In Ecuador, a high percentage of homes have environmental failures due to the lack of customary incorporation of comfort and energy efficiency criteria, which demonstrates the need to implement sustainable strategies in construction processes. This study analyzes a single-family dwelling in the city of Cuenca (Ecuador), and determines the referential construction costs (per square meter) of the different sustainability levels that the home could attain in comparison with a conventional counterpart. The research was carried out in four stages: (1) the development of an appropriate methodology to identify costs; (2) a qualitative study on the perception of sustainable housing; and (3) a quantitative study of construction costs and Ecuadorian Added Value (VAE). The different sustainable housing options were classified on a scale from A to C depending on the number of strategies incorporated, while conventional housing was classified as D. It was concluded that compared to conventional housing, sustainable dwellings present a cost increase of 33.14% (A), 15.56% (B), and 4.32% (C), and a VAE reduction of 15.75%, 4.01% and 3.74%, respectively