Jun-Hyung Kim, Dong-Ha Park, Myoung-Sub Choi and Sang-Young Lee (2017-08), "Preference and demand of energy-efficient housing: results of questionnaire survey among Seoul Residents on Zero-Energy House," Housing Studies Review, 25(3): 95-116.
Abstract
The Government has expedited the policy to equip new buildings with energy-efficient system, in particular the Zero-Energy House (ZEH), which uses passive technologies reducing the building energy consumption and active technologies utilizing the New and Renewable energy source. However, little efforts have been made to understand the preference, demand, and willingness to live in or to pay for the ZEH. This study conducted face-to-face interviews covering 484 residents in Seoul in order to investigate perceptions toward environment, interests in the ZEH, and willingness to reside in and to pay for the ZEH.
The findings of this study are as follows: 1) There is abundant demand for the ZEH among households. More than 70% of the respondents agree on the necessity for the ZEH, and have willingness to live in the ZEH. 2) This demand for the ZEH is sensitive to its price, meaning that the respondents change their willingness considerably when the price of energy rises or when they have to pay additional costs for the ZEH. In detail, the degree to which they are willing to pay more for the ZEH over the non-energy efficient houses amounts to 16% of the rental price and 20% of the purchase price. 3) The willingness to live in the ZEH is strongly related to the interests in the environment and to the perception toward energy-efficient housing. This implies that the ZEH market can grow significantly through the active education, campaigning and marketing efforts.
Keywords
Zero-Energy House (ZEH); Energy-efficient housing; Environmental consumption; Green house gas reduction