Sustainability ratings in residential development: a worthwhile endeavour?

Abstract

Purpose Rating tools for the built environment were designed to engage consumers and enhance sustainability and resilience. However, the intended outcomes of these rating systems appear to have limited implementation in the residential new housing market in Australia. The purpose of this paper is to investigate consumers’ motivations and experiences who have purchased houses that are situated in a sustainability-based certified development and will have been required to comply with mandatory dwelling certification. Design/methodology/approach The paper explores the awareness and perception of sustainability ratings and whether the motivations for purchasing in the sustainably certified development have heightened their awareness of sustainability and the resilience of new housing. This has been investigated through a pilot study of consumers who have purchased land in a certified estate and built a new home, through an online survey. Findings The findings reveal that the rating systems are at present not having the desired influence as first thought; that is, to inform consumers of the sustainability of a dwelling or property and to instigate trust of the environmental credentials of the property. Research limitations/implications This illuminating case study of participants who have purchased a sustainable rated development demonstrates that regardless of their concern for environmental issues, consumers have both low awareness and trust in the ratings. Despite this, consumers do seek value from these credentials to the overall property. Originality/value This study aims to illustrate the disconnect in engagement between developers, builders and new home buyers in relation to sustainability certification and implementation.

Barriers inhibiting the transition to sustainability within the Australian construction industry: An investigation of technical and social interactions

“…With Australia's strong population growth rate, this represents at least a 50 percent reduction in emissions per capita, exceeding even the targets set by the US, Japan, the EU, Canada, and South Korea (Australian Government, 2015). The Australian building industry, as the major source of emissions, is an integral element in the program towards reducing emissions (Berry and Marker, 2015b, Warren-Myers et al, 2018, Wong et al, 2018. The report by ClimateWorks (2016, p. 2), on the contribution that buildings must make in realizing this goal, states:…”

“…Under the NCC, there is a mandatory requirement that new dwellings meet a six star energy efficiency rating, based on NatHERS (Warren-Myers et al, 2018) Several voluntary instruments for the reduction of emissions also exist, and these provide certification across a range of sustainability compliance levels (Yang and Yang, 2015, Gou and Xie, 2017, Li et al, 2017. These tools (hereinafter referred to as 'green' rating tools) act as complimentary to the mandatory scheme (Xia et al, 2013, Van der Heijden, 2016.…”

“…Despite the value of the above studies in identifying sustainability transition barriers, their efforts have in the main concentrated on technical features and performance issues of sustainability rating tools (Xia et al, 2013, Hatvani-Kovacs et al, 2018. The rating tools are, however, designed to engage consumers, and as such, the primary intended outcomes of these rating systems have been overlooked in previous Australian studies (Warren-Myers et al, 2018). Moreover, of those studies that have paid attention to consumers, they have not considered the strong influence of interactions among power groups, individual group members and the reciprocal impacts between individual interactions and group level behaviors.…”

“…Simply, the impact of social dynamics has been missing from the examinations of existing literature (Foong et al, 2017). Previous studies like Wong et al (2018) and Warren-Myers et al (2018) have targeted specific stakeholders in isolation, with the major focus being on market leaders rather than mass consumers (van der Heijden, 2018). Indeed, the residential building market, and the ordinary consumers who need housing, have simply not received the attention they deserve (van der Heijden, 2014, Warren-Myers et al, 2018.…”

A spatial analysis of EPCs in The Belfast Metropolitan Area housing market

“…In terms of spatial dynamics, their analysis also reveals that socio-economically disadvantaged areas suffer from disproportionately higher levels of EER non-disclosure, potentially constituting a 'double disadvantage' of non-disclosure and low-energy efficiency dwelling stock. Warren-Myers et al (2018) in a more behavioural approach, and using a pilot case study, investigated consumers' awareness, motivations and experiences for purchasing dwellings that are situated in a sustainability-based certified development. Their findings infer that the sustainable rating systems are not having the desired influence as originally envisaged which the authors conclude demonstrates that regardless of their concern for environmental issues, consumers have both low awareness and trust in the ratings.…”