I wrote THIS POST in 2012 on why we need to build smaller.

And the situation hasn’t changed. We STILL need to build smaller.

Below are a few additional observations:

• The money spent on the extra ensuites, walk-in wardrobes etc… can go into insulation and airtightness and obtaining a Certified Passive House

• You really don’t need all that space:

In a recent study by UCLA, they found that of a 1000 square foot floor, only 400 square foot was used with any regularity. This means that over a third of the house is never regularly used!

Below is the image from this study that shows the ‘hotspots’ of use:

Image from lifeedited.com

And HERE is the link to the full LifeEdited.com article

• I would much rather build better even if it has to be smaller

The problem is that (it seems) everyone coming to me has a set agenda on what they require in their house; check out THIS HOUSE in Utah on ArchDaily.com that shows how space can be used exactly in the places that it needs to be used in:

Image from ArchDaily.com