HomeGreenHomes

It's time to see real estate as an opportunity for People and Planet to thrive together. You are a part of the solution. We're here to create a pathway toward your personal transformation and regenerative story. Explore the new website and access free resources to begin creating your regenerative home. www.chooselatitude.com

“My modeling shows that the number one thing you can do to reduce the carbon footprint of your house is to switch from gas water heater to heat pump water heater.” As an energy consultant with Build Smart Group (https://www.buildsmartgroup.com/), Nick Brown, helps homeowners, builders and developers to design energy efficient and sustainable homes and buildings and ensuring they meet the California energy code. On this podcast, Nick shares why heat pump water heater is the best solution when replacing existing gas water heater or designing new buildings. Up to about 10 years ago gas water heater was standard, and came the gas tankless water heater became popular, but now the current heat pump technology makes the heat pump water heater a better choice in terms of energy efficiency; hence, reducing the carbon footprint. Nick offers the insight on how the heat pump works to make it more efficient compared to other options we have for water heater as well as some tips for what to know about replacing the unit to heat pump. Nick recommends for consumers to check the Switch Is On (https://www.switchison.org/) site to learn more about home electrification including more information about the heat pump water heater and other appliances; how to find the contractors to install, and about the available incentives.

“We are kind of in a new world order now. People are just loving driving electric. A study, a data showed that once you entered that market even if it’s plug-in hybrid electric, which is I have, you don’t go back so much. You don’t go back to gas car. You stay electric.” Zan Dubin Scott, a communication specialist of ZDS Communications, one of co-founders of Plug-in America and the co-founder of National Drive Electric Week, is a passionate advocate of electric vehicles since the beginning. Zan shares the current market condition as of 2022 with a brief reference to the history of electric vehicle industry including what’s going on in the infrastructure that supports the driving needs. While there are many more electric vehicle models available today than ever, Zan says it may not be a good time to acquire EVs due to the shortage of inventory affected by a number of factors. Yet, if you’re more concerned about reducing carbon footprint today and have extra cash, Zan says to go ahead and get one by all means. There are some really cool EVs that you can get today. Also, there are still federal tax credit as well as rebates available. California residents can check what’s available at DriveClean California website. (https://driveclean.ca.gov/search-incentives)

“To me permaculture is really planning. It’s a road to sustainability. And I will add that may be not commonly used but its part of it is resilience.” Ruth Meghiddo, AIA, of Meghiddo Architects, founded Farm Urbana (https://farmurbana.com/) in 2014 with the vision for cities to become prosperous and sustainable. Ruth’s passion for urban farming began decades earlier, as a student at UCLA. There, she published a pioneering thesis in sustainability, “Agriculture in Urban Environments: City and Farm Romance.” Her background in architecture and urban design inspired her to create edible garden solutions. She became a Certified Permaculture Design Consultant. She draws from permaculture design the agenda of natural green living and create the urban framework for consciously designed local farming landscapes to provide sustainable and resilient cities. They are keen to incorporate the element of farming into the built environment, connect to nature, and activate local communities around growing fresh food and a healthy lifestyle. Ruth discusses history of permaculture, the principles and how she envisions permaculture to be a provide a roadmap to sustainable urban living for all people.

