| The intent of this master's degree project (MDP) was to answer the question of how to increase consumer demand for sustainable home building in Calgary. The approach taken to answer that question took the form of a literature review of material related to: (1) educating consumers in a nonformal setting, (2) the Calgary home building market, (3) the state of sustainable home building in Alberta, and (4) a review of media responses to teaching consumers about sustainability.;The design for the proposed nonformal environmental education program (NEEP) hinged on four design considerations: the home building industry, the consumer, communication and a few selected illustrative examples. These four considerations directed the research as: (A) key informant interviews with the industry and the Office of Energy Efficiency revealed that the Alberta response to such standards as R2000 is low and that industry responds to this low demand for such standards by constructing conventional buildings; (B) a survey of the Calgary consumer revealed that consumers can identify sustainable features but are unable to identify larger issues such as planning and their roles in the problem as well as in the solution; (C) a content analysis of the printed media based on the emphasis placed by the consumer on the media as a major source of sustainability information, revealed that the quality of information consumers receive is distorted and too infrequently covered to make a real impact; (D) illustrative examples suggest that buildings can be designed, constructed and retrofitted for better sustainable results in careful planning is a priority.;The conclusions of the research suggest that the nonformal environmental education program is well placed as a tool to guide the consumer about sustainable home building alternatives because it can manage information about consumer roles in both the problem and the solution as well as empower them to take positive actions toward sustainable home building. |
