The Impact of Home Size on Sustainability
Last Updated: Apr 11, 2025More and more people are beginning to develop ecological awareness and conscious consumer habits. While this is undoubtedly a good thing, it is not without difficulty. One of the most significant hurdles of living a more sustainable life is that it can challenge us to change certain aspects of our livelihoods fundamentally. Deep change - changing the way we live, how society is organized, and the underlying values of our culture requires going beyond simplistic solutions. These solutions must follow a scientifically proven path to lessen our impact on the world that sustains us.
The first steps to sustainability in the housing industry are swapping your incandescent light bulbs for LEDs or investing in a programmable thermostat. However, these changes do not make a home suddenly "green" or "sustainable." While several smaller solutions can add up to a more significant overall impact, it is vital that homeowners, on a large scale, begin to address one of the fundamental aspects of home sustainability: its size.
Table of Contents
- How Big Is the Average Family Home?
- The Impact of Mini-Mansions on Sustainability
- The Root of the House Size Problem
How Big Is the Average Family Home?
In 1973, the average home size was just over 1,500 square feet. In 2013, only forty years later, the average home size ballooned to 2,679 square feet. Simultaneously, the size of households is falling, meaning that fewer people are inhabiting larger homes. This is evidence that the concept that "bigger is better" has firmly taken root in the American psyche. Since houses are usually the most significant investment that families make and the primary source of their savings, the prevailing logic decrees that the larger the home, the more its value. Imagine a young family looking to purchase their first home presented with two options. The first is a 1,300 square foot home built from solid brick, and the second option is a 2,400 square foot home made from 2x4's and plywood that cost roughly the same amount. In most cases, the family would opt for the larger home believing that it was a better deal, the better home, and the better value for their money.
Regrettably, many construction companies and contractors feel the marketing impetus to build larger homes without pushing the price sky-high. So, they are cutting corners during the construction of homes and are producing lower quality construction to increase the overall square footage at a reasonable price to the buyer. The banks and other mortgage lenders also play a role in this situation. These institutions often coerce home buyers into opting for homes with artificially high value simply due to the square footage.
The basic cause of the energy crisis is not scarcity: it is moral ignorance and weakness of character. We don't know how to use energy or what to use it for. And we cannot restrain ourselves. Our time is characterized as much by the abuse and waste of human energy as it is by the abuse and waste of fossil fuel energy.
Tobias Roberts
Tobias runs an agroecology farm and a natural building collective in the mountains of El Salvador. He specializes in earthen construction methods and uses permaculture design methods to integrate structures into the sustainability of the landscape.