“Chefs don't like it. It’s not gourmet way to cook. … I won’t cook on gas any more. And in my private chef life, I literally bring my induction hub to my fancy clients’ kitchen if they don’t already have induction because it cooks better, faster and more accurate.” Chef Rachelle Boucher (a.k.a. “The Appliance Whisperer”) of Kitchens to Life is a celebrated national cooking appliance trainer, private chef, influencer and event expert with over twenty years of experience creating custom training programs, activities and hands-on workshops for appliance brands, architects, designers, developers and end users to help them choose, use and enjoy modern cooking appliances and technology. After an adventurous career as a top private chef for celebrities such as filmmaker George Lucas, rock band Metallica, legendary sports celebrities and many other luminaries, Rachelle was recruited into the home appliance industry. She quickly became a celebrated corporate chef, trainer, and consultant with Monark Home, Sub-Zero & Wolf, Miele U.S.A. and many others working to showcase cooking technology such as convection, induction, speed cooking, steam cooking and more. This experience grew into a passion for electric cooking appliances which inspired her to become a leading advocate for electric kitchens and home electrification. Chef Rachelle has exceptional local, national, and international relationships with cooking appliance manufacturers, vendors, dealers, architects, designers, builders, influencers and industry groups including ASID, AIA, NKBA, NARI and experts in related fields. She is working tirelessly to bring electric kitchens to the forefront with her partner Robert Roth with their new venture, “Kitchens to Life” whose mission is to “Elevate the electric kitchens conversation, engage stakeholders with today’s inspiring cooking options and facilitate the adoption of kitchens electrification for performance, people and planet.” Rachelle recently joined forces with Building Decarbonization Coalition (www.buildingdecarb.org) to further the movement to electrify kitchens where abundant resources for electrification is available.

This is a gathering for those who desire to be in the conversation of what regenerative real estate is, connect with those who are showing up, and become part of the movement. If you desire to: -Connect to a community of change makers -Add deep meaning and purpose to your real estate work -Co-create within this movement of movements -Advance your part within the industry -Become a leader -Inspire others -Leave the world better than you received it Join us!

“We shouldn’t imagine that we’ll just get a $20,000 home loan and decarbonize the whole house. We could do that, but that’s not the most common way. More common, like you said, people are gonna have something that’s breaking or just broke, and they need to replace it. Now is the time to spend the money and I’m going to get an electrified version. That means like a 8-year horizon. You can get the whole house like by 2030 and that would be great for the planet.” Sean Armstrong is the Managing Principal of Redwood Energy and has worked for 25 years in building electrification, designed the retrofit and new construction of more than 10,000 all-electric residences for disadvantaged populations, co-authored five practical guides to building electrification, provided legal and technical support to dozens of gas bans nationwide, helped develop the 2016/2019/2022 and 2025 Title 24 California Energy Codes, and has received sustainable design awards from the United Nations, the U.S. Department of Energy and the SoCal Building Industry Association. Together Redwood Energy has led the design of more than 1500 units of Zero Net Energy, all-electric affordable housing, and 200 all-electric market rate residences. They provide Title 24 modeling, design support and Utility Allowance modeling to create cost-effective Zero Net Energy housing. Their projects range from cottages to high rise residences, commercial spaces and large facilities. Publications of comprehensive resources by Redwood Energy based on their extensive research are available on their website. http://redwoodenergy.net/research/

What you need to do is to talk to somebody that understands it all, that can look at and understand what’s going on in your home and help you decide what aspirational approach or what would be possible, and then back down as necessary. And you’ll get the best possible result. Passive House (Passivhaus) represents today’s highest energy standard for building performance with the promise of reducing the operational energy consumption of buildings by up to 75% in California, while providing superior comfort and extreme indoor air quality – all with minimal additional upfront investment. When coupled with renewable energy systems, such as solar PV, Passive House puts zero net energy within easy reach. Passive House is a proven standard, already applied to more than 100,000 buildings in all climate zones and is growing exponentially. [passivehousecal.org] Jay dissects the Passive House in an understandable way, offers an insight of what makes a passive house, benefits and how to have passive house.

“We have maximum above ground size limit for the homes. Sometimes cities or HOAs would have minimum size limits, but we have maximums. The reasons are two-fold: One to maintain the human scale so that we don’t have enormous homes. Also because one of the easiest ways to make homes more sustainable or to building in general is to limit their size.” Mulberry Grove in Moab, Utah, is a community developed by an architect Kalen Jones and his associates on a 20-acre of land with 42 lots developed in mid-2000s. This unique community was designed with an intention to make it sustainable and pedestrian centric residential community providing open space and connection to nature. It was developed as HOA giving the authority for HOA to manage the infrastructure and providing “green building program” as a guideline for the property owners to build on the lots. Kalen discusses the brief history of the development and some of the features that makes this community unique and sustainable. For more information, contact Kalen Jones at kalen@withgaia.com.

