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Cindy Brandon - EcoBroker, GRI, CRS, ePro

Solar Sonoma County Kickoff Event

Solar Sonoma County and Solar America Cities Grand Kickoff Thursday, September 18, 4:00 to 7:00 p.m Program: 5:00 - 6:00, Networking before and after Sonoma Mountain Village Event Center 1100 Valley House Drive, Rohnert Park

Help Solar Sonoma County have a fantastic kickoff. With an initiative to promote solar energy countywide who wouldn't want to learn more? Here's an opportunity to find out about the "Solar America Cities program and how it is positioning Sonoma County to be a solar leader nationwide". You will also have the opportunity to "meet solar leaders in Sonoma County, visit booths and displays with everything solar and learn how to Go Solar on your home or business" For more information go to www.solarsonomacounty.org ?

Free admission but RSVP required to MartyR@sonic.net

Green Events in Our Community

Wednesday, September 17
Emerging Legislation that will affect Sustainable Technology Development
12:00 to 1:30 p.m.
Assembly member Jared Huffman will speak about sustainable technology legislation, promising emerging technology, and what incentives will be offered.
Hosted by Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster
1300 Valley House Lane, Suite 100
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
RSVP: 707-794-1240 or kariz@somobc.org

Thursday, September 18
Solar Sonoma County and Solar American Cities Kickoff
4:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Help launch Solar Sonoma County and learn all about the Solar American Cities grant which Santa Rosa and Solar Sonoma County just received from the Department of Energy.
Hosted by Solar Sonoma County
http://www.solarsonomacounty.com/events.html#anchor
For Business Membership: http://www.solarsonomacounty.com/membership.html
Sonoma Mountain Village, Rohnert Park
RSVP Required!

Thursday, November 6
Climate All-Stars Conference
This conference will inspire Bay Area leaders to implement innovative climate solutions. National and international "stars" will share their key lessons, best practices, and success stories. The Climate All-Stars conference will provide practical examples and tools with a focus on how to achieve ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets.

http://www.climateallstars.org/

AB 2678 Changed - Removes Point of Sale Mandate

AB 2678 was recently modified to exclude a point of sale requirement for energy audits and mandatory retrofits. CAR (California Association of Realtors) states that a point of sale requirement is inefficient because it requires homes to turnover before going into effect. I believe this is an accurate observation. CAR statistics show that only 22% of the properties most in need of energy efficiency retrofits will actually be sold by 2020. Therefore, a point of sale program does not go far enough to meet the GHG reduction goal. Insteady I believe we should be exploring a community wide retrofit program that offers incentives to property owners to "green up" their buildings.

Energy audits during the inspection period are already a standard of care for many residential realtors including myself. From a buyer's perspective, who wouldn't want to know how energy efficient a home is or is not?

Cost vs benefit and cash flow limitations are the two primary reasons that most homeowners aren't taking action today to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. The cost of gas, food, and other everyday essentials, has reduced the consumers disposable income and the ability to purchase energy efficient appliances that will take some time to reap the payback benefits. This is why I think there is merit to exploring a community wide retrofit program that provides incentives to retrofit, better utilizes market driven forces, and targets low cost, high impact retrofits to existing buildings (e.g. Light bulbs, water heaters, HVAC, and whatever their commercial equivalents might be.)

Santa Rosa Plain Wetland Mitigation

In November 2007 the Fish and Wildlife department issued a new plan for preserving endangered species in the Santa Rosa Plain, primarily for the protection of wetlands that contain the California Tiger Salamander, and/or the following flowers: Burke's Goldfiled, Sonoma Sunshine, Sebastopol Meadowfoam.

Burkes Goldfield

Sebastopol Meadowfoam

Sonoma Sunshine

On my webpage www.socohomegroup.com/mitigation I'm compiling links and information resources to help you understand what this plan might mean for you. The resource page includes interactive maps, federal and state reports, mitigation bank information and more. I hope it will be a valueable resource for those interested and those impacted by this programmatic.

Good News Sonoma County, REO Inventories are on the Decline!

For the first time in this market, we are seeing a marked reduction in REO inventory. The number of properties available has dropped from 315 at the end of March to 273 as of May 5, 2008. In some areas, REO inventories are very low and buyers are finding that they are competing against multiple offers. I have personally experienced this with buyers in East Santa Rosa and Windsor. REO inventories have plunged in several areas including Windsor, Petaluma, and West County.

West Santa Rosa remains the hardest hit with a current REO inventory of 109 homes, and represents 40% of all REO inventory in Sonoma County ... however, its important to note that 52 of these properties have come on the market in the last 30 days.

For more information about Sonoma County REO properties visit my webpage www.socohomegroup.com/reo