Over at its Eye on Housing blog, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has been analyzing results from its What Home Buyers Really Want: Ethnic Preferences study. This week, the question of how ethnicity may, or may not, affect attitudes on energy efficiency is under the microscope.

The good news? Over 80 percent of all respondents, regardless of ethnicity, report that they want "an environmentally friendly home." The bad news: Of that group, 65 percent are not willing to pay more for it.

However, NAHB then shifted the terminology of the question to emphasize energy efficiency and the results are more encouraging: over 80 percent of respondents would choose a highly energy-efficient home with lower lifetime utility costs over a home that costs 2 percent to 3 percent less on purchase but does not have those features. Ethnicity did not factor into any major responses. And at least they're being up front about where they'll spend their money, compared to other industry surveys where buyers indicated they valued energy efficiency but spent hypothetical remodeling money on kitchen and bath overhauls over HVAC or insulation upgrades.

Where slight difference showed up was in relation to how much buyers are willing to pay for energy efficiency features that translate to lower utility bills. Hispanic buyers indicated that they were willing to pay the most, $9,146, while white buyers indicated that they would pay the least, $6,774.

Click here to read more from NAHB.