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How green are we? FEATURESECTION

BRANZ IS FREQUENTLY ASKED what is the financial or environmental value of higher-performing homes to developers, builders or homeowners.

Features in these homes can range from better-than-Code insulation, double glazing, water conservation and solar water heating through to energy-efficient lighting and controls. Benefits from higher-performing homes may include reduced ongoing costs, amenity and thermal comfort.

during and after the event. Resilient homes: ● help to protect occupants in storms, floods, extreme cold, landslips and wildfires

● minimise damage and disruption to the occupants

● minimise the costs and time involved in recovering and repairing damage.

New Zealand differentNew Zealand is recognised as having a different set of higher performance criteria for its housing stock than many other coun-tries and this research will explore why.

BRANZ will also look at what value going beyond Code could deliver, using international examples and case studies that could benefit New Zealand.

Going to the coalfaceInitially, group-home builders, valuers and real estate agents and homeowners will be surveyed to understand just how they value high-performance homes.

Solar technologies – for electricity genera-tion or hot water heating – will be used as

Valuing higher performers

Homes with sustainable features may not attract a premium in New Zealand’s real estate market. A BRANZ research project is asking why.

BY ROMAN JAQUES, BRANZ SENIOR SUSTAINABLE BUILDING SCIENTIST

Performance features not valuedSustainability researchers in New Zealand often receive anecdotal feedback that these features are not reflected in the value people assign to houses. As a result, they are not considered in the price homebuyers are typically willing to pay, stymying residential investment in higher-performing homes.

Reasons for the undervaluing are unknown, but suggestions range from a lack of understanding by the homeowner about the benefits to the lack of market mechanisms for the real estate industry.

More environmentally capable or resilientTo explore this further, BRANZ has begun a 2-year Building Research Levy-funded research project looking at how we value – financially or environmentally – higher-performing homes.

In this case, ‘higher performing’ is defined as more environmentally capable or more resilient homes.

Resilient homes are those that maintain critical life-support conditions if services are lost during extreme weather or an earthquake,

66 — Build 146 — February/March 2015

How green are we?FEATURESECTION

an indicator for other low-impacting and more resilient features.

US leads the wayA literature review shows that the US leads the way internationally in examining how higher-performing homes are valued.

North America has had environmental performance assessment tools for homes since 1998 – albeit on a regional basis for the first few years. The development of a common language and a standardised environmental assessment method is a key requirement in society’s recognising and rewarding higher-performing homes.

Previous study offers cluesSome studies have looked at value-related issues. For example, barriers to adopting sustainable features in housing were exam-ined in 2010 by Palmerston North City Council.

agents and valuers to use when appraising high-performing homes

● the Appraisal Institute launched 1- and 2-day courses on valuing high-performance resi-dential and commercial buildings

● the release of a Green Data Dictionary by their real estate organisation to standardise multi-listing sites for the provision of better assessment data

● developing online tools so the real estate industry can determine the economics of solar panels

● releasing green appraisal, financial and valuation tools.

Getting local feedbackBRANZ will hold industry workshops in the first quarter of 2015 to gauge industry response to some key issues and assess what type of information would be most useful.

Note This BRANZ research project is due for

completion in March 2016.

Interviews with housing policy, regulation, construction and sales professionals found:

● performance uncertainty for those commis-sioning, buying, building and designing houses

● fragmentation – environmental features were not considered integral to the design process

● a capital cost focus – only first-cost expenses were considered rather than lifetime running cost-benefits or return on investment.

Steps taken in the USThe US has seen an explosion of initiatives since 2008 due to recognition that higher-performing houses were undervalued, including:

● 1-day seminars on valuing green residential properties run by the equivalent of the New Zealand Property Institute

● developing procedures for real estate