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Econation Blog
Size matters
Larger houses with fewer people means more energy use per person
Larger houses use more energy
The amount of energy required to heat a space is a function of the size of the space. Whilst newer houses in New Zealand are better insulated they are also much larger than they used to be. The average house size in the US doubled during the twentieth century and the situation is likely to be similar in New Zealand where, like the US, suburban development space hasn't been an issue. According to Infometrics the average new house size in New Zealand increased by 42% (from 140m2 to 195m2) in the 15 years from 1992 to 2007.
And New Zealand has larger houses than the US
According to market analysts Euromonitor, New Zealand has the second largest houses of all the countries they surveyed. In New Zealand 74% of houses have five rooms or more, slightly behind Canada (75%) but ahead of the US (73%), UK (72%), Australia (70%) and all the European countries. In Finland only 14% of houses have five rooms or more.
Less people per house
The amount of energy used in a house is also a function of the number of people who live in it. There are now fewer people living in New Zealand houses than ever before. The average household size in New Zealand decreased from 2.8 people in 1981 to 2.4 people in 2006. It is projected to decrease still further to 2.3 in 2021.
There are a number of reason's why average household size has decreased and continues to do so. There was a trend throughout the twentieth century towards more nuclear families and less extended families. Also people live longer now on average and there has been an increase in the number of widows and widowers living alone.
The larger the house the more embodied energy it has too. Embodied energy is the energy that was required to build the house including the manufacture of all construction materials, components, fixtures and fittings.
Fewer people living in bigger houses means that the average energy use per person goes up.
Posted by Michael Lockhart on 26th May, 2009 | Comments | Trackbacks
Tags: General Sustainability
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