Becoming a Champion of Green and High-Performance Homes

Becoming a Champion of Green and HighPerformance Homes

INTRODUCING THE 2021 EVERGREEN AWARD WINNERS

By Caysey Welton

As most real estate professionals know, the business extends beyond transactional relationships with buyers and sellers. Professionals working in the industry need to immerse themselves in their communities and be mindful of shifts in the market as well as consumer tastes and preferences. Further, they should strive to serve clients by being knowledgeable about emerging technologies in green housing and high-performance homes.

From breakthroughs in solar power to recycled and upcycled insulation materials, there’s a seemingly endless amount of information real estate professionals should empower themselves with. To that end, the tool chest of knowledge that the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR’s) Green Designation provides plays a significant role in helping agents develop better listings that attract buyers while shining a light on the benefits of high-performance homes.

This is why many look toward NAR’s Green Designation, which can increase a real estate professional’s earning potential and save homeowners considerable sums of money. It’s also a pledge that they care about the quality of life for their community and its future generations.

Every year, the Green REsource Council (which confers NAR’s Green Designation) presents the EverGreen Awards. This award honors elite real estate professionals who have taken extraordinary measures to advance green building, develop their skills and technological knowledge, and apply that to bolstering their professional offerings and reputation. The organization recognized two deserving winners for 2021: Ali Al-Asady and Christopher Matos-Rogers.

But what does it take to earn the EverGreen Award? According to the Green REsource Council, award recipients share the following traits:

• Dedication to the green lifestyle and workstyle • Green industry skills based on training, competency and experience • Active participation in the Green

REsource Council, other professional associations and community organizations • Commitment to the advancement of the green building industry and its practice • Creative implementation of green events, practices or habits in the office or community

Connecting Health to Home For Al-Asady, a REALTOR® with HomeSmart Elite in Phoenix, Arizona, his commitment to resource efficiency began during his youth. Growing up in a lush region of Iraq, he still reflects on his realization of how planting a seed not only feeds the ecosystem, but also serves as a strong metaphor for productivity—a sentiment that motivates him to educate real estate professionals in regard to the importance of promoting green housing.

In 2008, Al-Asady began to think about how to incorporate his appreciation of nature and high-performance homes into his profession.

“You probably remember how the market was,” he says. “So many agents exited real estate, so I thought about how to stay sharp. NAR offered the Green Designation, and I was one of eight in Arizona who earned it [in 2009], and was one of two who really leaned into it afterwards.”

Earning the designation was among the educational highlights of Al-Asady’s career at the time. It was also the beginning of what has become a laser-focused commitment to educating professionals on the upsides of

Matos-Rogers

Al-Asady

high-performance homes. But when he set out on this mission, he soon realized it was more challenging than he expected.

“I was ready to change the world, but the world wasn’t ready,” he says.

This challenge led him to becoming a real estate educator. Much more than his personal and professional passions that sent him down this path, Al-Asady also understood the importance of optimizing homes with better ventilation and air quality as well as overall resource efficiency.

“At first I didn’t realize how complex it all was,” he says. “When we talk about health, we talk about exercise or nutrition, but I eventually connected the dots. My main focus is improving indoor quality, and now also outdoor quality, especially with climate change happening all around us.”

Al-Asady implies that there are numerous reasons to lean into energyefficient initiatives. Topping the list? Helping clients make sound investments. Then, of course, there’s the ethical side of it.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Al-Asady says. “It doesn’t only affect us, but future generations as well.”

Candid in his feelings about winning the EverGreen Award, Al-Asady’s commitment to green and sustainable real estate isn’t just for recognition’s sake.

“When I got involved, it was for pure passion. It took me over 10 years to be recognized, and I know the previous winners have taken the time and put in tremendous effort, so to be part of this group is an honor.”

Small Carbon Footprint, Big Step for Georgia Matos-Rogers, a REALTOR® at PalmerHouse Properties in the metro region of Atlanta, Georgia, has a background in marine biology, so when he decided to earn his Green Designation, he was already incorporating many of the Green REsource Council’s values into his everyday life. He felt it only made sense to formalize what he already believed in. He also noticed a glaring hole in the local real estate market and realized that his values could enhance the buying and selling experience if more real estate professionals took similar steps.

“My husband and I drove electric cars, but when we shopped for a house with solar panels, we found that there was a lack of them in Atlanta. There were builders and a market, but the real estate industry seemed unaware of it.”

The obvious first step for MatosRogers to introduce green thinking to Georgia’s real estate market was to earn his Green Designation. From there, he focused on inspiring others to do the same.

“We brought the Green Designation back to Atlanta after six years,” he says. “We more than doubled the number [of designees] from 40 to 87 and turned it into a big event with vendors and education.”

Like fellow award-winner Al-Asady, Matos-Rogers isn’t leaning into the green movement for financial gain.

“I live it every day,” he says. “I want to advocate and support the market. I’m not an agent who tries to own [my] market. It’s too big to even try. My efforts have been to expand knowledge and empower agents.”

For Matos-Rogers, the first winner of the EverGreen Award from Georgia, spreading awareness in his home state as well as throughout the Southeastern U.S. is important.

“It’s exciting to see Georgia on the map, and my goal is to make this a trend,” he says. “It’s good for [real estate professionals] throughout the South to see that representation and for people from across the country to see that it’s not just them taking these initiatives.”

Looking ahead, Al-Asady and Matos-Rogers both see a promising future, one where more professionals make earning NAR’s Green Designation a high priority. RE

“I want to advocate and support the market. I’m not an agent who tries to own [my] market. It’s too big to even try. My efforts have been to expand knowledge and empower agents.”

– CHRISTOPHER MATOS-ROGERS REALTOR®, PalmerHouse Properties

For more information, please visit https:// green.realtor/evergreen_awards.

Caysey Welton is RISMedia’s Content Director.