Millennials Value Sustainability But Savings Incentivize Them

Millennials want green, but they don’t want to spend green. Despite a majority of the generation being concerned about the environment, only 18 percent say they would actually invest in environmentally-friendly features for their homes for sustainability reasons alone according to a survey by the National Association of Home Builders. Millennials change their tune, however, when the money gets involved: When the survey mentioned that the homeowner would save $1000 in utility costs, 80 percent were willing to spend more than $1000 upfront. So if you’re a builder trying to market your sustainable features, focusing on energy-efficiency and savings may just be the selling point that sways that young programmer and her new family into spending the extra bucks for a green home. 

Results from NAHB’s report, What Home Buyers Really Want (2019 Edition), show that Millennials want an environment-friendly home, but few are willing to pay more for it for that reason alone. They are, however, willing to pay for certain green features, such as those that provide energy efficiency and cost saving benefits over time.

When asked ‘how concerned are you about the impact of building your home on the environment?’, most Millennials – 83 percent –report that they are concerned about the impact of building a home on the environment, but only 16 percent would pay more for an environment friendly home (Figure 1).

The remaining 67 percent who expressed concern for the environment, are split between ‘wanting an environment friendly home, but would not pay more’ (33 percent) and ‘concerned about the environment, but not a consideration in house purchase’ (34 percent). A minority of Millennial home buyers — 18 percent — report that they are not concerned about the environment.

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