(Elon Musk; Did you know that most of the new homes in
Albuquerque are built and certified to one of the highest
efficiency standards in the country?)
Steve Hale; Program Director for Build Green NM
Brian McCarthy; Abrazo Homes
Jesse Deubel; Casa Verde Builders
If “Going Green” is a
Competitive Advantage in Housing
Who is the Competition?
Regional
Local
Existing
 Boom Times
All around
New Mexico’s
Borders
 New Mexico
is stuck in the
doldrums
Green Programs are all around us
Most Green programs are local
 Boulder Has a program Mandating efficiencies to equal
HERS 60 to HERS 25 (based on Size)
 Austin initiated 1st rating program in country (1991)
 Scottsdale AZ program = HERS 70
 Santa Fe Green Code HERS 70 to 0 (based on size)
New Mexico scores at 24 of 50
in State ranking of Energy Efficient States
However, homes here in New Mexico are
some of the Highest Performing Homes in
the country. They are Certified under a
statewide voluntary program which is based
on national standards
 What does this mean?
 What will happen now that funding for the Sustainable
Building Tax Credit has run out?
 Will builders now go backward with regard to energy and
water efficiency?
NM is not competitive
in the Southwest
Don’t blame Housing
Public Policy
Business Friendly (Not yet)
Rely on Federal too much and they are tightening their
belts
What would it have taken to get Elon Musk here?
We are in a slow recovery but it is crawling!
The other competition
Existing and other local builders
Voluntary Green Programs are a
peek into the Future…available today
Energy Efficiency
Water Efficiency
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
Net Zero (ready for Solar PV, etc)
Comfort
Build Green NM has Certified 4070 Homes
Price vs. Performance
Change the Paradigm!
 Appraisals do not count much, if any, for an Efficient
home
Hello? we pay mortgage, taxes, interest and utilities
 Easier to sell based on price (I sell the “cheapest”
home) vs. a knowledgeable sales force for “high
performance” homes
 “First Cost” vs. “Life Cycle Cost”
Buyers want the most for the money (Most what?)
Sales people should
avoid words like
“sustainable”,
“environment”,
“Global Warming”,
“price-per-squarefoot”
Tim O’Brien
“It’s not about first
cost it’s about
operation and
maintenance costs
too”
The
“Mileage
Sticker”
for
homes
Appraisals and
Mortgages
are available
that consider
energy savings
Who Benefits in this new
paradigm?
 Homeowner
 Builder
 Community
 State
Lower utility bills, better comfort
Higher appraisal and selling price,
referrals
Less need to expand infrastructure
$ not going to utilities can expand
purchasing power of homeowner and
water savings are a big issue
in New Mexico
High Performance Homes as seen
by 2 local Production Builders
Brian McCarthy
Jesse Deubel
Abrazo Homes
Casa Verde Builders
Thanks!
Steve Hale
Program Director:
Build Green NM
bgnm@comcast.net