Valuing energy-saving measures in residential buildings: A choice experiment study

Air-conditioning and heating energy-saving measures can cut back the usage of energy. This paper attempts to apply a choice experiment in evaluating the consumer's willingness to pay (WTP) for air-conditioning and heating energy-saving measures in Korea's residential buildings. We consider the trade-offs between price and three attributes of energy-saving (window, facade, and ventilation) for selecting a preferred alternative and derive the marginal WTP (MWTP) estimate for each attribute. We also try to test irrelevant alternatives property for the estimation model holds and compare the estimation results of the multinomial logit (MNL) and the nested logit (NL) models. The NL model outperforms the MNL model. The NL model show that MWTPs for increasing the number of glasses and their variety, for increasing the thickness of facade for I mm, and for establishing a ventilation system are KRW 17,392 (USD 18.2), 1,112 (1.2), and 11,827 (12.4), respectively. Overall, the potential consumers have significant amount of WTP. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.