Environmental Engineering and Management Journal May/June 2009, Vol.8, No.3, 601-606 http://omicron.ch.tuiasi.ro/EEMJ/ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ METHODOLOGY FOR REAL ESTATE APPRAISAL OF GREEN VALUE Daniela Popescu 1 , Emilia Cerna Mladin 2 , Rodica Boazu 1 , Sven Bienert 3 1 “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, 59 Mangeron Blvd., 700050, Iasi, Romania 2 University Politehnica of Bucharest, UNESCO Chair of Engineering Sciences, 313 Splaiul Independentei, 060042, Bucharest, Romania 3 KPMG Financial Advisory Services GmbH; Address: Adamgasse 23, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria Abstract Green buildings are considered a quick and effective approach to protect the environment by slowing down the consumption rate of primary energy resources and by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In Europe, appraisals of properties should take into consideration this new feature of buildings by implementing data from Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) into real estate assessment. With this respect, a methodology is proposed and analyzed to be considered in the sales comparison real estate valuation process. The originality of the methodology consists of considering the expected costs of the so-called wasted/saved energy as a proxy for depreciations/appreciations of the value of the building due to the obsolete/better energy efficiency. Wasted/saved energy is considered to be the difference between the energy demand of a reference building and the energy demand of the subject property. Key words: certificate of buildings, Directive 2002/91/EC, energy efficiency, energy performance, property valuation  Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed: danielapopescu2007@yahoo.com 1. Introduction Energy efficiency approached as policy, strategy and legislation, determines the quickest and most effective reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, by slowing down consumption rates of primary energy resources and increasing in the same time the security of supply. According to the EC document named “Doing more with less. Green paper on energy efficiency” (Green Paper, 2005), the EU could save at least 20% of its present energy consumption in a cost- effective manner, equivalent to EUR 60 billion per year, or the present combined energy consumption of Germany and Finland. In other words, an average EU household could save between 200 EUR and 1000 EUR per year, depending on its energy consumption level, by an energy efficient mentality regarding design, construction, equipment and exploitation. Although considerable investments are needed to harness these potential savings, results are worthy since it leads to an increased competitiveness and better living conditions for EU citizens. The report, “2020 Vision: Saving our Energy” (2020 Vision, 2007), estimates that 27 % of the energy used in the buildings sector could be saved until 2020 in Europe. In residential buildings, retrofitted walls and roof insulations offer the greatest opportunities to save energy, while improved energy management systems are important for commercial buildings. Legislation promoted by the Directive 2002/91/EC (EPBD) requires that, by 2009 at the latest, all large public buildings in the EU display an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for the visiting public. Consequences on the real estate market are expected soon; therefore energy assessment work should be correlated with real estate assessment work. The main objective of the IMMOVALUE project, funded within the Intelligent Energy Europe program, is to identify methodologies appropriate for consideration of European Energy Performance Certificates into real-estate appraisals. (Bienert et al, 2008). With this respect, this paper proposes a novel methodology to be considered in the sales comparison approach of real estate valuation. It is expected that the results would contribute to energy saving by making the building users more responsible for how “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, Romania