30 Elliman brokers seek green certification

Thirty
of Prudential
Douglas Elliman’s Hamptons brokers are participating in a green
training program, which involves learning how to help clients
market properties with green features and advising buyers about energy
efficient and environmentally-friendly options in home designs.

In
order to earn what is called an “EcoBroker certification,” agents have
to complete energy,
environmental
and marketing training programs. The EcoBroker program is part of the
Colorado-based Built Green, a private company that promotes green home building across the country. To become an EcoBroker, there is a combined $395 fee for the required courses and first year of membership, and membership dues are $129 for each following year.

According to
EcoBroker’s Web site,
Manhattan brokers from the Corcoran Group, Prudential Douglas Elliman,
Coldwell Banker Commercial
Properties and Bellmarc Realty already
have some brokers with EcoBroker certification.

According to an October
article in The
Real Deal, EcoBroker’s “emphasis on non-multifamily dwellings might
account for New York’s
comparatively low-certified EcoBroker numbers, at 54, versus
California’s 324. But the EcoBroker program’s CEO, John Beldock,
pointed out that
there are 3,400 EcoBrokers in 47 states and two countries, and that
their ranks are increasing monthly by 10 percent.” TRD