Page 8 - Green Builder May-June 2017 Issue

Green Building NEWS

The latest on sustainability and renewable energy

Millennials: The Next Great

Marketing Challenge

As they head into their financial prime, the baby “They also realize that

boomers’ kids will be a tough but coveted sell. there is a cost to doing
nothing, and also a po-
REEN BUILDERS WHO THINK it’s been a tential risk.”
boon marketing to ever-environmentally Millennials have be- CREDIT: FLICKR/JEFF DJEVDET
conscious baby boomers and Generation Xers come very good at creat-
over the past decade have an even bigger prize ing budgets, which help
ahead. The millennials, who are heading into them do a better job at Behold the ‘M’ word. Thanks to their
their prime earning years, will have the most planning and saving, size and spending power, millennials
G spending power of all, but be very careful with Notchick adds. Advice are about to become a green sales force
their money, according to a San Diego investment planner. and examples from their to reckon with.
As the largest segment of the adult population—the Census Bureau parents have also taught them to spend money only on things they
puts their number at 75 million, between ages 15 and 33—millennials really deem important.
will be influential for decades, according to Dennis Notchick, a certified And, they’ve learned to change with the times. “The fact they grew
financial planner with Safeguard Investment Advisory Group. up in a time of fast-developing technology and are quick to adapt to
They’ve also learned a lot from their baby boomer parents, when it the changes also gives them an advantage,” Notchick notes. “In the
comes to saving and investing money. “Sixty-five percent of millen- financial-investing world, new technology now provides for an instant
nials believe their parents provided a good example of how to have snapshot of an investment or an entire estate on an app on their
a successful financial future,” Notchick says in a company release. phone, and that’s a domain they are comfortable working within.”

Energy Star Labeling Wins Consumers

More than 9 in 10 shoppers prefer goods with the ES label.

N 2016, 91 PERCENT of U.S. households recognized the Energy Forty-five percent of households
Star label, up from 88 percent a year earlier, according to a survey reported that they knowingly purchased
by the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE). Last year’s results an Energy Star product in the last 12
are also the highest level of recognition observed in any survey months. Additionally, 85 percent of those
Iyear, up by 48 percent since CEE’s first survey in 2000, CEE notes. households were likely to recommend an CREDIT: ENERGY STAR
The household survey, conducted in the nation’s top 57 Nielsen Energy Star-labeled product to a friend,
Designated Marketing areas, shows the strength of the Energy Star which is “indicative of strong brand
brand by measuring label recognition, understanding and influence on loyalty and emotional connection among A rising ‘Star.’ More
people than ever are
purchasing decisions, according to CEE Deputy Director John Taylor. those customers that use the label,” seeking out and
“Consumers continue to exhibit broad understanding of what the Taylor says. recommending products
label means and look to Energy Star when purchasing energy using with the Energy Star
products,” Taylor says. “The credibility and independence brought Environmental Protection Agency, Na- label, according to the
Consortium for
by the federal government, combined with the boots-on-the-ground tional Awareness of Energy Star for 2016, Energy Efficiency’s
of efficiency programs and industry partners, continue to bear fruit.” http://bit.ly/2pUCYiB latest survey.

6 GREEN BUILDER May/June 2017 www.greenbuildermedia.com

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