The following is an excerpt from Realtor Magazine Online 10/01/2005. These statistics relate to the American Market but can be used as a general guide for Canadians:

In the US almost 9 out of 10 consumers surveyed in 2004 by the National Association of Home Builders said they have some degree of concern about the environmental impact of building their home. Seventeen percent said they’d pay more for an environmentally friendly home, and 46 percent—up from 35 percent in 2003—want an environmentally friendly home but aren’t willing to pay more. The random national sample of 5,700 consumers had a response rate approaching 50 percent.

The cost of eco-friendly living

Green often costs a little more upfront—roughly 2 percent to 5 percent more to build. The more green a home—Morgan uses a scale of one to five, five being the most green, with features such as solar panels—the more expensive it is.

But the energy savings appear immediately, the moment buyers move in, say green proponents. And because a green house involves a holistic design, buyers of new construction can sometimes realize a wash in their costs. For instance, stepped-up insulation or a home designed to respond to its site orientation means you can install smaller, more efficient, and less expensive furnace and AC units. Buyers and builders can also save by opting for recycled or local materials, according to GBI. “Green-built homes don’t have to cost so much more,” says Pfeiffer. “They just have to be better thought out.”

Green in 10 years

In the next decade, green could become to buildings what seatbelts are to cars. “When I was a kid, seatbelts were optional,” says green architect Peter L. Pfeiffer, of Barley & Pfeiffer Architects in Austin, Texas. “Now they’re so pervasive, they’re not even an issue.”

In the future, he says, buyers will stop looking at price per square foot and consider the durability, quality, and integrity of the building, as well as how it fosters a healthier living environment, which Pfeiffer and other green proponents say are natural benefits of green building design and materials.

Builders will build more regionally specific homes, Pfeiffer adds. “For instance, building a home in Dallas with a roof that sheds snow isn’t right because it adds construction costs and makes for smaller overhangs. In Dallas you need overhangs to shade your windows.”

What’s more, homes will be more likely to support themselves using solar energy panels that enable owners to sell excess energy back to the power grid, says Karla Martin, director of marketing for McStain Neighborhoods, a green builder in Louisville, Colo.

Thanks to shared values, the green movement is gathering momentum from the affordable housing industry, green experts say. In fact, says James B. Hackler, LEED for Homes program manager with the U.S. Green Building Council in Washington, D.C., “affordable housing will set the agenda for green.”

Why? It’s critical that affordable housing be economical to operate, not just to buy, says Richard Morgan, manager of the Austin (Texas) Energy Green Building Program. “Otherwise, you’re just creating more slums. If people’s bills are zapping all of their income, they’re not able to capitalize on their investment, and they lose their sense of equity in the community.”