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Downsizing the McMansion: Study gauges a sustainable size for future homes:
What might homes of the future look like if countries were really committed to meeting global calls for sustainability, such as the recommendations advanced by the Paris Agreement and the U.N.'s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development?
Much wider adoption of smart design features and renewable energy for low- to zero-carbon homes is one place to start -- the U.N. estimates households consume 29% of global energy and consequently contribute to 21% of resultant CO2 emissions, which will only rise as global population increases.
However, a new scholarly paper authored at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) assesses another big factor in the needed transformation of our living spaces toward sustainability -- the size of our homes.
The paper published in the journal Housing, Theory & Society makes the case for transitioning away from the large, single-family homes that typify suburban sprawl, offering new conceptions for what constitutes a more sustainable and sufficient average home size in high-income countries going forward.
The article surveys more than 75 years of housing history and provides estimates for the optimal spatial dimensions that would align with an "environmentally tenable and globally equitable amount of per-person living area" today. It also spotlights five emerging cases of housing innovation around the world that could serve as models for effectively adopting more space-efficient homes of the future.
"There is no question that if we are serious about embracing our expressed commitments to sustainability, we will in the future need to live more densely and wisely," said Maurie Cohen, the paper's author and professor at NJIT's Department of Humanities. "This will require a complete reversal in our understanding of what it means to enjoy a 'good life' and we will need to start with the centerpiece of the 'American Dream,' namely the location and scale of our homes.
"The notion of 'bigger is better' will need to be supplanted by the question of 'how much is enough?' Fortunately, we are beginning to see examples of this process unfolding in some countries around the world, including the United States."
Maurie J. Cohen. New Conceptions of Sufficient Home Size in High-Income Countries: Are We Approaching a Sustainable Consumption Transition? Housing, Theory and Society, 2020; 1 DOI: 10.1080/14036096.2020.1722218
(Score: 4, Informative) by legont on Tuesday March 10 2020, @04:30PM (4 children)
Socialism calculated the number many years ago. It is 9 square meters per occupant - about 100 ft.
Below that and Soviet government would consider to put you into the line for improvements, which was about 10 years long.
(it was so called living space though - bedrooms, living rooms and such - kitchen, toilet and hall not included. They would add another 15-20 meters or so for a family of four.) 50 square meters total for 3 was elite.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 10 2020, @06:41PM
Is that Joe Socialism or his younger brother Tom Socialism ?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by driverless on Tuesday March 10 2020, @08:14PM (2 children)
For people modding this troll, it's a fact, they - and I think "they" was the USSR, but may have been East Germany - produced detailed engineering drawings of the least space you could fit people into for sleeping, washing, preparing meals, etc. That's how Plattenbauten - and that was definitely East Germany - were designed.
(Score: 2) by legont on Wednesday March 11 2020, @02:07AM
Yes, they did engineered it all indeed. To be fair, they also designed the outdoor space which was much more generous than what we currently have in cities. I am sure modern green would benefit from the ideas.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Wednesday March 11 2020, @11:55AM
Maybe, but that's an answer to a different question:
Soviet question: What's the smallest floor area per person for basic survival.
TFA question: What's the smallest floor area per person for an environmentally sustainable home?
But I suspect you knew that, and only brought it up because you wanted to conflate environmentalism with communism, in order to push some big irrational fear buttons and spread some anti-green FUD.