John Varano

When it comes time to decide what type of home you want to buy, there's a lot to go over. Beyond even the financial considerations, prospective home buyers have to make choices about the style of house, the size, number of rooms, the yard, storage, etc. Then they have to prioritize their wants and needs based on just how important they are and whether any of them are dealbreakers. Because there are so many factors, it's no small thing when a sizable share of home buyers express an interest in the same feature. That's why it's significant that a recent survey of Realtors conducted by the National Association of Realtors found that 70 percent of participants said promoting energy efficiency in a home's listing was somewhat or very valuable. In short, it means a lot of buyers agree that green and energy-efficient features are important to them. It's no surprise why. Beyond the benefits to the environment or sustainability, energy efficiency means lower utility bills. And there are few home buyers who won't like the sound of that.