I am posting to ask the opinions and desires of the modern green home buyer, renovator, etc. I am a home developer/contractor and I have decided to take my business in a different direction. Admittedly, my little 2 year old granddaughter is to blame. I worry that the way I have been doing business, with the clearing of land and bottom-line driven homes isn't right for the environment.

So I ask all those out there looking into creating or recreating a home to be green, what are you looking for? Even better, what could change about the standard developer/contractor driven neighborhood to make them more appealing to the green home buyer.

I know my costs are going to go up and this may not happen until after the market recovers, but I want to make sure that I am attracting the people who want green homes and won't just turn to the next neighborhood, with standard homes and buy there just for the price.

Help me out.

While I am not in the market for a home anytime soon, I would say that siting is something that the modern house farm type neighborhood lacks.

All the homes face the street, typically with the obnoxious garage as the largest element visible to the public. Its like we are making houses for cars and not for people. As well as the aesthetics, just plopping a home down in the same orientation to the street no matter what that means to the cardinal directions, means that there is little-no chance of taking advantage of passive solar, prevailing winds or any other site oriented decision.

If you want to make a difference, don't start with the infrastructure and dividing properties into equal plots. Think about the area you purchase as a whole and look for the best divisions based on features. You may get less divisions but you may be able to sell them for more and create real homes rather than just houses.

Comfort and Quality.

Its as easy as that. I think that most new home owners are looking for the right fit and comfort and quality play a big role. There will always be the buyers that worry first about the dollar signs but those aren't the one's out looking for green homes in the first place.

Most people out looking for a new green home/development will fall in to one of two very general categories. The experts; people with training or education in the green building fields or the novice; people who have caught "green fever" and want to do their part. The prior are the hard ones to serve as they will want real green homes, while the latter are those that if you hit some or all of the trends, you can make a sale without going all the way with the green home. You design, build and sell to your target audience.

I of course would go all the way with every home, but in this market that may not be feasible.

AD; I don't know if its as simple as that. I think comfort and quality are indeed right up on top of the characteristics that attract the new home buyer, but so to are location, ease of access, amenities, aesthetics, schools, and so on and so on.

I also think your groupings are unfair. Sure you have both types of people but there are some very interesting clients right around the middle, the grey area if you will. The people who know little about green building, but want to know that want to learn. You mention in your introduction that you and your firm strive to educate, but your statements above contradict that. This isn't a shot at you, but a want of clarification.

There are also those who know more than their fair share about sustainability and environmentalism that just haven't had much exposure to the building trades. Those are my favorite clients.

But back to the initial questions. I feel the new green home buyer is looking for the whole package, but without sacrificing the traditional home. This is a tough thing to do when you consider that many homes are too large and consist of rooms (dining room) that go unused for much of the life of the home. The simplest model for a successful green development would be one that looks just like a traditional neighborhood, but when you "lift the hood" you find its a "green machine"

BTB, I agree with you that the whole package is what the green consumer is looking for, but I also think there is something to be said about serving the market trends, especially during the stage we are in where green technologies, techniques and products can be cost prohibitive.

Moving the whole population to a new paradigm will not be easy and the prevailing attitude is the home as investment. I agree with this idea, but too often the homebuyer wants a quick return and wants to be in an out within a ten year or less window. That isn't enough time to truly gain the benefits from the investment. This fact is only made more evident by the green home market. An increased investment in a marketplace that does not value the 'greenness' of a home makes it much more difficult to justify the complete greening of a home. The ROI is just not there and either the prevailing attitudes of what is desirable or the cost of going green must change.

hey all,

Thanks for the great start on figuring this all out. What my plan is, is to buy some land, preferably old unused farmland and start by planting it and allow it to grow for some time. I would then divide it up and do the whole green thing with it. I just can't see buying pristine property and building a green neighborhood. Wouldn't that be contradictory and scare some people away?

It may be a pie in the sky idea as it will take years or even a decade for this to happen but I think its worth a shot as a long term investment. I am guessing that the green movement will only get bigger and we will be seeing more and more green homes.