Photos provided courtesy of Not So Big Remodeling by Sarah Susanka and Mark Vassallo; published by The Taunton Press, 2009. Photographer Ken Gutmaker
More than 500 people turned out to hear architect and author Sarah Susanka speak as part of the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s Planet Indy series on May 20. Susanka is the bestselling author of nine books—from her first, The Not So Big House (1998), to her most recent, More Not So Big Solutions for Your Home (2010). All of them advocate her simple, powerful idea: that a smaller-scaled, well-crafted home adds up to greater domestic pleasure, a more sustainable lifestyle—and a new definition of what’s desirable in a home.
It’s an idea Indiana could use. According to home-cost.com, the average square footage of a new home built in Indiana in 2009 was 2,250 (slightly above the national average of 2,065). And the average for a single-family home in Fishers, Indiana, for example, is 3,329 square feet, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.
Is it possible to live smaller with a higher quality of life? Is there a greener future for housing? Susanka spoke with Indiana Living Green about these questions and more.
© Photo courtesy Julie King
What is the relationship between good design and sustainability?
In my books, they go hand in hand. I believe that anything that is welldesigned will stand the test of time and will sustain the inhabitant. The wise use of both energy and monetary resources is a core element of good design.
What are the carbon footprint factorsin relation to a home?
One of the statistics I quote most often is that over 20 percent of our carbon emissions come from our existing housing stock. We each have a role to play to reduce the carbon footprint of the residential sector.
What are the greenest ways to remodel?
Get an energy auditor. That person has the skills to see where your home’s biggest energy losses are. It’s different for every house, and it has to do with the heating and cooling system. In my own home, although the unit was efficient, the ducts were leaking—it’s not an uncommon problem. The auditor can tell if you should replace your entire unit or if more minor changes can improve your home’s efficiency dramatically. Also, change your furnace filters frequently. Many do not realize how much efficiency they can gain with this simple act.
How does house size affect quality of life?
I talk to people and work with people at all ends of the spectrum—people who want 600 square-foot homes and those who want 6,000 square feet. I’ve tried to offer the tools they really need to evaluate the decision. I help people “right-size” their homes. However, there can be a problem when there is a family in a very big house. Children can end up living an isolated existence due a lack of interaction with adults, with detrimental effects on family cohesiveness.
How do you create desire for small instead of big?
I try to avoid judging people for what they think they need. I will listen if they ask for 7,000 square feet, but I will try to help them recognize that they may not really need a big house. When people are focused on high square footages, there is usually some keeping up with the Joneses going on. I tell these clients, “How about having the coolest house, not the biggest?” In any case, it’s about listening.
What can we learn from how our ancestors lived?
I find it fascinating to watch how our patterns are returning to how they used to be. With the advent of the automobile, we were able to locate our houses in a different place than where we worked. But it used to be unusual to work far away from one’s house. A hundred years ago, the place of work was right outside the house: in the field or in a room above the street-level office or store. That was the norm. We’re seeing a move back to that. The Internet allows us to telecommute, and we’re able to live a more integrated life. This is a healthy pattern of living from history that we can emulate.
Indianapolis residents John and Amy Kirchner used the Not So Big House as a guide when remodeling their home. (Amy is seated; John is standing, next to daughter Mary Nell.) They found kindred spirits in contractor Joe Breach (seated) of Metro Renovations, and architect and neighbor Bruce Anderson (far right), and with their help they “completely transformed the way we live in the house,” says Amy. Changes involved moving the position of the entryway and making some small additions, including a front porch. Find the Butler-Tarkington neighborhood residence featured in Sarah Susanka’s book, Not So Big Remodeling, published by Taunton Press.
Have you had conversations with mayors and city planners?
I am just beginning to. In the current economy, there is a lot more interest in how to create more suburban developments that have this quality of density, that have village centers. There’s interest in creating neighborhoods that have more of a center than a typical suburban development does—a Not So Big Community, a concept that draws from New Urbanism, but it also includes the organic farm movement and food grown locally, integrating farmers into the community.
Do you know of exciting projects involving modular homes?
The prefab industry is learning how to make a better house than the typical modular home currently on the market. A lot of the existing modular world is aimed at the lower dollar-per-squarefeet cost and lower quality. But a small house doesn’t have to be a cheap house. You don’t buy a Porsche because it’s big. The point is that it’s beautifully made. I’m trying to reintroduce that notion. I believe that if we could look into the future, we would find that many houses are going to be made through a manufacturing process. The art of the home will be greatly enhanced and tailored onsite, but basic form will be delivered. You enhance a home and make it more personal by hiring local craftspeople.
Have you explored intentional communities?
We’re beginning to research that potential here in Raleigh [North Carolina, where Susanka lives and works]. There is a new level of interest in the idea that when you engage in a more intentional form of community, there is something that can flourish as you share your infrastructure. Then it’s natural that people begin to feel a sense of place. Having grown up in Europe, I experienced that as the norm: Community is not a place, but a vitality of people.
Photo provided courtesy of Not So Big Remodeling by Sarah Susanka and Mark Vassallo; published by The Taunton Press, 2009. Photographer Ken Gutmaker
What projects are you working on now?
My latest book [published March 2010] is More Not So Big Solutions For Your Home, about doing more with less
space. I’m working on the Not So Big Community. We’re developing a line of houses for the builder market, for the people who build suburbia. Some of them are gung-ho about building smaller houses, but you can’t just shrink it and make it livable. We need to take their simple-tobuild houses and make them a whole lot more interesting to live in.
I just read some interesting data in The Huffington Post [5/9/2010] that included a fascinating observation that the face of suburbia is shifting. Downtowns are becoming the place of choice for those with more resources. So what
becomes of suburbia? If we look back to the Victorian era, there was great wealth and large homes, but after that economic boom time, those mansions were divided up into more livable spaces: duplexes and apartments.
Co-housing is another interesting trend. This is when people decide they want to live in the same general vicinity and share a common facility with regular meals together...an interesting option for empty nesters. There are small living
units and shared living spaces for dining and cooking. I can envision a co-housing community buying up the vacant facilities left behind by suburbia.
 |
