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Luxury Buyers Pursue Green Bragging Rights
Retirees and Move-Down Buyers Want Energy and Health
Move-Up Buyers Seek Energy Savings
First-Time Buyers Have Done Their Green Homework
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First-Time Buyers Have Done Their Green Homework
Photo Credit: Aquidneck Fine Properties
Luxury buyers want small, exquisitely designed homes that blend in with the landscape.
Young, first-time home buyers tend to be more educated on the subject of sustainability than are other groups. Design-builder Michael Anschel says that when he talks with young people about building or remodeling, they come to the table with very definite green requirements. If it's a remodel, for example, "They will know their house has issues, they will want those issues fixed or improved, and they will want the result to be green. It's not a maybe — it's a must," says Anschel, principal in Otogawa-Anschel Design-Build in Minneapolis.
While older buyers tend to focus on specific products, such as the HVAC system or the windows, Anschel says younger people "are more system thinkers. They want a space that's [designed to be] efficient and healthy."
Younger consumers also respond well to green products with a hip factor. "They tend to be more willing to pay a premium for products that are a little bit cooler," Anschel says. Bamboo flooring is an example. It's a green product, but so is the birch that's available in Anschel's local market. "The price jumps from $4.50 per square foot for birch to $12 for bamboo, but the bamboo is cool," he says. "We see a lot more focus on style from this demographic."
 Photo Credit: ©2008 Joel Puliatti for Vetrazzo, puliattiphoto@yahoo.com
Recycled glass countertops
Although style and design are important to first-time buyers, Anschel says they also want products to have "some validating component that makes them feel more acceptable." Such products might include sustainably harvested wood cabinets, recycled materials for countertops, or salvaged stone or wood floors. "Salvage is huge for this group," he says. "Anything with a story is very exciting."
As much as first-time buyers want to protect the planet, they're just as passionate about protecting their health and their children's health as are other demographic groups, and they see the use of green products in the home as a powerful way to do so.
Photo Credit: ConcreteNetwork.com
A concrete countertop installed by Kaldari Custom Concrete Designs, Laguna Beach, Calif.
According to the 2009 Builder Magazine/American Lives New-Home Shopper Survey, 26 percent of buyers in their 20s, and 25 percent of those in their 30s, would spend an extra $2,000 for green features that enhance indoor air quality, even though the products wouldn't save money on their energy bills. About 15 percent of 20-somethings and 20 percent of 30-somethings would spend an extra $5,000 for those products. While that's less, on average, than an older, move-down buyer will spend, the difference in no way implies a lesser commitment to green; it simply reflects the two groups' income disparity.
Photo Credit: Simonton Windows
"Many of these buyers are young families, or couples who will be starting families soon," says Brenda Be, principal of Boston-based Be™ Interior Design and Project Management and a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Associate. "Developers of the green condos in New York's Battery Park City found that healthy indoor air was the No. 1 feature appreciated by many of the young families locating there. Features like GREENGUARD™ indoor air quality certified materials, low-VOC paints and finishes, and high CFM vent fans in kitchens and bathrooms for adequate air exhaust are easy to play up and are appreciated by parents or parents-to-be."
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