[GBlist] re: Monster Buildings

[Chris Koehn <chris@koehn.com>]

As I recall this discussion was started in reference to  the 14,700 sq ft
home in Glen Ellyn IL and how it could purport to be green. A few thoughts:
€I just read the "mission statement" of the builder (in "Luxury Home
Builder"...) . He in no way purports the house to be green by any
conventional use of the term. The goal was to build a healthy house. It is
the first certified in IL by the lung assoc. Any "green-ness" seemed to be
incidental to using materials efficiently and wisely.
€The builder states- and I somewhat agree- that as long as there is wealth
there will be a desire to build luxury homes. We can either choose to build
them efficiently or not. If we, as a society, want to reject the values
expressed in the practice of building big, we should tax the heck out of big
houses. We have gas guzzler taxes for cars, right?
€What's wrong with homes costing a lot of money per square foot? There's
usually a correlation between how much it costs, and how well it's built-
and therefore how long it will last. One of the best ways to build green (I
would submit) is to build durable- and for flexibility over time. When I
worked for a builder in Germany in the '80's, the average sq ft cost for new
homes was over $200. And the average mortgage was 100 years. I see little
wrong with this equation. Which is certainly NOT an argument against
affordable housing.
€Do we really think most of the people of the World reject bigger, more
comfortable homes for moral or ethical reasons?
€When arguing for smaller homes, we need to keep in mind that how people use
their homes continues to evolve. 50 years ago the "home office" was
virtually unheard of, and telecommuting was nonexistent. 50 years ago the
average farm family where I come from had 4 kids and their house was
2-3,000 sq ft. 50 years ago our population was slightly more than half of
what it is today, and was more than 50% agrarian. THAT SAID I am currently
living in 950 sq ft, with a wife and two kids, and 1/3 of that space is
office.. 


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