Build a Smaller, Greener Home

For the longest time, bigger houses were considered better houses. This makes sense. In the olden days, the days before the Industrial Revolution, people would marry very young and have copious amounts of children. These children were expected to help out the family farm. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins may have also lived and worked on that farm. A large family required a large house. Even in cities families would clump up and survive or fail as a whole. It may have been a wonderful, loving thing that we have lost, but even still, I'm glad I don?t live with my entire family.

In the modern era, couples are reproducing less and later in life. It is rare for someone to live with members of their immediate or extended family. Large houses aren?t a necessity. They are a luxury. Some families are still quite large, but on the whole, large, extended families are a becoming a rarity.

Smaller houses are better for the environment than larger homes, and not just in terms of materials used. Nothing goes to waste in a smaller home. Every room is useful and inhabited.

A large house might have rooms for you to store your trophies, vases and first editions, but it really doesn't do much for the environment. Large houses are harder to heat and keep cool. Their thermal envelopes are bigger, and air is more likely to seep out unnoticed.

It is important to live in a domicile that suits the needs of its inhabitants. A huge house can be great if you have a large family, but for two or three people, a small house just makes more sense. Live smart in a small house. Remember less can be more.