The FINANCIAL -- Washington -- The National Association of Realtors® is modifying its
popular Green Designation program to focus on residential real estate
practice.
“NAR research has consistently shown that there is a considerable and growing market for green buildings, and many of today’s consumers want homes and communities that are more resource efficient and sensitive to the larger environment,” said NAR President Ron Phipps, broker-president of Phipps Realty in Warwick, R.I. “NAR’s Green Designation helps Realtors® meet that consumer demand for green building practices. These revisions will help Realtors® continue to bring value to buyers and sellers who value eco-friendly and energy-efficient homes.”
Because of high member demand for the residential aspect of the curriculum, the commercial and property management electives will no longer count as credit toward the designation but will be made available to members interested in those areas of study. The changes will include replacing the two-day core course and one-day elective courses with three one-day courses: Green 100: Real Estate for a Sustainable Future (day 1); Green 200: The Science of Green Building (day 2); and Green 300: Greening Your Real Estate Business (day 3).
Students will need to complete all three days to earn NAR’s Green Designation. The updated program will be launched in late summer 2011. Until then, NAR’s Green Resource Council has reduced the prices of the existing online core and elective courses. The core course was $295 and is now $230; the residential elective was $125 and is now $99; and total cost for the full designation was $420 and is now $329.
NAR’s Green Designation was peer-reviewed by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Green Buildings Council, and received the 2009 Award of Excellence from the American Society of Association Executives. The Green Resource Council has forged strategic relationships within the green industry to create awareness of the designation, advance its mission, and provide continued education to the designee base. Other green industry initiatives include the creation of the Green MLS Toolkit, online at www.GreentheMLS.org.
The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
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