Construction Informer

As is most often the case, human beings put off the tough choices until they absolutely have to make them. If some recent polling is any indication U.S. consumers may be thinking more about appearances than they are about energy costs as the recession begins to lift.

The Shelton Group, founded in 1991 by Suzanne Shelton, is an advertising agency located in Knoxville, Tennessee, focused exclusively on motivating mainstream consumers to make sustainable choices. The firm asked 504 Americans by phone some questions about the home improvement choices they may be thinking about making.

Last year, the survey found 26 percent of the respondents were considering remodeling their kitchens or baths, while this year that number rose to 37 percent. Last year, 25 percent said they would replace their carpeting or add hardwood or tile but this year that number went up to 33 percent. On the energy side, five percent fewer people will be replacing their HVAC equipment this year than last, and four percent fewer will be replacing their windows.

“Energy efficiency is back to playing second fiddle, competing with more visible and exciting home improvement projects,” said Shelton. “Anyone selling energy-efficient products must either focus heavily on the aesthetic or comfort aspects of their products or play up their environmental benefits in a big way.”

What was most surprising was that in the wake of all the whining and crying about electricity rates going up if the country pursues an energy policy that assigns responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions, respondents said they would spend $1500 more per year on household energy before they would take action to rein in those costs. It just may be though they will get the chance to do that, perhaps sooner than they think, as electric companies across the country are looking for rate increases even before they are forced to cleanup, or pay up. Of course we all know who is really going to be doing the paying, it’s just a matter of when we all want to get on with it.

Central Vermont Public Service is asking for about a six percent rate increase beginning in January of 2010. PPL, an electricity supplier to Northeast and central Pennsylvania, is asking for a 30 percent hike in order to make up for that state’s effort to artificially control the cost of electricity for nearly a decade through rate caps. The average household should expect to pay an additional $378 per year. Not anywhere close to the survey respondents’ pinch point, but no less telling about the direction of things to come. In Missouri, Empire District Electric Co. wants a rate increase of almost 20 percent, part of which is to help offset the costs of building two new coal-fired power plants.

But the Shelton survey is just one indicator. A new “green consumer” measuring stick recently came out called the Green Confidence index. This is supposed to be:

…a monthly snapshot of Americans’ attitudes about and confidence in their leaders and institutions, nationally and locally, on the subject of environmental responsibility, as well as in their own understanding of issues and their willingness to make green purchasing choices. It is the first comprehensive monthly tracking of consumers’ green attitudes and purchasing.

Right out of the gate this index is showing Americans are ready to increase their purchases of environmental products but cost remains a barrier. The index also makes us seem a bit uncommitted. While half of us claim to be doing our part when it comes to the environment, 41 percent aren’t taking the dollars out of our wallets to buy green products. Not that buying green products is the only way to be environmentally friendly, but hey, the index is about consumers, and consumers are all about buying stuff. The good news according to the index is that the respondents are more optimistic about 2010 and their ability to buy green during that year.

So, I guess the takeaway is that if you are depending upon green to differentiate yourself and to boost your business, you might want to be sure you’ve got the absolutely best prices going. Then cross your fingers and wait for 2010.