“We now have a much evolved scope of how we are thinking about creating a better places for people to live, and looking at how to create regenerative neighborhoods that are truly creating more energy, more thriving lives for folks that more equitable, more vulnerable that helping address issues of climate resilience.” To facilitate new ways of thinking, Build It Green convenes stakeholders tackling challenges around housing in California. By enabling collaboration across silos, we can collectively start to envision the regenerative housing ecosystem we want to see—one that meets the interconnected needs of individuals, communities, and the environment. Hannah Bruegmann, director of initiatives, shares the brief history of the genesis of Build It Green and about the different programs Build It Green developed and operate over the years and how each can benefit the home building industry, building professionals as well as homeowners. The resources she mentions include CalGreen for the updated California building code (https://www.dgs.ca.gov/BSC/CALGreen) as well as Switch Is On where consumers can check on the incentives available for energy upgrades (https://www.switchison.org/).

“I realized that I had to take the matters in my own hand. So it’s not just research the materials and the fixtures, and all the nice end product finishes. You had to make sure there’s no VOCs in your cabinets and flooring, and beyond that. I realized I had to research all the mechanical pieces and what goes behind the walls. It was frustrating but I realized if I didn’t do it, I’d be making a huge mistake.” Lisa is a Director Sustainability at Metrolink with a long history in the sustainability field. A few years ago, Lisa and her husband decided to remodel their home and committed to walk the walk of living a sustainability by converting their home into a “green home.” Decabonization, by eliminating the gas line and electrifying the home was the major element of this project. She shares how she went about achieving this and about the challenges she had to face as well as some of the specific choices she made in doing so.

At certain points I think a lot of the building owners and management companies see the writing on the wall coming with policies changing not only at city level but also at state level with benchmarking, and conservation code is coming out, stretch code is coming out that they’re going to need to basically comply with within the next 10 to 20 years, next two decades. In a lifetime of a building, that’s pretty short. So they need to start investing now, and if they have free help from a local non-profit, then they are going to jump on it. So that’s kind of what our selling point has been there. But then also we are encountering a lot of building owners who do care about their tenants. USGBC-LA’s The Green Affordable Housing Program (GAHP) was developed to support all Angelenos in having healthy, efficient, and resilient places to live, work, and play. This program delivers green community resources to disadvantaged communities and historically underserved neighborhoods that are energy-inefficient or burdened with pollution sources that are hazardous to communities’ health. The GAHP provides owners and residents of multi-family properties located in the Eastern San Fernando Valley with strategies for reducing energy and water costs, and greenhouse gas emissions. The Green Affordable Housing Program provides: • Tenant Workshops in English and Spanish covering sustainable practices & occupant health to help reduce utility costs; • Enrollment assistance with LADWP programs and rebates; • Guidance through a menu of efficiency & electrification options to facilitate building retrofits • Installation of community EV charging stations; • Installation of Air Source Heat Pump technology to lower energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions ; and • Subsidized installation of innovative new green building technology to reduce utility costs • Air and water quality monitoring provided at no-cost Workshops for both property owners and tenants will be delivered at 20 selected multi-family properties. Participants will also receive a toolkit with resources on sustainable practices and occupant health, programs and rebates, tips on water and energy savings, building retrofit support and more!

