It is more of that GreenGobbler POV, folks! We love when Conway Energy gives us the facts and states that overwhelmingly unbiased opinion! Here is the GreenGobbler’s take on the New American Home as it is depicted in the NHB’s 2012 Home Show taking place in Orlando, Florida. Thanks so much to the GreenGobbler for this contribution! As an eco-broker Realtor, I have to say that I agree; I have seen a shift from the search for larger scale homes to most of my clients downsizing especially as they relocate to Northern Virginia.
As American’s shift their thoughts from bigger is better to efficiency, we find the “New American Home” is smaller!
Last week, Dawn Wotapka of the Wall Street Journal reported that we are shrinking. Well, not really. We aren’t shrinking, but maybe our need for the gigantic mansions of our past are slowly be surely creeping down to a smaller scale. She says this because the National Association of Builders is hosting the builder’s show down in Orlando this February and the home that is showcased “which measures 4,181 square feet and is one of the smallest in the popular program’s 29-year history, shows that the love affair with McMansions seems to be waning.” This is exciting to folks like us who are all about efficiency in design and have seen the “waning” of the McMansion for some time now.
It is interesting that the builders are only just now realizing that the public has downsized. Realtors probably could have told you that a couple of years ago, as the McMansions started to tick off area homeowners who were feeling that the over-sized homes were changing the look and feel of older, established neighborhoods and 5,ooo square feet for 2 people just seemed overly opulent. Now, as we see more folks, especially the baby boomers tackling the issue of downsizing and eliminating the minutia from their lives, we see people going back to “right sized” homes, or shall we say, homes that make sense for the way folks tend to live in their home. People seem to just want to be able to manage their homes and not have a whole section of a house shut off that they realize that they don’t even use. That is just depressing! Plus, when you have a smaller scale home, you have less bills for utilities, now, don’t you? Hmmm…. now that just seems like a no-brainer, doesn’t it?
The showpiece down in Orlando for this year’s convention is still a gorgeous home which is not only a fantastic display of craftsman ship (from the select few images that we can check out online, but it is also noted that the home “boasts energy-efficient features such solar panels to run the HVAC system and to heat hot water.” You know how we like energy-efficient items in our line of work.
