PERCEPTIONS, EXPECTATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS OF GREEN FEATURES IN CONDOMINIUMS: VIEWS OF ESTATE AGENTS AND POTENTIAL HOME BUYERS

Abstract

The building sector is one of the top contributors for carbon dioxide emissions in Singapore. Research has shown that more than 90 per cent of the life-cycle carbon emissions are due to the operation phase of the building, and 90 to 98 per cent of the building cost is realized in operation, maintenance, financing and personnel costs. Hence occupants have a greater role in achieving the environmental sustainability objectives. With that, this study seeks to understand the awareness level of the potential home owners and real estate agents on the environmental sustainability issues in the built environment, identify the types of green features required by potential home owners, and understand the real estate agents’ perceptions of the types of green features required by the home owners in a green condominium. Descriptive surveys are conducted with the potential home owners and real estate agents. Divergences between potential home owners’ expectations and the real estate agents’ perceptions of potential home owners’ expectations of green features in the homes are computed as gap scores. Independent-samples t-test is then conducted at 95% confidence interval to determine the significance of the gap scores. The analysis results indicated that 1) the potential home owners are more aware of the environmental sustainability issues in the built environment than the real estate agents; 2) the potential home owners seem to be more supportive of environmental sustainable development than what is perceived by the real estate agents although the price of the apartment remains the key deciding factor; and 3) the potential home owners are more concerned about the ease of maintaining the green homes and place greater attention on green features that are in the areas more widely promoted by the government and media. However, green features do not constitute the main considerations potential home owners have when they make a decision to buy green homes. To further substantiate the findings from the survey questionnaires and gather fresh perspectives, interviews were carried out with three property industry professionals. Thereafter, to close up the gaps identified from the analysis, recommendations such as 1) having a Green Mark (GM) Scheme that addresses the whole life-cycle of buildings; 2) conducting GM-related courses for the real estate agents and 3) involving the real estate agents to be part of the developers’ project consultancy team are suggested.