“Anytime moisture is in the house, it not only can create a potential for mold growth or mildew, it can raise the humidity levels drastically based on what’s going on and how long it’s been going on, and that can actually create a very unhealthy environment inside the house.” Amanda Klecker is a Certified Building Biology Practitioner and Certified Professional Inspector trained with the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors. Amanda is passionate about helping homeowners create their own healthy living environment. Over the last few years, Amanda has become a green living expert in terms of keeping a healthy house. She is constantly involved in learning about the newest found toxins and solutions for healthy living. Amanda offers a wide variety of resources on her website (healthyhouseontheblock.com) as well as via Instagram (@healthyhouseontheblock) for homeowners, homebuyers, and real estate agents to identify health issues in home environment and tips and ideas for creating healthier living.

“What I envision is where everybody has healthy homes regardless of your income, your age, your ability, your race of gender whatever it may be. Everybody has access to clean, comfortable home that’s energy efficient, that’s run of clean renewable energy that’s not wasting any necessary resources. I really think that’s possible. It’s possible even now. It’s not 20 years from now, but it’s possible right now. If you want to make that happen, we can absolutely make that happen. That’s my message. You know when there’s a will, there’s a way. I completely believe in that.” Avideh is a Southern California based licensed Architect specializing in sustainable/regenerative design. She believes that though buildings are primarily a matter of tectonics, they emerge from and contribute to social and ecological systems. While she has previously served as co-facilitator of the Living Future Los Angeles collaborative, as well as co-chair AIA Los Angeles Committee on the Environment, she is currently on the steering committee of the AIA California Climate Action Committee, leading AIA CA's efforts on embodied carbon. I also sit on the board of directors of USGBC-Los Angeles chapter. Avideh shares of her history and passion that led her to where she is today professionally, and her experience as an owner/founder of ZEROHOUZ, which is her personal journey to renovate a small 99-year old home in Signal Hills into a regenerative home as an example of what can be done. Avideh has partnered with Building Decarbonization Coalition to utilize a campaign called, “Switch Is On” that educates the general public about the importance of home electrification.

Come home to a refuge where you can be a part of nature all day long. In the time when our health & wellbeing are on top of mind for most people, homes that incorporates biophilic designs are known to be very beneficial for the health of residents both physically and psychologically increasing a sense of happiness and productivity. This home is super biophilic filled with natural elements. Skylights and solar tubes pour natural light indoors that support internal process to regulate your sleep-wake cycle. French doors from the dining area and master bedroom keep you connected to the outdoor space with Twin Eagle BBQ grill, a sitting area around a fire pit surrounded by the lush garden with waterfall, fruit trees, and flowers designed by a renowned landscape designer, perfect setting for entertaining. While this 1943, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms plus a bonus room retains the character of the period such as arched doorways, built-in cabinets, brick fireplace, and bay windows, it also has the features and efficiency of a modern home. Remodeled kitchen has Viking Stove, Sub-Zero refrigerator, Bosch dishwasher and a wine fridge. Both bathrooms are remodeled, and Master bath has a Toto Washlet and a deep soaking tub. The recirculation pump makes the hot water ready when you are. Extra insulation was added and higher efficiency HVAC system was installed in recent years to keep the indoor temperature comfortable. Whole house ventilation system keeps the indoor air quality for health and comfort. Close to Metro Bundy station.

"We can talk about your particular situation and what’s best for you. Don’t ever get confused. Clients (home owners, buyers, investors) should recognize that they are the drivers. Everybody else is merely tools to help you get where you’re going. But you need guidance sometime to help you learn just what you can do and then you can make a qualified decision." Mike Young is a 203K consultant, who has helped homeowners, home buyers as well as investors to achieve their goals for their new home visions. As a 203K consultant, he works with lenders who offer FHA 203K loan, which is a loan that includes renovation loan, which upon completion of the renovation work, becomes commonly used FHA loan, 203B. His job is to inspect homes to identify what can be done to improve the property structure-wise, cosmetically as well as energy efficiency wise to come up with a scope of work to put out for bids. Once the borrower selects the contractor based on their bids, 203K consultant would act as an liaison between the lender, contractor and the borrower to assure smooth construction process and underwriting process.

