Sustainability, community resilience and how a Multigenerational house delivers on both (No. 5)

Some of us talk a big game about sustainability and place a huge emphasis on such things as electric cars and solar panels. Yet technology alone will only have a fraction of the impact if not accompanied by behavioural change. It’s pointless if you place solar panels on your roof when you need them to support 4 TVs. There are far too many examples like this where good intent is undone by our current actions. I remember my father enthusiastically telling me of his recent discovery and concern of the growing plastics within the ocean. He did this while opening a bottle of water, not realising  that this very behaviour is very much at the root of the problem. Many of us are totally oblivious in how our decisions have an impact on the environment and there are some who even claim to be sustainable but rarely make the necessary change if their current lifestyle is perceived to be at risk. I was adamant that if we changed the way we looked at how we used our homes, we could make real sustainability advancements while still increasing living standards.

As wealthier societies seemed to have an increased capacity to be sustainable, I followed the belief that reducing living expenses could have the same effect. If multi-generational living was to be an option, it had to be more affordable while being more sustainable than the typical household. I knew what saving money meant, but sustainability was such a board concept that I felt the need to dig deeper to understand better what it exactly meant and how it would apply to this type of house. What I ended up discovering is perhaps one of the most sustainable ways of living. To explain this, let's first break down what sustainability is and just how a Multi-generational house could deliver on each component.

Sustainability is many things, but I found you could group them into three elements; Commercial, Environmental and Social. Unless all three are satisfactory addressed, sustainability would likely remain a hope more than a reality. An expansion of these and how they are applied are below. 

 1) Commercial Sustainability.
As mentioned above, increased affordability was critical. Without it, the ability for sustainability living to be scalabe would be more difficult than it needed to be. As like many things, improvement in our wealth is often directly connected to our behavior through the choices we make, i.e. do you really need more than 5 pairs of shoes? Unfortunately, changing one's behaviour is also perhaps one of the hardest things to do, as many a failed new year’s resolutions attest to. It was clear that unless the desired behaviour change immediately results in an improved quality of life at a cost which is less than before the change is made, it probably won’t happen, or at least happen at scale.  And it’s this very equation which I think the Multi-generational house solves by reducing capital and general living expenses for both its inhabitants and the broader community. Let me explain how it can do this.

Capital expenditure (For the inhabitant)

• Upon deciding to reside together, the combined net worth & income of Parents and Grandparents increases the possibility of acquiring a more suitably designed house of higher quality and possibly within in a location that is closer to desired amenities and established networks.
• Mortgage repayments, a source of stress, is eased by letting out part of the house before the expansion of the family requires additional space.
• House repair costs are shared, i.e. there is only one roof to repair.

Living expenses (For the inhabitant)

• The more people who exist within a home, the more energy and cost efficient it is per person.
• Aged and child-care costs are considerably lowered as there is now (family) in-house care.
• The possibility remains to rent out part of the house to cover general expenses, unexpected health cost or support retirement and aged-care costs.
• Reduced transportation cost by being closer to amenities or not needing to drive as often to aged/childcare facilities.
• Shared household equipment, i.e. you only need one toolbox, e.t.c.
• Additional home support allow income generating members to concentrate on careers increasing income or personal growth.

  
Capital expenditure (Community)

• Lower need to invest in Aged and child-care facilities meaning public funds can be allocated to other community needs. (Refer to the article below on the recent council debate on childcare infrastructure).
• More housing supply options improves general housing affordability.
• Less car use reducers pressure on transport infrastructure.
• Ability to utilise personal assets to generate retirement income reducers burden on social welfare.
• Improved health of residents, particularly aging issues like dementia, reduces the burden on the health system. 

 
2) Environmental Sustainability.  
When you consider that residential living is one of the largest contributors to Greenhouse gases (see red circle in the diagram below), I’m often surprised that we are not doing more to lessen this statistic. I can only assume that much of this has to do with the precarious balancing act in ensuring uninterrupted power supply whilst we work out how to transition to renewable energy. Yet as important as it is to reducing energy use, many are missing the real key environmental vampire; the underutilization of built space, i.e. the rooms within our homes. This is typified by the McMansion phenomena which when all things considered, is perhaps the biggest culprit of them all. Let’s look at the complete environmental cost of such a large house that on a guess, would likely only use 30% of its floor area over its lifetime.

Firstly, larger homes need more building material which is extracted, processed and delivered (refer to blue circles in the image below). This embodied energy comes at a cost and unless all the space it producers is used by the household, its return on investment could be argued to be negative. Secondly, larger spaces require increased energy for heating, cooling, and lighting.  Thirdly larger house footprints increase the length of roads and exacerbate urban sprawl (land use change) which is generally occurring in areas suitable for food production. And finally, the further our homes and food supply are, the increased cost of transportation we are all subject to. When all these factors are combined, it’s not hard to see how excessively underutilized space in our homes places a significant burden on our natural environment. How to better utilize the spaces we create?

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Contributors to harmful gas emissions

​The tiny house movement is one such event that seeks to reverse the impact of large homes, but it is also impractical to think that some families at certain stages of their cycle can do without the space that large homes provide. It is this very reason why there needs to be a stronger focus in our design process that allows our homes to be more flexible, ensuring that we can better utilize the space (resource) we possess. Let’s look at how the flexibility of multi-generational home improves environmental sustainability.  

• Household energy use is efficient due to the increased use of space due to more occupants.
• Return on embodied energy likely to be higher as rooms are constantly used for different uses/residents.
• Subject to planning acceptance, it can easily be built within the existing inner suburban ring reducing pressure on the growth boundary.
• Increases housing supply without visually impacting density nor by extracting more resources as part of the house can be rented when not needed by the current family.
• Increased quality (when parents and grandparents contribute to capital cost), improves the energy rating.
• Improved traffic conditions - Less need for the use of the car.

 
3) Social Sustainability.
Social sustainability has an eye on strengthening the social web that ensures we are healthy, connected, secure and are given every opportunity to participate and contribute back to the community without reducing our quality of life. It’s about having less of a dependency on government through increased community self-sufficiency which hopefully allows public resources to be allocated to areas of high needs. The more self-sufficient a community is, the more resilient it will be.
The DNA of any strong community is undoubtedly the strength of its networks that are established by both the longevity of tenure within an area, as well as residents having the time to participate in community interaction. And this is where a Multi-generational house can make some of its most meaningful contributions. See below.      

• With increased house support, parents have more time either to dedicate to family, the community, personal development or earning an income. 
• Grandchildren and grandparents benefit from increased exposure to one another.
• Less dependency on the social infrastructure of childcare and aged care.
• Increase social connection, both inside and outside the house. This not only reduces the mental illness associated with loneliness (ie Dementia) but strengthens our sense of neighborhood security. (Research shows that people who have only lived in their current dwelling for a short period may be less inclined to support or rely on their neighbours in a time of crisis)
• Minimizes pressure to move:
  • Less financial anxiety with the knowledge that the house can be converted to assist with unexpected costs or can support retirement years.
  • Removes social pressure and guilt if an elderly couple is able to safely rent part of their home if their children have left.
  • Increases affordability for adult children as they have a housing solution they can return to if they are seeking to start a family or are needing increased support
• Contributes to the reduction of traffic congestion.

 
All these elements should be considered as equally as important as each other and when the balance is struck, true community resilience is often achieved. As outlined, a multi-generational house offers a combination of all 3 benefits that is typically nonexistent in the typical house designs that are in high concentration throughout our suburbs. 

"I challenge you to think of a more sustainable way of living that can be offered by a multi-generational house".

In my next article, I will address why this is not so culturally common in Australia and how design can resolve it.