Real Living Launches Green Program

RISMEDIA, Nov. 5, 2007-Real Living announced a new green initiative that is designed to help home buyers and sellers identify and adopt environmental measures that save energy, reduce carbon dioxide emissions, minimize waste and use environmentally-friendly products. The company says that the Real Living Green initiative responds to Real Living’s commitment to improving local communities where it does business and to customer interest in conservation, climate change and environmental protection.

Real Living Green delivers in three ways: through its own offices, agent education and certification, and consumer education.

“The recent revelations about global warming, rising energy costs and healthy living dictate that Real Living develop a green program for eco-conscious customers and its own operations,” said Kaira Sturdivant Rouda, president of Real Living. “We are committed to Real Living Green and believe it will lead to a sea change in residential real estate sales and services as more people seek to purchase green homes and take steps to make their current homes more environmentally friendly.”

Real Living offers green educational information through the tools and references on RealLiving.com and the MyRealLiving portal. Consumers can find checklists for buyers, sellers and renovators interested in conserving energy, reducing carbon emissions and installing green features in their homes. They can also find information on recycling and going green on a budget along with helpful links to other green resources. Through online carbon calculators, consumers can understand that simple changes like replacing one 75 watt incandescent light bulb with a 19 watt compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) can cut 75 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year while saving money on energy bills.

“The real estate industry is local. Our agents and franchise broker-owners always have participated in innumerable activities to improve their neighborhoods – tackling issues such as homelessness, hunger and more. Real Living Green is a natural extension of caring about our communities,” said Rouda.

Real Living offices will implement recycling and conservation programs and work to reduce waste products, especially paper. More reliance will be placed on e-communications. Agents and staff are encouraged to stop using screen savers (which use energy), refill their water bottles instead of grabbing new ones, turn off their computers at days end, recycle waste products, drink from Real Living ceramic mugs rather than Styrofoam cups and stop printing e-mails.

Real Living will soon begin offering green certification training for its agents and brokers through Real U, its professional development program. The certification will provide specialized training and resources in the newest environmental designs and home products.

“We intend to be the No. 1 green real estate company in America,” said Rouda. “Over time, Real Living Green will symbolize not just sustainable homes that are planet friendly but also help entire communities with whatever their particular environmental issue may be – cleaner water or air, better after school programs for kids or just awareness campaigns.”

The Real Living Green icon will be prominently displayed on all consumer materials and internally for communication throughout its network. With Real Living’s intranet, the promotion of green initiatives can be accomplished via earth-friendly communication tools.

“We are excited about the number of ways consumers and our agents can work together in the communities we care about to improve the earth we share,” Rouda said.

For more information, visit RealLiving.com.