Investing in Sustainable Built Environments: The Willingness to Pay for Green Roofs and Green Walls

• Main Authors: Inês Teotónio, Carlos Oliveira Cruz, Cristina Matos Silva, José Morais
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-04-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: green infrastructure; sustainable built environment; willingness-to-pay; stated preferences; residential buildings; Portugal
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/8/3210

Green infrastructure, such as green roofs/walls, plays a key role in addressing urban problems. Despite the well-established sustainable mentality, aspects such as aesthetics, recreation, and welfare are still the main drivers for undertaking such investments. Several studies have focused on proving the benefits of green infrastructure, namely, thermal insulation, air quality, and others. However, significant soft benefits have not yet been properly addressed. It is, therefore, important to understand how much citizens are willing to invest in those mitigating measures and list the aspects that influence that value. This study suggests a methodology based on stated preferences to evaluate the willingness-to-pay of owner/tenants for green roofs/walls in residential buildings and determine the influence of multiple factors. Results show that consumers reveal higher willingness-to-pay for accessible green roofs. Knowledge of benefits and the accessibility of green roofs have a great impact on the willingness-to-pay. Recreation benefit is at the forefront of individuals’ concerns; even more than aesthetics.