"The new research has shown that when the humans are connected to nature in interior spaces, their blood pressure goes down, their serotonin level goes down, they got the dopamine kick in the brain that’s the happy hormone, and you end up with 15 to 20 % more creativity, happier wellbeing, 15% more productivity, and people want to be there so your attendance is higher and people would linger longer in the interior space, so you can see people kind of gravitate towards nature in any space. They are happier and more curious. So you have happier and healthier occupants." Macelle Albelda is a biophilic designer, currently the Vice President of Sales for GreenMood Acoustical Moss Walls. Macella explains what “biophilia” means and its brief history, what are considered “Biophilic” design elements in the built environment and the benefits of them offering practical tips for people to integrate in their living space to live happier and healthier life even when living in the urban environments.

Net-Zero homes and energy efficiency, everyone knows that language. But materials are something people are just learning about. They are really getting pushed to the front. I think everybody knows that USGBC, International Living Future Institute, and Healthy Product Declarations. There’s this push the materials, and in so doing the green homes forward. Kate Bachner holds an MA in Contemporary Art from the Sotheby’s Institute and a B.A. in Art History from Emory University. She has studied the principles of sustainable building and healthy materials at NYU and the Parsons School of Design. She has earned her LEED GA, WELL AP, and LFA. Kate is also a licensed real estate agent in the state of California. Her new venture, Wise Matter, marries Kate’s deep knowledge of healthy building products with her refined eye for art and curation to create a home that is beautiful from the inside out. Kate shares her journey of coming from the world of art to being in the world of green building and real estate, and why she chose this path. She reflects on her experience and knowledge from working with homeowners and developers as she offers some insight into what are the current challenges and prospects in creating more healthy homes.

After we had an energy audit done, we knew why some rooms in our home was cold in the winter and hot in the summer. In addition to our propane furnace approaching the end of its life, we needed to improve the energy efficiency of the home before we even consider of getting solar panels on the roof. Henry Francois of Gundlach’s Services from Bakersfield talked through the energy efficiency improvement project of our home. Based on the findings from the energy audit, they replaced the furnace with 96% efficiency unit; added cellulose insulation in the attic; repaired fallen insulation and placed Tybek paper to keep the insulation from breathing in the crawl space and caulked the ceiling to seal the air leak from outside and attic. Henry explains some of the logistics and the objectives of each of the work done. He offers some insight into how to prioritize the work that may have greater return of investment and result in creating more comfortable homes. In order to get this work done, we utilized an unsecured financing specifically designed to provide energy efficiency improvements through GoGreen Financing, and was able to obtain a loan called, REEL (Residential Energy Efficiency Loan). You must use the contractors who are vetted and registered in their network to qualify for the loan.

"There are many things inside our home that people can focus on before you even get the solar." Before homeowners rush to get the solar panels installed on your roof, it is recommended that the "envelope" of your home be inspected to make sure the energy is not being wasted. Carl Reese, a general contractor and building inspector with many qualifications, discusses what energy audit also known as "home performance evaluation" recently and why homeowners and home buyers should have one, and what measures you can take to improve the energy efficiency of your home and reduce the utility bills as well as the indoor air quality. Carl suggests the first thing the homeowners can do is to change the light bulbs to LED, which would reduce the energy bill by up to one quarter. If the home tends to be dusty and/or you sneeze a lot in the house, that's a sign of air leaking into the living area from the attic and that the duct works should be looked at by HVAC professionals. Improving the insulation and sealing air leaks, which can be done relatively easily and inexpensive, alone would have more immediate return of investment.

“Banks love it because they know after the mortgage a lot of people’s next payment is utility payment. So if they see that you’re gonna have a home without $200 or $300 monthly utility payment, the banks would make the asset more valuable and to the new buyer it’s neat to get a net zero home and it’s more exciting for them.” Steve Nauert, a mortgage broker with Green Mortgage Advantage, as well as real estate broker, offers various mortgage products that allow new home buyers as well as home owners to take on a mortgage that includes the funds to get home improvements done for energy efficiency upgrades. We discuss the advantage and benefits for both the lenders and the borrowers of these mortgage products and why consumers should consider.

