Market Research Suggests it Makes Financial Sense to Build an Eco Home

This is very interesting for someone who is thinking of building a home. It doesn’t actually cost anymore to build an energy efficient home than to build a conventional home of the same quality. Building green makes financial sense.

Some market research carried out by our own Louise Johnsen in Spain suggests people will pay 21% more.

Two recent studies in Oregon USA have demonstrated that a 30% sold price premium for green certified homes over those without such a certification and homes with a relatively new 3100 watt solar PV system in California can be sold for an average sales price premium of $17,000 more than a normal home.

If these sorts of figures are replicable elsewhere in Europe allied with rapidly falling prices for low carbon technologies and materials due to market forces and economies of scale then the cost of not building sustainable homes will be a real cost to the developer.

It costs only about 5% more to build green than build conventional. A report authored by Element Energy and Davis Langdon, which sourced twelve UK based home building companies, researched the subject of the cost of building to level 3 of the Code For Sustainable Homes (UK based). The report was published on 26th August 2011. They have fallen by more than 70% since 2008. The extra cost of building to level 3 standard is 5%. So code level 3 homes are nearly at parity (only 5% extra cost).

www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/codeupdatedcostreview

Author: John Wolfendale
Bio: John is a founder of Eco Vida and is passionate about bringing modern design and construction practices to Spain. He believes a home which is warm in winter and cool in summer is largely a matter of design and selective use of materials. He is British and a Chartered Surveyor with 18 years experience living and working in Spain.