A green residential wish list : most important features according to homeowners

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on March 19, 2013).Thesis advisor: Dr. Ronald G. PhillipsIncludes bibliographical references.M.S. University of Missouri--Columbia, 2012."December 2012"[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Buildings are leaders in the production of negative environmental impacts. However, the Environment and Behavior literature lacks studies on consumers' attitudes about buildings' green features. Despite of works in environmental valuation of residences that possess those features, studies dealing with attitudes and behaviors towards green products have mostly focused on non-durable products or on energy-efficient appliances and systems. This research employs a survey to explore homeowners' general attitude towards green homes. Likert-type scales and multiple-choice questions incorporate measures of environmental concern and perceptions about green homes related to worldviews, lifestyles and economic concerns. A demographics section addresses variables previously established as predictors of environmentally conscious behavior. The analysis is based on simple correlations and on a systems approach, the Multi-attribute Utility Technology (MAUT), which determines the relationships among the components in the system. Because of the exploratory nature of this research, a convenience sample was employed and followed by non-parametric statistical analysis