Selling liveability over sustainability
What you’ll learn
- How to position sustainability alongside liveability.
- How to improve your client’s satisfaction post-build.
- The benefits of living in sustainable homes.
Rather than using the word ‘sustainability’ to describe what they want, Australians talk about finding a home that’s comfortable, healthy for their family and affordable. What they’re describing is liveability. The fact that they can achieve those benefits through sustainable choices is a bonus. If you want to gain insights from research into home buyers' needs, read What home buyers want from sustainability.
In this guide we’ll help you connect the dots between sustainable choices and how they will enrich your client’s lives now and into the future.
Connect sustainable choices to liveability
The decision-making process is never completely rational when it comes to choosing features for our homes. The choices your clients make are loaded with meaning and need to feel relevant to their lifestyles. While a demand for homes that are better for the environment continues to grow, the demand for homes that are better to live in has never waivered.
Research shows that home buyers place liveability and comfort at the top of their priority list:
- 30% of home buyers place liveability and comfort above appearance.
- 35% percent place it above budget.
- 40% place it above increasing the value of their property.
- People describe sustainability features alongside aspects of ‘quality’.
While people have many items on their priority list, from location to budget, home size, layout and quality, liveability is always front of mind. Therefore, it makes sense to position sustainability and liveability as one and the same in your sales strategy. As you guide your clients through their decision-making process, relate their choices back to how they’ll affect the liveability of their home once they move in.
The benefits of living in a sustainable home
Thanks to the good design principles that underpin a sustainable home, the benefits of living in one come into play as soon as your clients move in. Let’s take a look at the everyday benefits of living in a sustainable home, and how those benefits stretch into the future. Taking your clients through this same learning process can help increase their satisfaction post-build.
Everyday benefits of sustainability
Maintaining a comfortable temperature
When it comes to how comfortable a home is, the inside temperature plays a massive role. Relate your client’s desire for comfort to their choices for house orientation, windows and insulation. Communicate that these decisions either can’t be changed post-build or are expensive to rectify.
Energy-efficient windows can reduce the heat lost through them by up to 50% compared to a single glazed window. Proper insulation and draught proofing is equally important, with up to 25% of winter heat loss from existing houses being caused by air leakage.
Increasing natural light
Help your clients increase the natural light into their home by choosing the right building orientation. Guide them to placing living areas along the northern side of their home. This will help them take advantage of the sun in winter, and keep their living spaces light and bright.
Long-term benefits of sustainability
Healthier to live in
Sustainable homes are naturally healthier for your clients. Help them take advantage of the long-term benefits of stable and comfortable temperatures, better air quality and plenty of sunlight.
According to the Growing the Market for Sustainable Homes report (pdf, 3MB), 6.5% of deaths in Australia are attributed to cold weather and 0.5% from hot weather. Mild indoor temperatures can provide protection from a range of temperature related illnesses.
A well ventilated home is equally as important. Again, some of these features are hard to implement post-build. Research into homeowners seeking renovation found that 39% indicated preventing or addressing health concerns as extremely important in their considerations.
Cheaper to run
Energy-efficient choices go hand in hand with savings. With the cost of electricity rising in Australia, taking steps to reduce the amount of energy your clients use will improve their lifestyle long term. Key principles of energy-efficient design explains how properly insulating their ceiling, walls and floors can save them up to 45% on the cost of running their home. Guide your clients to choose energy-efficient hot water systems, heating, lighting and appliances and it will pay off for them and the environment down the line.
By leading with liveability over sustainability you’ll help your clients relate to the benefits of sustainable choices. The clients with enough budget to accommodate sustainability in their budget will be more satisfied when they move in. While your clients on a stricter budget may be open to compromising on other features they have on their list once you’ve helped them understand that these choices will enrich their lives. You can help them feel comfortable with these compromises by supporting good decision making processes. Read our guide on supporting effective compromise to find out how.
