Erik Lerner | Real Estate Architect

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Columnist Gellner bemoans the state of compensation for architects, analogizing the architect's work product - the drawing - to the doctor's procedure. That is certainly the experience of this patient and architect. It is equally true in the real estate world, where brokers also are rewarded best, in fact usually ONLY for the procedure most highly valued in that business: the closed transaction. But awareness of the 'thinking' part of medicine is up for discussion now amidst the currently raging public health care discussion. To the degree that consumers' enlightenment grows about the value of 'thinking,' the resulting rebalancing of compensation away from procedures in favor of a broader range of services will be felt in real estate. With growing skepticism about the lucrative 'procedure,' combined with free information and alternative compensation models, the pop of a big commission at closing may one day no longer be available. The result might be a real estate system which placed a greater value on "thinking."

A correction to this: "The USGBC also created its Certified Green Professional (CGP) designation that recognizes builders, remodelers and other industry professionals who incorporate green building principles into homes without driving up the cost of construction." BuildItGreen has a certification for something called a Green Building Professional. See http://www.builditgreen.org/cgbp USGBC has made a point of distinguishing between its policy to "certify" buildings and "credential" LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED APs). See http://www.gbci.org/

Re: Energy Star power strips - I'm pretty sure there's no such thing. But, plugging 'instant on' appliances like certain radios and TVs into a power strip and then shutting off the strip until you need the device will stop continuous power drain. Re: Looking for a LEED designation - The LEED designation is new --for houses brand new -- so very few residential buildings carry the LEED label yet. However, conscientious architects and builders have been doing what they can to reduce resource consumption for decades. They're around if you search. So as you say, "carefully investigating" is key.