Green Homes – An Emerging Trend

April 27, 2007

"Green homes" – those with special features to increase the home’s energy and resource efficiency – are becoming more popular with buyers and builders. Homeowners who now have a new "green" home are happier with their homes than with their previous non-green homes, and most of them enthusiastically recommend "buying green" to others. That was revealed in a recent survey conducted jointly by McGraw-Hill Construction and the National Association of Home Builders.

"Though it’s still a small number, builders are now getting it when it comes to the value of real green homes, and it appears homeowners are too," said Harvey Bernstein, a McGraw-Hill vice president. Last year, about 2 percent of the residential construction market had at least one green building element, such as energy-efficient appliances, he noted. "It’s also powerful to find that people are really starting to commit to building truly green homes, moving away from just adding energy efficient appliances or another single aspect that’s green. They’re paying attention to the holistic benefit of green.," he said.

The survey and study revealed the following:

The average new owner of a green home is affluent and well educated, in his or her mid-forties and married, and more likely to be from Western or Southern states. Women are most likely to be green homeowners.
Home operating costs are a major concern for these owners. About 60 percent report lower operating and maintenance costs as the key motivation behind buying a green home. Also, nearly 50 percent report environmental concerns and family health as motivators.
The lead obstacles to specifying green features in a new home are lack of awareness about them, higher costs, and scarcity of needed components and availability of green homes. The biggest obstacle noted by current green home owners was lack of education about green homes and their benefits.
It’s interesting to note that more green products are now being purchased and used in home remodeling projects. Nearly half of the overall homeowner population has recently done some renovation work on their home, and about 40 percent of that population is doing so with some green products, according to the study.

Mike Nagel, chairman of the NAHB Remodelers Council, made this statement: "The only way to bring green into 120 million existing households is through remodeling. Americans spent over $230 billion last year in home remodeling, with energy efficient and sustainable products representing an increasing share of the market."

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