Dive summary:

• LEED homes are good homes, Prof. Paul Fisette of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst says, but saving money over time is going to be a better sell for most of the people who write the checks.
• Given an extra $5,000 and a choice between a green systems and a granite countertop he can see, a homeowner is likely to go for the granite unless he understands that the green systems will help keep green in his pocket.
• Fisette, a sustainable building expert, also says there should be more emphasis on the "low-hanging fruit" of saving energy by upgrading existing homes "that leak like sieves or are poorly insulated."

From the article:

“It's an easy sell if the person who is going to do this work can present it in a logical way that the homeowner would be a fool not to do it,” Fisette says. ...