Press
We are honored to be the recipients of numerous press, awards and recognition across various organizations, companies and media. We strive to bring education, quality, and customer service to buyers, sellers and agents in the real estate industry. Thank you to all organizations who have honored us.
Sincerely,
Kari Klaus
Founder of Realty Sage/ Viva Green Homes
Every Day Green Home Podcast
Kari Klaus, Ashley Rose and Marla Esser Cloos, April 2023
LEED Homes Awards Judge
Kari Klaus, Founder, selected to participate as a LEED Homes Award judge, 2021
Meet the Judges: The judges for this year’s the LEED Homes Awards represent several key voices in the residential industry and cover a wide range of fields. From landscaping and exterior design to interior design, and single family to multifamily – our judges expertise covers the full gamut.
BUILD Real Estate & Property Award
2019 for Eco Homes Innovators of the Year -- Virginia
Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2019
Realty Sage's Founder Selected to Attend the Summit
Among the global tech startup companies to converge on The Hague, The Netherlands on June 3rd-5th for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit www.ges2019.com will be Arlington, Virginia entrepreneur Kari Klaus, Founder of RealtySage.com.
Secretary of State Pompeo, Ivanka Trump, Queen Maxima (The Netherlands), and Mastercard’s CEO Ajay Banga will also be in attendance along with global leaders, Fortune 500 companies and ambassadors from around the world.
Press Release
Women's History Month Spotlight
General Assembly (1776) Female Entrepreneurship Panel
US State Department, US Speaker,
Kari Klaus, Founder in Budapest, Hungary, US Speaker, US Department of State
Kari Klaus, Founder in Prague, Czech Republic, US Speaker, US Department of State
Best Global Business Insight Award.
Leading Eco-Friendly Home Provider - USA 2019
Award: Creditdonkey
Best in Sustainability 2018-- Top Industry Experts.
August 2018 by CreditDonkey.
If you're committed to purchasing only sustainable products, you've come to the right place. Here's a definitive list of the Best in Sustainability...Viva Green Homes (Realty Sage) helps house hunters find eco-friendly, green, and sustainable real estate listings all over the country. Why Viva Green Homes (Realty Sage) is Top in Sustainability: Cost-free to both buyers and sellers, Viva Green Homes (Realty Sage) has over 4,000 registered agents on hand ready to help you buy or sell an eco-friendly home. They can also help you market your home, using data to get more accurate certifications, energy scores, and more.
CreditDonkey Best Sustainability
Build Award
Best Eco-Friendly Home Providers -- Virginia July 2018, Viva Green Homes (Realty Sage)
US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon
Viva Green Homes (Realty Sage) Friend Level Sponsor to the US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, October 2017
Cleantech Open National Business Award Winner
Viva Green Homes (Realty Sage), the Business Model with the Best Chance of Immediate Investment and Commercialization, February 2017
Winner of Cleantech Open's Southeast Region
Read more October 2016 Viva Green Homes (Realty Sage)
Arlington Premiere
Showcased in Arlington County, Virginia and recipient of a key to the city.
Viva Green Homes (Realty Sage) December 7, 2016
Sustainable Scoop
This week’s SustainableScoop features Arlington, Virginia entrepreneur Kari Klaus, Founder of RealtySage.com. Klaus was among the global tech startup companies to converge on The Hague, The Netherlands on June 3rd-5th for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit www.ges2019.com The Realty Sage platform encourages greater accuracy in property listings through its verified and automated data which aims to improve inaccurate or incomplete manually added MLS data. Realty Sage is applying its intelligent data about listings to connect agents to potential sellers and buyers in its www.realtysagepros.com portion of the site. Congratulations and thank you Kari for being a sustainable realeste and a Tech CEO in Arlington, VA.
Realty Times
Arlington, VA: Realty and home buying websites have allowed for easy consumer access to properties and home buying research, but a gap in data and tools is present in the real estate industry. Leading real estate websites fail when it comes to quantifying and explaining the benefits certain homes offer and their premium features, including energy efficiency, renewable energy, quality building measurements and materials. Realty Sage fills that gap and much more. RS is a national platform launching with initial full market integration in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, one of the largest in the country. With nearly 100,000 active listings, RS matches the volume of listings as leading sites in six states and DC.
The Green Gab
Podcast interview by Marla Esser Cloos and bio by Jasmine Royal March 16, 2018
Kari’s background is in International Sustainable Economic Development and she loved the idea of preserving rainforests, making sure southeast Asia is developing more sustainable, and natural resources aren’t being plundered in other countries. She also realized we have a consumption problem here in the US at home. The US consumes three times the global average, meaning our consumption really has a global impact. So, she got into the real estate industry because of her great passion for homes and buildings.
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Czech Republic Media, Podnikavazena
Source www.podnikavazena.cz 12 January 2018, 09:48
"Department of State US Speaker and Founder of Viva Green Homes, Kari Klaus, sat down in Prague with Kristina Šedivá for an interview about starting a tech company. This article was originally published on the Czech Republic media website PODNIKAVÁ ŽENA.
