Preferences on Green Home Attributes among Malaysian Households
Abstract
Green home concept is an effort made to reduce the impacts of pollution, saving energy and educate Malaysian people with sustainable lifestyle. The aim of this study was to examine consumers preference on green home attributes in Peninsular Malaysia defined by carbon dioxide (CO2) emission, rainwater harvesting system, natural air ventilation, and greeneries area. Self-administered questionnaires were used to obtain necessary data from 300 selected households through stratified random sampling in Kajang and Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor, located in central west of Penisular Malaysia using questionnaires through face to face. The choice model technique was applied to estimate the non market values for this study. The results show that all the attributes are tested significant in generic form, while only three are tested significant in label form. Two attributes are tested insignificant which is rainwater harvesting system and greeneries area in label form. The estimated implicit values for green home attributes based on Multinomial Logit regression shows that natural indoor air ventilation is the most important attribute. This is followed by green areas, carbon dioxide (CO2) emission and rainwater harvesting system. The findings also reveal that Malaysian society preferred green home as compared to conventional housing based on the attributes. Finally, the study highlighted several recommendations for households, developers and government to stimulate the green home development in Malaysia. Future work should examine the possibility of other attributes effect to Malaysian consumers.
Downloads
References
Shafii, F. (2007). Sustainable buildings in South-East Asia: Opportunities and implementation. Conference on Sustainable Building South-East Asia (SB07). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Turcotte, D.A. (2006). Sustainable development: A better holistic view. New Solutions, 16(4).
Chiu, R.L.H. (2004). Socio-cultural sustainability of housing: A conceptual exploration. Housing, Theory and Society, 21(2), 65-76.
Enterprise Community Partners, Inc (ECP). (2007). “Green communities criteria”, Columbia, MD: Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.greencommunitiesonline.org/
Shafii, F. & Othman, M.Z. (2007). Sustainable buildings in the Malaysian context. Conference on Sustainable Building South-East Asia (SB07). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 5-7 November 2007.
Banfi, S., Farsi, M., Filippi, M., & Jacob, M. (2008). Willingness to pay for energy-saving measures in residential buildings. Energy Economics, 30, 503-516.
Abdulla, F.A. & Al_Shareef, A.W. (2009). Roof rainwater harvesting systems for household water supply in Jordan. Desalination, 243, 195-207.
Herrmann T. & Schmida U. (1999). Rainwater utilization in Germany: efficiency, dimensioning, hydraulic and environmental aspects. Urban Water, 1, 307 – 316.
Ghisi, E., Bressan, D.L., & Martini, M. (2007). “Rainwater tank capacity and potential for potable water savings by using rainwater in the residential sector of southeastern Brazil”, Building and Environment, 42(4), 1654-1666.
Platts-Mills, T.A.E. (1995). Is there a dose response relationship between exposure to indoor allergens and symptoms of asthma? Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 96, 435-440.
National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). (2006). NAHB model green home building guidelines. Washington, DC: National Association of Home Builders. Retrieved from http://www.nahb.org/fileUpload_details.aspx?contentTypeID=7&contentID=1994)
Haber, G.M. (1977), “The Impacts of Tall Buildins on Users and Neighbors”, In: Conway D, editor. Human response to tall building. Stroudsburg, PA: Dowden, Hutchinson, & Ross. 45-57.
]Nichols, K.W. (1977). “Urban office buildings: view variables”, In: Conway D, editor. Human
response to tall building. Stroudsburg, PA: Dowden, Hutchinson, & Ross. 72-80.
Ulrich, R. (1994). View through a window may influence recovery from surgery. Science, 224, 420–421.
Lagercrantz, L, Wistrand, M., Will, U., Wargocki, P., Witterseh, T., & Sundell, J. (2000). “Negative impact of air pollution on productivity: Paper presented at the proceedings of healthy buildings”, Helsinki, Finland.
Louviere, J.J., Hensher, D.A. & Swait, J.D. (2000). Stated choice methods—Analysis and applications. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
Greene (2003). Econometric Analysis. New York. Macmillan Publishing Company.
Thomas (2000). Économétrie des variables qualitatives. Dunod, Paris.
Adamowicz, W., Louviere, J. & Williams, M. (1994). Combining revealed and stated preference methods for valuing environmental amenities. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 26: 271–292.
Boxall, P., Adamowicz, M, Swait, J., Williams, M. & Louviere, J. (1996). A comparison of stated preference methods for environmental valuation. Ecological Economics, 18: 243-253.
Morrison, M. D., Bennett, J. W. & Blamey, R. K. (1999). Valuing improved wetland quality using choice modeling. Water Resources Research, 35: 2805-2814.
Pek, C.K. & Jamal, O. (2011). A choice experiment analysis for solid waste disposal option: a case study in Malaysia. Journal of Environmental Management, 92: 2993-3001.
TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHT
JRBEM is pleased to undertake the publication of your contribution to Journal of Research in Business Economics and Management.
The copyright to this article is transferred to JRBEM(including without limitation, the right to publish the work in whole or in part in any and all forms of media, now or hereafter known) effective if and when the article is accepted for publication thus granting JRBEM all rights for the work so that both parties may be protected from the consequences of unauthorized use.