“Green” buildings should be ubiquitous, considering the decisive role they can play in mitigating the effects of climate change. UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres has said that “how we design power generation, transport and buildings in cities – how we design the cities themselves – will be decisive in getting on track to achieve the Paris Agreement.” So why aren’t there many more green buildings? The problem apparently lies on the demand side, according to the research in this newly published paper. Affordability, however, is only one part of the challenge to spur more consumer demand. One of the most fascinating insights in this research is that consumers are still unclear about why they should buy or live in a green building. The researchers found that “after more than 20 years of promotion, the public is still very vague about what private benefits the green building houses can offer. More effective and creative strategies for green building education are needed.” This conclusion fits with the points we made in our chapter on green premiums in the Game Changer book, when we stressed that companies need to do a better job of underscoring the value and benefits of the product beyond the general “it’s for the good environment” claim. In short: for many green products, the problem with igniting stronger growth is the messaging, not the price.
Why aren’t green buildings ubiquitous?
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