The Green Movement and its affect on building and remodeling

1.Homes in all price ranges will be smaller allowing their cost to respond more readily to the demand for sustainability and better energy efficient design.

2. The trend toward suburban sprawl will change. There will be more use of previously developed sites for both single and multi family homes requiring less use of “greenfield” sites and the attendant cost of new infrastructure. Grassroots organizations like Community First in Naperville will continue to work with redevelopers to find ways to blend  new homes with existing homes in established neighborhoods.

3. The trend toward incorporating historical styling and decoration in homes will be less important. Better floor plans, energy efficiency, durability, sustainability, and healthier air quality are considerations which will give rise to a new style of its own.

4. The trend toward waste of floor and ceiling space on the interior of homes will be eliminated. The use of impressive cathedral ceilings which ignore energy efficiency and human scale will give way to the use of nine and ten foot ceilings which still have a “grand ” quality. “Great Rooms,”which include a single large but less formal family dining area in close proximity to the kitchen, will replace the formal dining and living rooms.

5. As developers awaken to the call for the minimizing of waste in building materials, the use of sustainable building products, more practical floor plans, the reuse of existing building sites and infrastructure, and more concern for the health of the buyer, they will find a need to form teams to design and build their homes.

- Bob Lee