A good idea going nowhere, slowly
While it seems obvious that a new home with lower energy costs should be more attractive than a traditionally-built one, builders have long since noticed that, really, buyers don’t care. So now they’re offering energy savings for “free”, and that seems to be working. Even then, however, it’s features that save money that have some appeal – those that are supposed to save the world don’t do anything to stir the eco-consciousness of anyone without a Barbara Streisand-sized budget to indulge their sensibilities.
To be sure, most buyers will always pick their new homes based on location and price and they still don’t seem willing to cough up much extra money for the green homes. Meanwhile, some builders aren’t overly focused on the eco-friendly movement, saying they’d rather stick with the traditional homes buyers have always wanted. …
Still, buyers are unlikely to pony up for unfamiliar products that don’t impact their bottom line. Robert Younkin says it was a “no brainer” to spend $4,600 to upgrade the solar-panel system on the KB Home he purchased in Valencia, Calif., late last year for $567,000. But when it came to smog-eating tiles, a rooftop feature that works with sunlight to eliminate the smog, he passed, in favor of pouring money into a backyard entertaining area and upgrading his kitchen.
“I don’t understand what those [smog-eating tiles] do. I had no idea what my 2,000 square feet of tile would have done for the carbon footprint or whatever,” said the 33-year-old father of two. “I care more about making the economics make sense.”
Watch out for the “free” energy audits in Nutmaeg territory….
If you do not do the “improvements” it is placed on your DEED unless you pay for the “free” audit…
Makes used car salesmen blush
CF, does having a wired internet network add a little value to a home? Are there any technologies which add value?
Balzac , it’s been my experience that buyers I work with are either technology idiots like myself and so don’t care or they’re high-tech savvy and know exactly what they want in the house and it’s never what the owner has installed
So either way, I’ve never worked with anyone who’s been willing to pay extra for that stuff.
That’s just anecdotal based on my limited sampling of buyers so I could be way off, but that’s what I’ve seen.
I bought some carbon-absorbing underpants yesterday, eating at Taco Bell today to see if they work.
Gene: I bet you thought such a thing doesn’t exist. You would be wrong.
http://www.solutions.com/jump.jsp?itemID=15748&itemType=PRODUCT&path=1%2C2%2C4%2C14%2C170&iProductID=15748
The problem with many “green technology” things is too many of them involve “more stuff that can go wrong” and “stuff that changes the way the house looks”.
Remember the super super insulated houses of the 70′s? Yeah. Pricey, and subject to all sort of mold issues. Also, looks wierd.
Super tight houses…fine now you need an electromechanical air exchanger and when you turn on the range extractor, the house depressurizes.
Highest efficiency windows… so reflective they are softenbing/melting the vinyl siding on neighbor houses because they reflect the energy at the wrong wavelengths. ( Just read that one in a building science mag!) Nevermind that some of the windows look wierd on historical house styles.
Seriously build a good solid house, don’t exaggerate and only integrate stuff that’s obviously reliable. I.e. good recycled materials. If you want to be clever how about planning for maintenance with ways to get at the wire runs, plumbing and stuff, make the mechanicals accessible.
Stop there.