Does Size really Matter Part #2 - Green Building Rationale

As you can see from the chart below, LEED for Homes encourages smaller homes. They do not tell you what size you must build, but the larger the home the more difficult it is to reach the different point thresholds (see December 08, 2009 – Green Home Fact #4 for more information on thresholds) when building your “green” home. Conversely the smaller the home the easier it is to reach the thresholds. The rationale for this is larger homes consume more materials and energy over the lifecycle of the home. Data published in the U.S. Census Bureau in the American Housing Survey shows a strong correlation in the number of bedrooms and the number of occupants in a home. Although a home may serve many different households over its lifespan, in general, a home with more bedrooms will serve more people. The adjustment therefore categorizes homes by the number of bedrooms.

The chart above includes all conditioned square footage whether finished or not, that meets the building code requirements for living space. This means basements in new construction homes would typically be counted in the square footage calculation. Likewise, a future bedroom in a basement maybe counted as a bedroom as well.

** Data, excerpts and chart taken from LEED For Homes Guidebook.