This 1914 rowhouse will offer more green features than standard energy-efficient appliances. There will be bamboo floors, insulation made from old newspapers, a light-colored roof that reflects the sun and more.
It's one of many area homes getting the eco-treatment, a movement growing in appeal with homeowners who want to lower utility bills and tread lightly on the planet. Only this house in Remington is being rehabbed by real estate investors. And when they put it on the market next month, it may illustrate just how far the trend has come - investors, lenders and construction companies of all sizes are joining governments, nonprofit groups and private owners in accepting that going green can make green, as in money.
"When we were provided with the opportunity, we jumped," said Michael D. Jones, who runs A+ Neighborhood Homebuyers LLC with Marcel Humphrey. They showed off the house yesterday at an event that lured Mayor Sheila Dixon. "It was a paradigm shift in our construction practices, but we really wanted to provide a quality product. It's an added perk that the home will be an easier sell."
The pair spent at least $14,000 more on the rehab, though they don't plan to increase the $130,000-$145,000 sale price. They do plan to use green features in future projects. They may have to. Their lender, David Borinsky of Bridge Private Lending LLC, asked them to do it with this house and is "strongly encouraging" all borrowers to adopt green building practices.
He acknowledged that the added quality makes the houses better collateral, but he said, "If we can save low-income people $100 on their utility bills a month, now we're creating wealth. This is my mission."
There are countless other projects around the state, as people make small and large investments. Also announced yesterday by Gov. Martin O'Malley were federal stimulus funds to be used to expand Maryland's weatherization program by $61 million. More than 9,400 low-income homes could cut their utility bills by a third.
No one has a full accounting of all the green housing projects because there is no central clearinghouse. Borinsky said there aren't even "best practices" established for small-scale green rehabbing, though he's endeavoring to develop them with the help of others including Prescott Gaylord, of Baltimore Green Construction, who also advised the Remington investors.
