Now We Know Who You Are

Now We Know Who

You Are

Well, sort of. At least we know more about the demographics and interests of the 13% of

EBN subscribers who made it through our first-ever Reader Survey. Thanks again to those of you who took the time and returned the survey. We’ll try to keep it shorter next time. As promised, here are some highlights from your responses.

In your feedback on

EBN, you indicated a clear preference for practical information—stuff you can go out and use. The most popular response to the question “How would you like to see

EBN changed?” was “More information from those who have used new products and designs.” The most popular recent feature article from the list provided (those that appeared in the issues from

Vol. 4, No. 1 to

Vol. 5, No. 1) was “Insulation Materials.” And the most popular departments were Feature Articles, Product Reviews, and Construction Details/Case Studies.

We also got the message that, in general, we’re on the right track. (Or is that response a function of the self-selected group that took the time to respond?) The high ratings for our feature articles suggests to us that the depth of information we provide is important to you. A huge majority called the technical content of our articles “About right”; the current balance between longer news stories and short Newsbriefs was overwhelmingly endorsed, as was the balance in our product reviews between off-the-shelf and not-yet-available products.

We also learned some interesting things about your experiences practicing in the green building field (these are from a smaller sample, as not everyone who responded to the survey is an active designer or builder). The greatest impediments you experience (of the options we listed) are:

the lack of a track record for products and design approaches;

the higher cost for green materials; and

that clients are resistant to trying new ideas.

In specifying materials, you rely first and foremost on manufacturers’ literature, followed by

EBN Product Reviews, other articles about materials, and information provided by distributors or retailers. Most of you actively seek out materials with recycled content, and most of you design or build to exceed energy codes by at least 25% (15% of those who responded said their buildings exceed code requirements by more than 50%). A majority of respondents separate out recyclable materials at the job site and take them to separate locations for recycling. While most of you use green building as a marketing tool, we were interested to see that a significant minority indicated specifically that you don’t.

As publishers, we were also very curious about your use of computers and the Internet. At present (or as of last Spring, because these things are changing so fast), about 40% of you are actively using e-mail and other Internet services, while an equal percentage use neither. The remainder indicated that they use some limited services or just log on occasionally. Those of you who are online can check out the additional comments we received. All the comments you gave us permission to use, unedited, are posted on our Web site (http://www.ebuild.com).

– the EBN

staff