This is the first article in my new series Doing Well by Doing   Good.  It’s an old concept, with a new twist.  Of course, if you’re already a greenheart, this is nothing new.

I recently read an article about how quickly buildings, landscapes and blocks decay and how much square footage would probably be built and remodeled over the next 20 years.  Mindboggling to learn that over the next 25 years,     300 billion square feet of  space will be newly built or remodeled.  And over half of that, 192 billion square feet, will be homes, condos and apartments. 

And? 

And I see that as an opportunity for the average or well-to-do greenheart to get in the real estate investment market and do well by reshaping our landscape to be green.  The landscape will be reshaped –- the big question is “By whom?!” 

Many of the nouveau-riche who built wealth before (and lost it during) the recession were real estate investors who bought fixer uppers and rented or sold them.  The average residential investor was mainly interested in buying low, doing half-a**ed paint-and-run remodels, then renting to unsuspecting victims looking for a decent home at a reasonable price.   And guess what happened to the renters?  Utility bills crushed them and as they sought more affordable living space, the empty homes they left behind became a financial burden for the investor/owners…and you know the rest . 

 The difference between then and now is that the high rate of foreclosures and bank failures has made an unusually large stock of homes available at bargain prices for investors.  But the same tide that washed out homeowners also washed out the paint-and-run investors…and the reckless big bankers… and the greedy mortgage brokers working with callous sub-prime lenders.  Doggonit I digressed, didn’t I?

So who will help develop and reconstruct our built environment over the next 20 years?  Hopefully a new wave of greenhearts who want to do well by doing good and who aren’t intimidated by what happened to the last crop of residential investors…and homeowners.

 According to green business expert  and PhD Glenn Croston, “one opportunity at the present is for investors to buy cheap properties and invest in energy efficiency for the property.  People are increasingly aware of and seeking out energy efficiency, so this makes properties more valuable in the long run.”    

I’m hoping, through this article, and through future collaborations, to inspire a tidal wave of greenhearts to get into the market and start renovating older existing homes to be green…before someone else does.  Unfortunately, there’s no stimulus money set aside for green renovations for investment properties.  “Not yet anyway, because there are too many homeowners whose primary residences need work” according to an official at Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority.   “We’ve gotten requests but those programs don’t exist yet at the federal level.” 

In an effort to end on a high note, I’ll say this:  It is possible to assemble your own “incentive package.”  Many state utilities offer financing for energy efficient appliances like HVAC units and for insulation.  Look for guidelines that don’t exclude investors with language like “primary residence only.”  For example, a representative at Laclede Gas in St Louis, MO, says “as long as the homeowner or investor is a credit-qualified Laclede Gas customer, they’re eligible for the program.  They can purchase up to 4 heating systems.”

I know there are lots of issues I didn’t discuss here but this is just the first in the series.  I’m being called to develop a template of state incentives you can use to get “credit” for greening your investment properties.  I’m also being called to start or push the movement to get federal incentives for investment properties.  I think this is what it will take to create the wave of people I’m hoping to inspire.