As many as 42 percent of all buyers would be motivated to purchase a green home based on knowledge of their health benefits, compared with only 17 percent for energy savings and 12 percent for the environment, according to Building Green TV and Robert Charles Lesser & Co. 

“The industry has assumed that buyers would be motivated by the same energy cost-saving benefits that drive demand in the commercial sector,” said Shyam Kannan, vice president and director of research and development for RCLCO, the company that conducted the survey. “This approach hasn’t had much traction because of the timing of the costs and benefits of energy-saving features.  On average, buyers want to recoup the upfront cost of energy-saving features in 3.8 years, but it takes almost eight years for reduced energy bills to make up for the investment in these energy-saving features.  Meanwhile, buyers who are aware of the link between indoor air quality and a range of illnesses are unwilling to cut corners to protect the health of their families.” 

You can see more survey results here.