What do buyers want in a green home?
The 2010 AVID Home Design Driver Research Survey provides some insight into what features today’s home buyers equate with a green home. AVID Ratings is a a leading provider of enterprise-level surveys specializing in the home building industry. The AVID survey studied the preferences of nearly 12,000 North Americans who have built a new home in the past nine years. The survey participants were selected because, having been through the process of building a new home, they would understand the trade-offs and cost factors involved
The survey included six buyer segments, defined as
- First Time Buyers – Growing families seeking initial homeownership and single/couples (no kids) seeking initial homeownership
- Move Up Buyers – Single/couples (no kids) seeking larger/better home and growing families seeking larger/better home
- Second Home Buyers – Professionals seeking secondhome (vacation home)
- Displaced Buyers – Professionals relocating and families seeking a smaller home due to change in family situation
- Empty Nester Buyers – Semi-retirees/retirees seeking age restricted communities or mixed-age communities
- Custom Home Buyers – Seeking custom luxury homes
Survey participants were asked what they would choose if they were to build a new house today. Features were rated as
- Must Have
- Really Want
- Might Be Nice If Affordable
- Might Be Nice If Included
- Not Important
Overall, survey respondents labeled 60% of the green features as “Must Haves.”
Paul Cardis, CEO of Avid, oversaw the report and says “The interest in energy efficiency surprised us.”
Energy-Efficiency was rated as a “Must Have” by all buyer segments. 74.2% of Custom Buyers, 63.9% of Second Home Buyers, 62.5% of Empty-Nesters, 57.7% of First Time Buyers, 52.6% of Displaced Buyers, and 51.6% of Move-Up Buyers rated energy efficiency a “Must Have”
What were the green features considered “Must Haves?” Energy-effiency features like energy-efficient appliances, high-efficiency insulation, and high-window efficiency were rated as “Must Have” by the majority of the respondents in all but one buyer segment in one category. With U.S. Displaced Buyers, high-window efficiency was considered a “Must Have” feature by 38.8% of the respondents while 42.5% rated it as “Really Want.”
All but one buyer segment rated Recycled/Synthetic Materials as “Might Be Nice If Affordable.” 35.5% of U.S. Empty Nesters rated it as “Really Want” while 33.9% considered it “Might Be Nice If Affordable.”
Chuck Miller GMB CGP CGB MIRM CMP MCSP CSP
President / Builder – Chuck Miller Construction Inc.
(208) 229-2553
