The handiwork was part of a "Going Green" package Campbell, of Keller Williams Realty Southern Nevada, offers clients.

Beyond reducing power usage and clearing the air of greenhouse gases, Campbell said the practices boost his listings: Energy-efficient lightbulbs help attract buyers who want lower power bills, and trees enhance a home's curb appeal. He also believes, though, that he has a responsibility to guide his clients toward environmentally friendly actions, no matter how minor. He'll even take their cell phones in for recycling to keep electronic waste out of landfills.

"I don't think something small like this will necessarily help create business, but it's the right thing to do," Campbell said.

Campbell represents a growing movement designed to promote environmentally friendly practices within the real estate sales sector.

There's also 9-month-old ListedGreen.com, a solar-powered, Las Vegas-based Web site emphasizing sustainable homes for sale. Lasvegasgreenrealestate.com launched a month ago to connect home buyers with ecofriendly local projects. And EcoBroker International of Evergreen, Colo., just struck an agreement to promote its green-Realtor certification program on the Web site of the Nevada Association of Realtors.

John Stovall, vice president of business development for EcoBroker, said home buyers and sellers are spurring the spike in green realty services.

The 2007 Profile of Buyers' Home Feature Preferences, a publication of the National Association of Realtors, reported that 65 percent of home buyers said energy efficiency was very important to their purchase. A summer survey from Marketing Solutions in Las Vegas revealed that 89 percent of local new-home buyers wanted energy-conserving properties.

"People will call up our program and say, 'I have a client hunting for a home that has green features and I don't know what those are,'" said Stovall, whose group's membership has jumped from 120 agents 21/2 years ago to 2,200 salespeople today. "There's a good amount of consumer demand for this."

Heightened interest among buyers and sellers means that touting green practices can give Realtors and the homes they list a marketing advantage, agents say.

Lisa Santacaterina, a Realtor with Easy Street Realty in Las Vegas and one of 10 certified EcoBrokers in Nevada, said her environmental savvy helped her win a listing after she showed the homeowners how she could use their property's green advantages -- its orientation toward the sun and its insulating windows -- to promote the house.

"It does help you stand apart from the competition," Campbell said. "It helps show that you have different angles and different motives from other (agents)."

So is the greening of real estate sales just a trendy promotional gimmick Realtors are using to lasso a ride on the environmental-marketing bandwagon, or is it a movement with long-term potential?

David Syring, founder of ListedGreen.com, said he's rejected a lot of listings from agents who "get creative with verbiage" in an effort to snag a unique advertising hook.

There's also evidence that buyers aren't as keen to go green as they used to be.

An October survey from Shelton Group Energy Marketing and Advertising in Tennessee showed that consumers were on average 16 percent less likely to go green in the home, with 11 percent saying they're less likely to buy fluorescent light bulbs and 19 percent saying they're not as inclined to buy Energy Star appliances.

But Syring said continued high utility bills will translate into a sustained need for green goods and services. .

Two of Campbell's clients, at least, believe interest in eco-oriented home sales will have staying power.

The Pinders didn't retain Campbell for his green credentials, but Sherry Pinder said she'll cite Campbell's tree-planting and bulb-changing when she recommends him to friends.

"More and more, people are trying to do what's right for the environment," Pinder said. "If someone they hire can help them with that, they'd definitely use the person."

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-4512.