It's a Dry Heat, Though

It's only right to combat a (beautiful, still) $730/SF green product with its potentially penurious Texan sister. If you're a do-it-green-for-yourself-er, and find yourself irritable when surrounded by more than 600 humans, consider Marathon, TX (population conveniently 600).

This 2001 strawbale home with hand-formed adobe floors at #1 7th Street (is there a 2?) is marketed at $132/SF, or $197,500.

And five points for this owner's response to Community Amenities: "lack of everything."

The Greenest Little House in San Francisco

Blue Jean insulation, the City's first residential rainwater catchment system, and fly ash concrete (we love it so much) contribute to 520 Clipper's designation as the "greenest" in SF (and if not, most definitely the greenest in the ever-earnest and lovely Noe Valley where Avenue finds green to be oh-so-compatibly located).

What did Lorax Development's 4BD/4BA work list at? At $1.89M, 520 Clipper asked a competitive, if not high, $730/SF. (Construction costs were estimated at $350/SF.)

It's Only True if it's on TV

Last week we heard Portland was the "greenest city"; PBS says it's Chicago. Or rather, Brad Pitt says it's Chicago, and he says this via green-living podcasts produced by PBS and available here: http://www.design-e2.com/.

Premiums for Green

Pulte Homes is the most consistent of the top-five homebuilders (in our opinion of course) when it comes to polling buyers on their willingness to "pay for green." How many will? Pulte says that at least 70% of their customers will pay about $1,500 more for a green bell or whistle that can guarantee them yearly savings of $300.

Keeping in mind that these results are several years stale, the basics are in place: it's not all about feeling good. Marketing green as modern and responsible is a big help in the sales cycle, but saavy developers know that consumers have long audited green attributes against expected returns. For every dollar you've spent to attain a LEED point, your proforma guru should be double-checking that buyers are willing to shell out for that attribute's corresponding price premium.

Why would we.

It took us two hours to realize the list of green (and cool) products we like couldn't fit in our site's 800 x 600 pixel frame, and deserved its own home. We'll be chronicling the things Avenue comes across and wishes it could see more of in modern housing design here.