Life in Portland Blog

Earth Advantage Course

On January 8th, Urban Nest became "the first real estate firm in the country to train & accredit 100% of their Agents with the EA Broker designation". We're pretty proud of the distinction, and our Agents are committed to staying educated and current on their knowledge of Portland's green industry. The 2 day course was a combination of classroom-style tuition and on-site education, and the Agents' response was positive and enthusiastic. We asked them to provide a few insights to what they have learned from the course;

"I thoroughly enjoyed our 2-day accreditation course from Earth Advantage. The largest 'take-away' I received from the class is the concept of remembering prevention prior to remediation. Just as in the 3 R's of 'reduce, reuse, and then recycle', I many times forget to reduce or reuse materials before recycling them. With our homes, we can remember to prevent heat loss by something as simple as weather-stripping and caulking prior to installing a new high-efficiency furnace and double-pane windows. Such an easy and inexpensive fix can save a great deal of money and carbon emissions!" - Tina Schafer, P.C.

"I found it interesting that an existing house is a greener house. I would like to promote us as resources in helping clients know how to retrofit their homes." - Denise Shorter.

"The Earth Advantage course was a wonderful reminder of how amazing our Northwest community is! 40% of new homes in the Portland area being built are green certified. What does that mean for our local population? We are buying homes that are more healthy & safe for our families, efficient for our budgets, and sustainable on the environment!" - Hilary Bourassa, The PDX Green Team.

"I learned so much from this course! I feel I have a better grasp on home building in general, along with an abundance of knowledge to share with our clients. There are so many resources out there. Not many of my clients are buying green certified homes, and it's great to know that a typical home owner can take small steps to really impact their overall energy efficiency. Insulation is key!" - Sarah Moon Lunde, The PDX Green Team.

"The onsite visits were very helpful in terms of taking what we learned in the classroom setting, and seeing it put to use in real applications. I can definitely use what I have learned to better serve my clients who are interested in green/sustainable housing." - Nathaniel Bachelder.

"I thought this course was really great; I learned a ton, and feel like it was well worth the 2 full days it entailed. I loved the site visits, and Taylor was a really engaging and knowledgable speaker. I love that our entire office did this, and it was great to hang with everyone, too!" - Jessica Brunt, The PDX Green Team.

The overwhelming word was that Agents picked up many tips for improving efficiency in not only their clients' homes, but their own homes as well. Much thanks to the Earth Advantage team - especially appraiser & consultant Taylor Watkins, who headed the course -  for providing such compelling content to keep the Agents engaged for the duration.