green condos in Mnahattan, better resale?

Are green condos worth buying? Absolutely. Will they alter your resale value? In my opinion, no.

There will always be that one individual who tells his broker that he MUST have a green building, but those buyers are few and far between. 99% of the time people will want the best thing for the least amount of money. If it is in a green building, then it's just icing on the cake.

The real issue, in my opinion, is that being 'green' is supposed to (in the long run) be cheaper. If you build a green house, you can use solar, you can turn rainwater into grey water, you can reduce your water costs (which hardly anyone in NYC gets charged for) etc etc. All of those would be substantially cost saving in the long run. But since we live in a city, and we have doormen and other people maintaining the building (which is what your common charge dollars are going towards). Your fixed costs will still probably be the same. Your electric might be ten or twenty percent less, but that isn't really enough of a reason to seek out a particular building.

Just so you know, I'm by no means someone who knows the ins and outs of LEED certification, but there are numerous things you can do in your own home which would essentially turn any apartment into a 'green' apartment:

- low flow shower head and toilet
- use energy star appliances
- when you put in new floors, use bamboo
- install better windows (keep cold air in/hot air out)
- use a programmable thermostat
- use CFL lightbulbs (this makes a noticeable difference on your electric bill)

Obviously when you get into LEED Gold Certification, that is really when you do realize certain savings over the long run.

But to sum up my very long answer to your question, nope (in my opinion).

(Matthew Russell - Brown Harris Stevens)

No one's gonna give a shit eventually. I wouldn't pay a premuim for a LEED cert bldg.

If the building is more energy efficient. This will show up in common charges which affects real estate vales. And all things being equal people like being good to the environment. In all a slight to moderate benefit.

"And all things being equal people like being good to the environment"

Except that in most cases leaving the old buildings there would have been far better for the environment than tearing them down, importing tons of materials from China, setting up a construction site for a few years and then putting in LED lights and calling it green.

Reusing old stuff is one of the greenest things you can do.

Green buildings are more costly to run than regular buildings!!!

On the commercial side there are people who think that some green features are going to be mandated eventually, and if they can build green in the first place, or retrofit exiting buildings to greener standards, they can get ahead of the curve.

It's worth nothing that 40% of all CO2 emissions in the US come from buildings (commercial and resi combined). That's as much all our transportation emissions combined.

If we could reduce buildings' emissions in a meaningful way -- say by making them more energy efficient -- it could have a big impact on our carbon emissions overall.

should the rental be higher for a green building, as tenant will be be paying less for utilities.

"And all things being equal people like being good to the environment"

I'll be sure to tell that to the next person I see driving around in a Hummer or Escalada.

"Are green condos worth buying? Absolutely. Will they alter your resale value? In my opinion, no."

Thanks Seacrest