Consumer awareness of “green” building products is growing but price is still an issue according to the results of a study by the Wood Science and Engineering department of Oregon State University.
Researchers gave consumers at several Home Depot stores a choice between two virtually identical plywood products – one with ecolabels and one without. When the price was the same the ecolabelled product outsold the other by 2:1. But when the price of the ecolabelled plywood was increased 2%, consumers chose non-ecolabelled by a 1.7:1 margin.
The researchers said more studies are needed in different areas using various wood products.