Kari found a gap in US market and started her online project VIVA GREEN HOMES – environment friendly real estate platform and website
Kari Klaus came to Prague to present her start up company, Viva Green Homes www.VivaGreenHomes.com at a sustainability focused start up summit through the American Embassy. She is one of the young entrepreneurs who was able to find a gap in American market..."
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The Washington Post
"Buyers should be wary of houses that are marketed as energy-efficient"
Source: Washington Post
The practice is called “greenwashing,” and home shoppers need to be on guard: It means a house is being marketed as environmentally friendly and energy-saving when it doesn’t deserve that description...
Kari Klaus, chief executive and founder of Viva Green Homes of Arlington, Va., a new national listing portal exclusively for “eco-friendly” homes, says “greenwashing is a growing problem — clearly there’s a desire to jump on the train and use buzzwords” such as “green,” “sustainable” and “high-efficiency,” too often with little to back up the claims.
Her website (at vivagreenhomes.com) carries free listings for homes certified by HERS, LEED, Energy Star, Built Green, NetZero and other programs as well as for noncertified homes that have some green features such as solar panels, geothermal systems, energy-efficient windows and doors, water conservation devices, etc.
When noncertified homes are listed on the site, the seller or agent must check off boxes indicating which green features the property offers. Viva Green Homes then produces a “Green Score” ranging from one to five stars to give potential purchasers a rough idea of how green the house is..."
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This column was syndicated in The Chicago Tribune and numerous columns across the country.
Huffington Post
"5 Environmentally Safe Actions That Will Increase Your Home’s Value"
Source: Huffington Post
...Recently, the Institute for Market Transformation released astudy showing a positive correlation between home energy efficiency and curb appeal. On average, high-performance homes are valued at a premium of 3.46 percent more than non-high performance homes. Some were even valued as high as 6% to 7.7% more. That equated to between $10,343 to $53,000 that buyers were willing to pay for a high-performance home over a standard performance home. What does this mean for you, the enterprising homeowner who wants to reduce their footprint? It means that renovations designed to improve the efficiency of your home can also boost its resale value. Here’re some actions to get started. 1. Get an energy audit 2. Spend an afternoon at the hardware store
3. Install energy efficient windows
4. Power your home with renewable energy
...There’s even a search engine to find certified homes for sale called Viva Green Homes. That will be useful if you’d like to do a bit of competitive analysis to determine what ratings are typical in your area.
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Green Connections Radio
Whether you’re looking to rent or buy a home, apartment, condo, or townhouse, historically you’ve had to ask a lot of questions to find out about the home’s energy efficiency and carbon footprint. Meet Kari Klaus of Viva Green Homes, a new home listing service that is changing that. Listen to Green Connections host Joan Michelson’s engaging conversation with Kari about how to buy or rent a “green” home no matter where you’re located, what to look for, and pitfalls. You’ll learn about: “Green-washing” – or exaggerated claims in listings How their rating system works Tips for buying or renting a green home/apartment And more!
Listen
Elemental Green
Source: elementalgreen.com
VIVA GREEN HOMES
This is one of the largest and most comprehensive sites specifically for eco and energy-efficient home listings, averaging approximately 4,000 active listings nationwide. Have some very specific green home specifications in mind? Viva Green Homes’ search engine offers checkboxes for prized home features such as LEED-certified, EnergyStar, solar, net-zero, and more. In addition, the homes are rated with a custom Viva Green Score (1-5) to help illustrate how green and efficient the homes are. On Viva Green Homes, you’ll find eco-friendly homes with a variety of Viva Green scores in a variety of price ranges.
ArlNow: Startup Monday
Viva Green (Realty Sage) Helps Home Buyers Find Eco-Friendly Houses
Source: arlnow.com
When Arlington real estate agent Kari Klaus decided to renovate her home to make it more energy efficient, she stumbled upon a problem. Klaus, whose background is in sustainable development, realized that the traditional real estate property listing system doesn’t showcase or market environmentally friendly features for homes, making her house appear similar to others that aren’t energy efficient.
From working in the real estate business, she knew that home buyers care about how eco-friendly their future home will be. “Wouldn’t you want to know if the home you are thinking of buying has superior systems, a tight building envelope (sealed to prevent air leaks) with solar panels and will save you potentially hundreds of dollars each and every month?” Klaus said. But there was no understandable and reliable way to rank, search and view energy efficient homes, Klaus said.
That’s where VivaGreenHomes.com comes in.
“VivaGreenHomes.com shows you that these options exist and explains their importance to you as a home buyer,” Klaus said. “If a home’s environmental or health value has not won you over, then the potential to save you a lot of money will.” She said her company changes the game because other real estate listing services aggregate home listings without any verification procedures. VivaGreenHomes.com uses claim verification methods, including a “Home Energy Rating System” score, an industry standard for eco-friendly homes. ..."
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