Volume home builders and sustainability communication online: a case study of New South Wales, Australia

Sustainable and energy efficient homes in Australia are much needed in the objective to meet carbon targets and create sustainable homes that can ensure a resilient future. Despite an extensive amount of research, market implementation has been slow due to a limited regulatory regime and limited engagement by home builders. Many builders claim consumers have little interest and are not willing to pay, despite a number of consumer studies finding the opposite. A possible barrier is the communication between consumers and builders about sustainability and energy efficiency. Consumers typically have limited understanding of the home building process per se, let alone understand the nuances of sustainability and energy efficiency considerations for a new home. Thus their trust is in the builder to provide them with the information needed and offer appropriate products. The question of the research is, what kind of information is available and what is the quality of the information provided, particularly through key communication channels like websites, blogs and social media? This research used content analysis techniques to investigate the online communication channels of 23 New South Wales (Australia) volume home builders initially in 2020 and again in 2022. The study found the level of content and its quality to be non-existent or quite low, leaving consumers to trust that simple assignations that the home is sustainable, without explanation as to how it is more sustainable or energy efficient. In the repeat analysis of 2022 the industry appeared to have retracted much of the limited sustainability and energy efficiency messaging across their online platforms. The research identified opportunities for the volume housing industry, to enhance their communication capabilities and provide meaningful information that may assist in generating the change required.