With more of us living alone in larger homes with lots more rooms, the impact our housing is having on the environment is growing. Homes and apartments, not to mention office buildings and factories, all affect the environment in terms of the amount of energy needed to heat and cool them and the amount of resources used to build, renovate and maintain them. All things being equal, a larger building will consume more energy than a smaller building. And while factors such as the building’s solar orientation can have a positive effect, it’s important we take measures to reduce our ecological footprint.

By 2030 it is predicted that 60 percent of the world’s population will live in cities. In Australia, the figure will be over 80 percent.