Ecobroker Membership Grows, Provides Benefits to All 50 States

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RISMEDIA, Oct. 9, 2008-EcoBroker International, The Green Designation^TM, announces its celebration of the growth of its membership to all 50 states. This milestone reinforces the ever-growing demand for green real estate training and education.

EcoBrokers from all regions of the country are utilizing their EcoBroker designation to make a difference in their community through innovative methods that reach far beyond the classroom.

“Adding our fiftieth state is an important milestone of which we are very proud,” said the CEO of EcoBroker, Dr. John Beldock. “Most importantly because these great real estate professionals are out there making a difference with real estate consumers, communities, and the environment.”

Some examples of ways EcoBrokers are making a difference in their communities include:

• Shellie Moore is an EcoBroker Certified® agent in Puget Sound, Washington, who has used her EcoBroker designation to change the lives of those in her community. Each year, she participates in an event called Hearts and Hammers (H&H), where residents come out to help neighbors in need of home repairs. This year, more than 600 volunteers worked on 43 homes throughout the community. As a team captain, Moore’s EcoBroker training came in handy. Her team’s task was to help a family with a child who suffers from severe asthma and allergies. Using her understanding of indoor air quality issues, Moore’s team gave the boy’s room a “Mini Extreme Makeover.” His room was riddled with musty old carpet and several holes in the sheet rock, which let in dust and fiberglass from inside the walls. Moore’s team took out the old carpet, patched the sheet rock and put a fresh coat of “No VOC Paint” on the walls. A local flooring store donated three staff members to put down underlayment and lay new fiber flooring, and the H&H team then replaced the trim around the floor, cleaned the windows, and hung new curtains which Moore made herself. Moore’s team also positioned an air filter in the room. The boy was thrilled and his mother called a few days later to say he was feeling much better, and waking more rested in the morning after a night of better sleeping and breathing.

• After watching An Inconvenient Truth, Daniella Simon, an attorney and Certified EcoBroker® from San Jose California, was inspired to leave her legal career and do something to change the world. She decided to open Global Legacy Realty, one of the Silicon Valley’s first green real estate brokerages which utilizes an incredibly unique business model. Fifteen percent of net commissions are given directly back to her clients to either green their homes, purchase green securities or donate to environmental non-profits focused on climate protection.

“Before I took the leap, I went to the 2008 EcoBroker Convention in Denver, Green Real Estate 2008, and consulted with seasoned EcoBroker to get their input. I was very fortunate to find a welcoming group of dedicated real estate agents who patiently listened and provided advice and unreserved enthusiasm for my idea. Though I make my business selling real estate, I believe that we are tenants of this earth and face eviction unless we create a sustainable environmental legacy for our children. I want our children to know the ‘tomorrow’ that we all took for granted.”

• Alexander H. Lofft, a Certified EcoBroker® from Salt Lake City, Utah, took on the coal industry…and won! Using his EcoBroker education on energy generation and efficiency, he formed the organization www.LessCoal.com and petitioned to keep three new coal fired power plants from being built in and around Utah. Four months after his submission to the addressee, the power company announced that it was not only cancelling all three coal plant projects, but it was declaring a 10-year moratorium on new coal plants. Alexander recognizes there were probably other forces at work in the utilities decision-making.

• EcoBroker Certified® agent Adam Gallegos from Washington D.C., has made planting trees a core component of his business model. As the founder of Arbour Realty, Gallegos plants a tree for each of his real estate contracts at one of the National Parks that have been recently damaged by wildfires. He also utilizes paperless communication, recycled and renewable paper products for marketing materials, and supports environmentally friendly suppliers and service providers. To further promote carbon-neutral home buying, Arbour Realty uses online video tours of properties for sale.

These are just a few examples of the ways that EcoBroker members from all fifty states across the U.S. are using their Green Designation to make a difference in their respective communities. Adding the fiftieth state marks the continued growth of EcoBroker designation.

For more information, visit www.EcoBroker.com.

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Tuesday, March 16, 2010