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Low energy house cost

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 12:12 pm
by Mettyx
I'm planning on building a low-energy house(close to ultra-low but not passive) and in my country the cost is around 85 000 dollars for about 100m2 surface(3 rooms +2 bathrooms).

I contacted a company in US that specializes in this and they told me that a low energy house of that size would cost 200 000 dollars at least in US. Why is there such a vast difference in cost?

Re: Low energy house cost

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 12:54 pm
by CA_Steve
Labor rate differences probably constitute the biggest part. Then, add permitting fees. In my area, it can easily cost $25 to 50k just to pay for the various government permits to build the house.

Re: Low energy house cost

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 1:13 pm
by edh
Hungary will be cheaper for labour and materials as well but this probably does not cover all of it. Hungary is not exactly a poor country.

There can be a huge difference between material cost of building the house itself and the value of land and all of the regulations naturally vary between countries, therefore I wouldn't expect a US company to quote the same costs as you might expect in Hungary. Are they quoting materials + labour only or are they including all other costs other than the land itself?

In the UK, land has a high value but land with planning permission granted is many more times more valuable as getting planning permission is not inherently expensive per se but can be a slow process and we have the tightest regulations to satisfy anywhere. If you take a standard design of house from any other part of the world you pretty much end up throwing half of it away and starting again to get it built in the UK.

Re: Low energy house cost

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 1:16 pm
by Mettyx
You mean for plugging in electricity, water and telephone line?
Are they quoting materials + labour only or are they including all other costs other than the land itself?
this

Re: Low energy house cost

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 10:35 pm
by edh
Mettyx wrote:You mean for plugging in electricity, water and telephone line?
In some countries those might be a problem but I can't see them as being a major cost in most cases. In many countires the problem is getting permission to build - you can't just built what you want on land that you own.

Re: Low energy house cost

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 8:14 pm
by aristide1
Mettyx wrote:I contacted a company in US that specializes in this and they told me that a low energy house of that size would cost 200 000 dollars at least in US. Why is there such a vast difference in cost?
It's the same as the words organic and food, green and energy useage, and exclusive and apartments. They are words that mean the customer will pay more. It's assumned to be high demand, so high costs are the result even if parts and labor are the same price.

Add a plain old audio jack to a car and you can't raise the price. Label that same jack an iPod connection and you can charge $200 extra for it.