Last week, the Puget Sound Business Journal organized an excellent Green Business Summit in Seattle.  Naturally, one of the main subjects was how “going green” works in an economy going downhill.

The answer relating to housing was provided by Bert Gregory, the head of Mithun, a design company focusing on “concept-based, environmentally intelligent design.”  He noted real estate projects are planned three to 10 years out and that many of the projects currently on the drawing board are LEED Silver certified — in fact, he sees this designation becoming the “price of entry” when the market starts to turn.

Gregory also said Generation Y is much more savvy and demanding on these matters and that a focus on carbon and water neutrality will be coming (although these ideas are still not particularly economical to execute).

The most interesting trend is also the one with the most far-reaching social and economic consequences: a move from the suburbs to urban environments for families — kind of a 1950s in reverse.  This means we will see less money spent on cars, oil and roads along with stagnant suburban property values.

So, when the housing market turns around it will be turning in a new direction, not back to where it was before the crash.

By Don Millar, President of The Element Agency