John Rebchook is a former Rocky Mountain News reporter with more than 30 years of experience in writing and communications... When I was speaking to architect Michelle Kaufmann in Denver recently, I asked her how this brutal housing economy is impacting her niche – that is, designing super-efficient homes made in factories, which are gentle on the environment, but not super-costly.
She thinks there is an ongoing sea change among consumers, who will demand more from builders.
“They’re just not going to put with with crap construction,” she said.
One important component, she said, is to convince Realtors to get on board with pushing sustainability.
“Realtors are really important, because people listen to them,” Kaufmann told me. “Instead of just saying, “Here is a three-bedroom, three-bath house with 1,800 or 2,100 square feet, they also need to be pointing out that energy saving features.” Those features are not only good for the environment, as well as good for the pocketbook, she notes.
Green homes better built
And she thinks that green-built homes are better-built homes.
“I think when builders take that step of paying more attention to the type of materials they use, and the type of systems they install, it leads to more care on everything from caulking to the quality of the construction,” she said.
“Once you start going down that road, it just makes sense that you end up with a better-constructed house.”
Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.
