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ZEH Marketing Information

 

Information is available to help you understand the potential of the ZEH in today's housing market and establish value when developing guidelines for the sale of zero energy homes.

Role of Realtors and Appraisers

The energy efficient features of homes have always been regarded with varying levels of importance in the purchase and resale of a home. The lending organization, Fannie Mae, has and Energy Efficient Mortgage product that considers the economic benefit to energy efficiency when evaluating loan amounts. A challenge to the appraisal and real estate organizations is to understand the value of the ZEH when developing guidelines for the sale of zero energy homes. See the following document for a beginning understanding of some of the issues involved in appraising the ZEH.

  • ZEH Preliminary Market AnalysisPDF file. Adobe Acrobat required.
    (NAHB Research Center, December 2004, updated August 2005)
    This ten-page report examines the barriers to adoption of Zero Energy Homes given the current appraisal and mortgage lending process and its limited ability to place value on energy efficiency and renewable energy systems.

ZEH Market

Although early for large scale marketing efforts, the ZEH concept has been the focus of various studies to understand the potential of the ZEH in today's housing market. See the links below for various studies and surveys to date.

  • ZEH Market Analysis for the Dallas, TX AreaPDF file. Adobe Acrobat required.
    (NAHB Research Center, October 2004)
    A six-page market research study designed to understand why consumers would want to buy a ZEH, how much they would be willing to pay for the concept, and to develop an approach to marketing ZEHs in Dallas and other regions.
  • Large-Production Home Builder Experience with Zero Energy HomesPDF file. Adobe Acrobat required.
    (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, July 2004)
    A 15-page paper describing a large production home builder's experience building and selling 306 Zero Energy Homes in the San Diego area.
  • Comparative Analysis of Homebuyer Response to New Zero Energy HomesPDF file. Adobe Acrobat required.
    (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, July 2004)
    This 16-page paper presents preliminary findings of a survey of homeowners in Zero Energy Homes, highly energy-efficient homes, and conventional new homes in the San Diego area. The survey investigated homeowner perceptions and preferences with respect to energy features and other aspects of the home.

For information about renewable energy incentives in your state, refer to the Database of State Incentives.