Small is Beautiful:
House Size, Resource Use, and the Environment

Since 1950, the average house size in the United States has more than doubled, even while the average family size has steadily shrunk. We’re providing more square footage per family member than ever before, and projections are that the trend will continue. As house size increases, resource use in buildings goes up, more land is occupied, there is more impermeable surface resulting in more stormwater runoff, construction costs rise, and we use more energy. For single-family houses, small is beautiful in terms of environmental performance.

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