ShareThisSustainable Finance Offerings
Earth Advantage Institute is committed to developing programs that help accelerate the uptake of green building. One means of doing this is by creating an “ecosystem” of preferential financial services around the green homeowner.
EAI’s sustainable finance program, part of its residential certification department, works with private sector financial partners in mortgage lending and insurance to create products that favor the green home buyer or homeowner.
For industry partners, the benefits are clear. Working with green homeowners offers them access to a new group of reliable borrowers and clients. They are less likely to default because they own energy- and resource-efficient homes with lower utility payments. These healthier homes can drastically reduce allergen and air quality issues through better sealing, ventilation and air filtering. Incorporating building science principles, better built homes can be less susceptible to moisture, rot, pests and fire. Such attributes result in homes with less exposure to risk for both insurers and lenders.
Products include innovative bank loans offering reduced closing costs, home insurance plans that offer reduced premiums, and builder-supplied forms for appraisers that can prove instrumental in helping homeowners secure a loan for the full value of the home. Examples of green financial products include:
