Sustainable housing choices. The role of technology preferences

Abstract

This study employs a stated choice experiment to investigate preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainable housing technologies—solar panel systems, water recycling systems, thermal insulation walls/roofs, and solar domestic hot water systems—in four Colombian cities with varying living costs and climates. The design segmented respondents by household income to capture heterogeneity in trade-offs between monthly mortgage costs, housing area, and utility bill savings from each technology. Discrete choice models incorporating systematic and random preference heterogeneity quantified WTP, demand elasticities, and market share under alternative policy scenarios. Results show that higher-income households and residents of higher-cost cities place a greater value on sustainable technologies, with solar panels and water recycling systems being the most preferred options. Simulations suggest that targeted subsidies can substantially increase the sustainable housing market share, particularly for high-value technologies. Findings provide empirical evidence to guide effective policy design for equitable adoption of green housing in economies in the Global South.