Bad House

This is an expensive house in an upscale neighborhood in the US. It has all the amenities: 4,000 square feet of living space, the ubiquitous "great room" with a mountain view, a modern kitchen, and a three car garage. Still, we think it’s a bad house because it basically ignores the five elements that we believe need to be considered when creating a “green”, i.e. good, house.

(1) Construction impact - This house sits on a mountain in a forested area. You can’t tell that fact because the building site was completely leveled and denuded of vegetation before construction began. Extreme site work like this can save money and time initially, but has long term costs that are difficult to recoup. For example, the precious topsoil on this site was lost to erosion. Though more can be purchased, topsoil is a finite resource on the planet that takes many, many years to regenerate. The old oak trees that grew here can’t be replaced for any price and won’t grow back in any of our lifetimes.

(2) Resource efficiency - This building faces the street like all houses in suburban neighborhoods. Unfortunately, in this case that means the long front face of the house is facing west. In the winter, these windows won’t be exposed to the majority of solar heat and therefore will represent a net heat loss. In the summer, however, the hot afternoon sun will come pouring through creating a large cooling load.

(3) Long-lasting - Though this house appears to be sturdily built out of brick, in fact the brick is only a facing in front of wooden stick-framing. The fact that the facing extends all the way to the ground might allow termites to crawl behind the brick to access the wood without being seen. The tiny roof overhangs are also a cause for concern because they increase the possibility of water infiltration. It’s these kind of small, inconspicuous details that will determine the lifespan of almost any building.

(4) Non-toxic - This building is stuffed full of the latest modern materials: vinyl siding, OSB sheathing, fiberglass insulation, latex paints, and synthetic carpets, just to name a few. Some of these products leach toxins into the air inside the building, all of them will be hazardous if the building ever catches on fire. When the building ages and is eventually torn down or abandoned, the final fate of all buildings on the planet, these materials won’t just biodegrade benignly back into the ground, but will be a small toxic dump.

(5) Beautiful - Though the architect(s) tried to create some visual interest with a cascading roof line and a bold entrance, the impersonal nature of this building is immediately obvious. It was built to be sold, will be bought with resale in mind, and, we are willing to bet, will never really become a home. As a result, little love will be put into the grounds, no topsoil will be built up from composting kitchen scraps, no gardens will bear fruit, and there won’t be on old oak tree where a grandparent swings the child who will someday inherit the work of generations. Enduring beauty in a built environment can only slowly be developed after years of human attention and creativity. This building has little chance of encouraging that sort of love.

© Clarke Snell, 2005