me as I went through the process is getting to the other end with Cynthia's team and appraising the value of the house.
00:02:15:00 - 00:02:38:14
Alan Machuga: For all these decisions I've made, the appraisal on my house went up about 100,000. Based on all of these decisions that we made in terms of high performance appliances, our HVAC decisions, our soul or our window, our insulation decisions. So that was all, all very, very, you know, interesting to me as as we went through the process.
00:02:38:16 - 00:02:47:04
Sara Gutterman: Cynthia, can you chime in about how the combination of advanced technology and home certification, optimized home value, advanced technology?
00:02:47:04 - 00:03:24:27
Cynthia Adams: I think oftentimes we associate that with smart homes, smart devices, things where the tech part really looms large. But advanced technology can apply to how your your air exchanger like, do you have one in your house? Are you adequately ventilating your home on purpose as opposed to by accident because the house is not air sealed? Well, so I think that, you know, for for Pearl, the really important part is helping the buyers understand the feature to benefit value for them.
00:03:24:27 - 00:03:52:02
Cynthia Adams: And when a, when a builder invests in, in better products, quality installation and some of those more advanced technologies, they sometimes also need a translator to help the buyer understand how does this improve my quality of life? I get it that the house may cost less for me to own and operate, and that may be very important to me, but indoor air quality may also be very important to me.
00:03:52:03 - 00:04:24:14
Cynthia Adams: Their ability may also be very important to me. Comfort may also be very important to me and maintaining the value of my investment, that is the home may also be very important to me. And it's hard to get those things without a home certification, because a lot of these features, if they're not invisible in the house because they're in places where people don't normally go like addicts and crawl spaces or or mechanical rooms, they may not intuitively speak to their benefits.
00:04:24:16 - 00:04:48:22
Cynthia Adams: And I've heard HVAC contractors frequently tell me that a silver box looks like a silver box to your your average home buyer. Isn't it like a refrigerator? Can I just plug it in and we're good to go? No it's not. Design matters. Installation matters. Commissioning matters. Particularly with the check. And so the certification, if it's done right, is not just a certificate.
00:04:48:23 - 00:05:32:29
Cynthia Adams: It's not just a label on the home. It's a translation layer that helps inform the buyer about the value of the property and the systems that are in it. And I think that's really where Pearl certification shines because we have a certification package, it it does educate the buyer. We also have an appraisal addendum, which is an official document created by the Appraisal Institute that's meant to inform the appraiser about the high performing features of the home so that they have the information that they need to do their job well and assign that contributory value, like Allan saw in his case.
00:05:33:02 - 00:05:57:08
Cynthia Adams: And I think again, when the certification is done well, you give the different stakeholders the information that they need in order to to do their jobs. Whether it's an MLS listing report for the real estate agent, you know, the educational component of the certification for the buyer or the appraisal addendum for the appraiser. Everybody has a different need to understand that property for different reasons.
00:05:57:08 - 00:06:08:12
Cynthia Adams: And I think if a certification can really speak to that need and, and help the builder and the home buyer really capture that value.