Mounting energy bills seen to boost green homes

By Joshua Brown

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Environmentally friendly homes, once a luxury reserved for the rich, have become more accessible to middle class Americans seeking to trim their energy and water bills, McGraw-Hill Construction said in a study released on Thursday.

Within the last three years, more than 330,000 homes have been built in the United States featuring environmentally sustainable design, solar power, or other green technology, the study showed. That's 6.2 percent of all homes being built, triple the percentage in 2005, when 1.8 percent of new homes were "green."

"The green market is growing everywhere, we are tracking a trend ... the movement is growing across the country, not just at high but at all income levels," said Robert Ivy, McGraw-Hill Construction vice president and editor.

McGraw-Hill Construction estimated that green construction was now a $36 billion-a-year industry, up $5 billion from three years ago.

More than half of green home buyers in the last three years earned less than $75,000 per year, and 30 percent earned less than $50,000 per year, according to the study.

Green home renovations had been seen as a luxury for people who can afford custom builders. But advances in technology, government subsidies and new construction practices have helped make green and efficient homes more affordable.

Figures in McGraw-Hill's study highlight green housing as a bright spot in a slumping housing market. Some 70 percent of buyers in the study said they were either more or much more inclined to purchase a green home over a conventional home.

"In the midst of the worst housing downturn since World War II, builders continue to see growth in demand for green and energy-efficient homes," Matt Belcher, a builder and representative of the National Association of Home Builders, said in testimony to Congress last week.