“We care about the home owner, and we care about the environment. We’re trying to lower emissions into the atmosphere where we’re trying to build it. We’re conscious, eco-conscious. So we care about sustainability, and we care about the toxins that are in your home. We don’t want VO2 emissions going off in your living space. The real heart of my messages are that we care.” Fortunate Homes builds well thought-out carefully designed homes with love. Their design includes a functional floor plan, tasteful finishes, and the best top-of-the-line Green Building Techniques. They create a WIN-WIN-WIN because they create passive income for investors, a wonderful home for the owners, and reduce the impact on the earth.

"… regenerative real estate can go as deep as regenerative design by looking at why are we considering the rain that falls on our roof storm water whenever it is the precious vital resources, and why are we powering our homes with fossil fuels that are extracted and degrading whenever we can be pulling from the earth and the sun and free resources, and why are we degrading mountain tops and far away landscapes whenever we can use local non-toxic materials that we know are beneficial to our health and we can do it in a way that is beneficial for the economy and ecology. That’s really the basis of the regenerative real estate." Neal and Alissa Collins are the founders of Latitude, Regenerative Real Estate. They created this community of real estate agents across the boundaries of states and countries through eXp Realty who are pursuing something more than the traditional transactional real estate business and finding ways to do good in our world with passion projects where they can actually face the issues of the world and help solve them by intertwining the personal values in their businesses. Their focus is the wholistic approach to home living beyond finding dream homes for buyers or selling homes at the best price with short amount of time. These "Change Agents" dare to be different from most real estate professionals and dedicated to the message of how to prepare our built environment for 21st and 22nd centuries as culture creators and leaders.

One of the greenest, healthiest homes in the San Gabriel Valley! The first and ONLY certified Pearl Gold Home in LA County. This beautiful, newly renovated house is an all-electric and zero net energy home. Super-insulation plus efficient appliances mean NEAR-ZERO energy bills and comfortable indoor temperatures year round. Solar panels and a Tesla Powerwall mean no more blackouts. All-electric appliances and continuous ventilation mean healthier indoor air and a safer home for your family. Features a spacious, vaulted living room with gorgeous wood-paneled ceiling, new kitchen with state-of-the-art induction stove, fully remodeled bathrooms, and water-wise, regionally appropriate landscaping. The home is also equipped with a Level 2 EV charger in the garage. Located in one of the best school districts in the LA area and one of the safest cities in California. Live in a peaceful neighborhood while enjoying close proximity to schools, parks, and countless restaurants and businesses. Welcome home.

Interviewing @Chris Stratton, a home owner, designer, architectural engineer, and a father, who gutted his wife's childhood home and made it into a super-efficient, super-healthy "green home"

Dennis Stinson, Vice President of Sales with Fujitsu General America discusses technologies and tips to make homes more energy efficient in the new era of "full house family dynamics" where household has become the hub of work life and school life in addition to personal and family life.

@Joe Gentile of Pearl Certification discusses the brief background and history of Pearl Certification; the criteria for getting homes certified; the benefit of certification.

Regina Marston and Maria Meeuwisse of Engage Marketing explain why we call what we have been calling "green homes" "healthy homes" now, and the impact the pandemic had in the home building industry.

A conversation with Ruby Rose Yepez, Senior Advisor at Southern California Edison, who discusses the various ways that the municipalities and utilities are collaborating to offer incentives for decarbonization and electrifying helping consumers to reduce energy bills.

What does it mean to have your home rated or certified? Alison Kendall of Kendall Architecture, Architect LEED AP BD+C AIA will discuss the different "green" rating and certifications; the value and importance of them.