State’s Largest MLS Adds Data To Align With Governor’s Green Initiative

Denver, CO, March 07, 2012 – Metrolist®, the largest real estate multiple listing service (MLS) serving Colorado real estate agents, today unveiled “Energy/Green fields,” a far-reaching initiative that integrates ‘energy/green’ data into the MLS search process.

By adding key attributes such as searchable fields, Colorado’s largest MLS will provide the industry with much-needed energy and ‘green’ data through home sales listings, a key component of quantifying market value and identifying comparison data for real estate professionals, homebuyers, and for appraisers that are valuating energy-efficient homes.

Metrolist’s new green-field initiative is the end result of work the company began with the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) in 2010.

“We identified two major reasons why we should move forward with searchable green fields,” said James T. Wanzeck, Metrolist Board Chairman. “The first is social responsibility. Buildings, after all, consume 39 percent of the nation’s energy use. The second is Realtor differentiation. Anything Realtors can do to differentiate themselves is good.”

Metrolist, which represents approximately 50 percent of Colorado’s Realtors and almost 70 percent of the state’s real estate transactions, designed its implementation of green fields to correlate with the recommendations of the GEO’s Appraisal Committee and has made available to its 15,000 members the state supplied Energy/Green Feature Addendum. An open and voluntary group, the Committee worked with key stakeholders in developing recommended searchable fields for integration into Colorado’s multiple listings services.

“Adding searchable green fields to Metrolist is very exciting” said Pete Rusin, a GEO residential program associate. “This effort will not only increase the coverage of energy efficiency fields in Colorado, it will help home owners and buyers find homes that can save them money on their utility costs.”

Consistent with the Appraisal Committee’s recommendations, Metrolist’s searchable fields are split into two categories, “Certifications” and “Features.” Sellers can also showcase additional common features of an energy-efficient/“green” home.

According to Mr. Wanzeck, compiling this data in Colorado is critical because green-building advocates say it will mirror what’s been happening in other parts of the country.

“We know that green homes sell faster and for more money than conventional, code-built comparables,” said Mr. Wanzeck. “I believe all of our re-tooling and data capture will help nearly everyone in Colorado see green.”

Contact:
Melissa Olson
Senior Manager,MarCom
(303) 850-9576
molson@metrolist.com

About Metrolist
Metrolist is the largest MLS in the state of Colorado, supporting the largest network of Realtors® with the most comprehensive database of real property listings throughout the Front Range. Realtor-owned since 1984, Metrolist provides leading technology solutions to real estate agents and brokers to better serve buyers and sellers. More information about Metrolist is available at www.metrolist.com. Metrolist provides a broad database of real property listings for real estate brokers to better serve buyers and sellers. Metrolist serves five Realtor associations: Aurora Association of Realtors, Douglas/Elbert Realtor Association, Mountain Metro Association of Realtors, South Metro Denver Realtor Association, and the Unified Association of Realtors (formerly Denver Board of Realtors, Jefferson County Association of Realtors, and North Metro Denver Realtor Association).

Contact:
Crystal Swan
CSG PR
3225 East 2nd Avenue
Denver, CO 80206
(303)847-3174
cswan@csg-pr.com
http://www.csg-pr.com