By Priya Shah

A growing number of Chicagoans are thinking green when considering buying their next home. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of local options yet.

The green real estate world in Chicago is a fairly small market composed of generally higher quality homes and built with expensive systems. One major problem: it isn't exactly definable for the average buyer.

So far, there isn't a consensus about what constitutes a green property within the residential real estate market, so it's hard for buyers and sellers to recognize its value, says Celeste Karan, an independent green realtor in Chicago.

"If you don't have a good definition, nobody really knows what you're talking about when you say you have a green property," says Karan. "Nobody can actually see the value in it."

Construction of green homes are on the rise, and many are being built because people want to live in homes that are better for the environment, says Karan. The energy consumed in heating, cooling and other power use from a conventional building can produce 70% or more of its green house gas emissions, according to Karan's Web site. Some of the factors Karan considers important principles of green building include: energy efficiency (meet or beat the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star standard), indoor air quality, materials choice (focused on locally produced materials) and the smaller things, such as storm water management, fresh water use, and heat island effect reduction.

While there aren't many properties available in the market, most of the green homes or condos are relatively new in neighborhoods where there's a lot of interest in green development. Typically, these single family homes and condos are located on the west and north side of Chicago, in neighborhoods such as Bucktown, Wicker Park, Lincoln Park, Logan Square, and Lakeview.

"Not all of these projects have succeeded, unfortunately, with the banking industry disaster," says Karan. Condos price range from mid-200s to between $600,000 and $700,000, she adds.

Lately, it's been a buyers' market in the overall real estate landscape in Chicago, but a good deal in the real estate market is hard to define. "Everything depends on [the] neighborhood: type of property, amenities, price point [and more]. Anything available on the market today, was not available two years ago. There have been no resales," says Karan.

While these green homes can command a high price tag upfront, experts argue homeowners can achieve substantial energy savings over time. According to Karan's web site, high-performance buildings can save 25 percent of overall energy costs compared to conventional buildings.

"If you're coming at it from a perspective of new materials or energy efficiency, you're going to have either a completely new building or a massive renovation," says Karan.

The buyer should be careful when looking for a green home because Karan says many real estate agents are often strangers to the concept of "green building." Since the sellers are asked to represent a property, they may not know the difference between a building that substantially decreases a buyer's environmental footprint and one that doesn't. This is why documentation should always be requested to see if the building has had an energy efficiency test, which determines the overall characterization of a green building.

"The one thing that they're [buyers] concerned about is if the claims are backed up by documentation," says Karan, adding that the buyer should never take claims for granted and ask for proof.

For more information on green homes and referrals in Chicago please visit the following web sites:

Chicago Home Estates

Green Bean Chicago

Dream Town

Ecologic Lofts