Found this Article on Activerain, and it seems to be happening more and more. The town of Thomasville
Is NOT immune to Green Washing
I was recently introduced to an article in the St. Petersburg Timesthat deals with the now-popular term “greenwashing”. It was called “‘Green’ Houses in Name Only?” by Chuin-Wei Yap. I thought the author did a good job of framing the problem that is starting to crop up everywhere in real estate – sellers inappropriately identifying their homes as “green” or “energy efficient”. I loved this quote:
“As home building slumps and environmentalism becomes a business advantage, a fast-growing market for green homes is becoming synonymous with “buyer beware”
The article addressed the lack of proper oversight in “green” claims and the frustrations certifying organizations face when they see claims being made. Since most of the oversight still is voluntary, there’s nothing to stop a builder (or realtor) from making a claim that the home is energy efficient or even green-built. In fact, we have at least one builder I know of who’s labeling their homes as energy efficient (they’re nothing special, and are not certified as Energy Star or better to my knowledge). When I questioned the claim to the listing agent (in a friendly way) I got silence in reply.
“Greenwashing” is the general term for mis-representation or over-representation of a product’s environmentally-friendly attributes. Keep a sharp eye out for this trend in real estate and “buyer beware”.
http://activerain.com/blogsview/502458/watch-for-green-claims-to-rise-in-real-estate
Yes, the term “green home” is being used more frequently by builders. Potential buyers should ask a builder for a list of items the builder uses to label a home as “green.”
Yes they should, but we also have realtors in our area selling new homes and even homes built in 1940s claiming they are energy efficient by clicking on that MLS button “Energy Efficient†when listing a property just because it is a popular topic? Then they add on the description “EXTRA insulation in attic and energy efficient windows†This DOES NOT makes a home energy efficient. Ignorance prevails again! in the small town of Thomasville, GA.
Ignorance in Thomasville, GA. has gone to a new level. A local Realtor/Owner from a National franchise company listed a mobile home property as energy efficient with solar panels. After confronting the local board of realtors about this listing and calling out on the agents bluff. The only solar this property has is a small solar panel for the front fence to the entry. NOT SURE HOW THIS WOULD BE ENERGY EFFICIENT HOME? This happen this week 9/2/2011
I would like to say not all real estate franchise companies are the same; this is my experience in my area. It’s like everything else; you have bad and good real estate companies and bad and good realtors. My beef is when a real estate franchise tries to hide behind the ones doing things the right way and others taking credit for it on their home page. I guess they figure if they are paying for a franchise they can take advantage of the ones doing things right. I would like to stress NOT all real estate franchise companies are the same, so buyers and sellers DO your homework.
EXACTLY! you must be from Thomasville, GA
Thank you.
Yes, I am from Thomasville, GA. and my experience with a few local realtors? Let’s just say, the motivating factor is Commission not the buyer or seller.
CapitalHB 
99.99% OF LOCAL agents in Thomasville, GA are selling their own property. and why would you think they do this? BC FULL Commission. Georgia is a Dual Agency State. Bingo! Yautzy!
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