The answer to the question posed will yield different answers depending on whom you ask it, when you ask it and, to some degree where you ask it.
For instance, ask a designer or specifier working on a high-profile commercial project—be it corporate, educational, government—and, invariably, they would put it high on the list. But ask these same people when they are out shopping for themselves and the importance level drops. And even then the level to which it drops depends on where you are in the country—California vs. pick a state.