New: Statistics, multiple service areas and certifications in profile

Sep 05, 2008

There's a few news in the Lounge as of today. First off all, we added some statistics in the Atrium to show which users are most active within a number of areas. It is now also possible to add multiple service areas in your profile. Your certifications will now show in your profile. Coming soon is people searching based on locations and certifications.

Reciprocity – LuxuryRealEstate.com Listings on your Website

Sep 05, 2008

LuxuryRealEstate.com is the #1 place to go to find a multi-million dollar property on the Internet. But we also allow for our members to put the entire LuxuryRealEstate.com collection of tens of thousands of listings on their own website and make them searchable right there, in a way that you control. Instead of potentially losing a valued client to another broker, you gain the referral fee and retain the client's business.

Manmade global warming a costly deception

Sep 05, 2008

By Robert Lockard I recently finished writing an interesting article for the winter 2009 issue of LuxuryRealEstate.com Magazine. The article is on “green” homes, and it was a challenge to write, mainly because I have a number of concerns about the current global-warming scare. I was able to find a lot of good in “green” homes, especially their energy savings and positive health effects on residents. I shied away from discussing their environmental effects, since I am unconvinced that they will have any real ones, and saying that they will might give people a false sense of security. To be sure, I am all for conservation and avoiding the waste or misuse of our resources. But something is very wrong with the current debate, or lack thereof, on global warming. I bring this up, not only because of my magazine article, but also because I read a very informative article entitled “Hot air over global warming” by Jerome Delvin in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer this morning. I highly recommend checking it out. As I noted in the Editor’s Note of a July 31, 2008 post to the Luxury Real Estate Blog by Jean-Yves Piton entitled “Green luxury real estate,” many climatologists and other scientists are speaking out about the fallacy of manmade global warming. You can find a great deal of accurate information from top scientists who spoke at the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change. It is clear that the Earth’s atmosphere is warming, but there is actually little evidence to suggest that human activity is the main cause.

How Google Maps can be used to make solar power decisions for your luxury home

Sep 05, 2008

By Simon Turner From his blog: How Google Maps can be used to make solar power decisions for your home As energy prices continue to climb, the idea of utilizing solar energy is common sense. The process of getting solar panels installed, however, is quite the opposite. RoofRay, a new Californian business, aims to give homeowners better information to enable them to make more-informed environmental decisions for their luxury home. Using the site’s modeling tools, consumers can estimate how much solar energy a home could capture and how that would affect their monthly bills. The data provided is based upon historical weather conditions, current power usage charges, the gradient of the property, and the maximum amount of solar paneling the roof can hold. One tool uses Google Maps to let users calculate the size of their roof and build virtual panels. RoofRay then estimates the output potential of the solar panels as well as financial considerations like costs of installation, upkeep and return on investment.
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