Builders say 'green' no priority for home buyers

By Nick Zieminski

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The high cost of energy-efficient materials like solar panels is curbing consumer demand for features that would make a house more "green," home building executives said this week.

Faced with a choice, home buyers would rather improve the look of a kitchen than spring for less-conspicuous technology that cuts their utility bills, Beazer Homes USA Inc. (BZH.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Chief Executive Ian McCarthy said at the Reuters Real Estate Summit in New York.

"I think people still look at a granite countertop and say, 'Wow, I'd really like that,' as opposed to really having energy efficiency," McCarthy said. " ... I think it's going to take some education."

Materials like solar panels, which are sold as roof tiles, are too expensive for consumers, partly because so few companies make them. Beazer pays about $2,000 to $3,000 to fit a home with such panels.

When the consumer won't foot the bill, the company is looking to cover the cost in other ways.

In Sacramento, California, the company teamed up with a local utility to install panels to generate electricity during the day and send the power back to the grid, balancing out the energy that residents used in the evening and at night.

"What we're trying to do is produce zero-energy homes," McCarthy said.

In Jacksonville, Florida, the company uses a Masco Corp. (MAS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) system called Environments For Living, which seals a home to limit energy use to a guaranteed level. It hopes to expand the program to other markets.

But for now, consumers just don't care, said Robert Toll, who heads the leading U.S. maker of luxury homes, Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)

Asked to what extent energy efficiency is a consideration to his customers, Toll said, "Zilch. Never was."

Even during the peak of the energy crisis in the 1970s, customers would express interest in saving energy, only to change their mind at the last minute.

Their priorities have not changed.

"So far, I've gotten one call in the last year about solar panels, so apparently it hasn't hit us yet," Toll said. "The buyer is not willing to trade efficiency for granite."

One reason for the lack of interest is that stricter rules already require more efficient heaters or thicker insulation, Toll said.

"The government is taking care of it," he said, "but it doesn't come from the people."