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Housing/footprint: Difference between revisions
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==Single-detached home== | ==Single-detached home== | ||
Note: This is the footprint of only the ''construction'' of the house. {{x|will later include heating, electricity, and maintenance renovations}} | |||
* For ''other'' footprints of living in the suburbs (i.e. car driving and its infrastructure), see [[suburbs/footprint]]. | |||
* For utilities infrastructure, see [[water/footprint]], [[electricity/footprint]], and [[internet/footprint]]. | |||
===Labor=== | ===Labor=== | ||
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<!-- TODO: compare with other estimates online, just google how many labor hours go into making a house; double it to assume the labor hours that went into materials (because it's common for materials/constructionlabor ratio to be 50/50) --> | <!-- TODO: compare with other estimates online, just google how many labor hours go into making a house; double it to assume the labor hours that went into materials (because it's common for materials/constructionlabor ratio to be 50/50) --> | ||
<!-- TODO: what about maintenance of the house: essential renovations (dont count cosmetic renos, unless we want to count them separately) --> | |||
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But also the land that it takes to grow the wood for the house: | But also the land that it takes to grow the wood for the house: | ||
{{dp | {{dp | ||
| | |board_foot | ||
|(1/12) | |(1/12) ft^3 | ||
|Weird unit but ok. | |Weird unit but ok. | ||
|<cite>How Many Trees Does It Take to Build a House?</cite>https://www.thehousedesigners.com/articles/how-many-trees-does-it-take-to-build-a-house.asp#:~:text=House%20Construction&text=To%20keep%20it%20simple%20and,a%202%2C000%20square%20foot%20home.<br /><q>there are 12 board feet in every cubic foot</q> | |<cite>How Many Trees Does It Take to Build a House?</cite>https://www.thehousedesigners.com/articles/how-many-trees-does-it-take-to-build-a-house.asp#:~:text=House%20Construction&text=To%20keep%20it%20simple%20and,a%202%2C000%20square%20foot%20home.<br /><q>there are 12 board feet in every cubic foot</q> | ||
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{{dp | {{dp | ||
|house.wood_volume | |house.wood_volume | ||
|16380 | |16380 board_foot | ||
|Amount of wood in a typical house | |Amount of wood in a typical house | ||
|<cite>How Many Trees Does It Take to Build a House?</cite>https://www.thehousedesigners.com/articles/how-many-trees-does-it-take-to-build-a-house.asp#:~:text=House%20Construction&text=To%20keep%20it%20simple%20and,a%202%2C000%20square%20foot%20home.<br /><q>According to the Census Bureau, the average American home built in 2013 was 2,600 square feet, '''and it would have required 16,380 board feet to build!'''</q> | |<cite>How Many Trees Does It Take to Build a House?</cite>https://www.thehousedesigners.com/articles/how-many-trees-does-it-take-to-build-a-house.asp#:~:text=House%20Construction&text=To%20keep%20it%20simple%20and,a%202%2C000%20square%20foot%20home.<br /><q>According to the Census Bureau, the average American home built in 2013 was 2,600 square feet, '''and it would have required 16,380 board feet to build!'''</q> | ||
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{{dp | {{dp | ||
|tree_farm.productivity | |tree_farm.productivity | ||
| | |10 tons/hectare/year | ||
|Wood yield of a typical "tree farm" forest | |Wood yield of a typical "tree farm" forest | ||
|<cite>Agroforestry Carbon Sequestration</cite>https://www.sustainably.run/co2-verification<br /><q>tree plantations of pine and eucalyptus can sequester an average of 10 tons of carbon per hectare per year.</q><br /><br /> | |<cite>Agroforestry Carbon Sequestration</cite>https://www.sustainably.run/co2-verification<br /><q>tree plantations of pine and eucalyptus can sequester an average of 10 tons of carbon per hectare per year.</q><br /><br />If we assume that half of this carbon is in the tree wood (the other half being in leaves and roots), and if we assume that 50% of the mass of wood is carbon atoms, then: This means 10 tons of wood per hectare per year. | ||
}} | }} | ||
{{calc | {{calc | ||
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| | | | ||
}} | }} | ||
If you have some idea how to estimate the land footprint of other materials, please start the {{talk}}. For now, let's hopefully assume it's small enough to ignore. | If you have some idea how to estimate the land footprint of other materials, please start the {{talk}}. For now, let's hopefully assume it's small enough to ignore. | ||
<!-- | |||
===Energy=== | |||
To stay on topic, let's first look at the energy it takes to build the house. | |||
Next, let's look at heating and cooling. | |||
Lastly there's electricity. At this point we should count only the electricity that's used for things that ''aren't'' heating or cooling. | |||
Total energy: | |||
--> | |||
==General== | |||
The following calculations are based on US home energy stats that don't distinguish between the ''type of dwelling'' but distinguish between the ''type of energy use'': | |||
{{dp | |||
|usa.population | |||
|336997624 | |||
| | |||
|Using stat from 2021 | |||
}} | |||
{{dp | |||
|usa.home_electricity | |||
|1519 billion kilowatt hours / year | |||
|Electricity used in all USA homes | |||
|<cite>How is electricity used in U.S. homes?</cite><br /><nowiki>https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=96&t=3 </nowiki><br />Stats from 2021.<br /><br />"Total consumption" | |||
}} | |||
{{dp | |||
|usa.misc_residential_electricity | |||
|901 billion kilowatt hours / year | |||
|Electricity not used for heating nor cooling | |||
|<cite>How is electricity used in U.S. homes?</cite><br /><nowiki>https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=96&t=3 </nowiki><br />Stats from 2021.<br /><br />"Total consumption" minus "space cooling", "space heating", and "water heating". | |||
}} | |||
{{dp | |||
|usa.home_air_cooling_electricity | |||
|235 billion kilowatt hours / year | |||
|Electricity used for cooling the air in homes (i.e. air conditioning) | |||
|<cite>How is electricity used in U.S. homes?</cite><br /><nowiki>https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=96&t=3 </nowiki><br />Stats from 2021.<br /><br />"space cooling" | |||
}} | |||
{{dp | |||
|usa.home_air_heating_electricity | |||
|207 billion kilowatt hours / year | |||
|Electricity used for heating the air in homes | |||
|<cite>How is electricity used in U.S. homes?</cite><br /><nowiki>https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=96&t=3 </nowiki><br />Stats from 2021.<br /><br />"space heating" | |||
}} | |||
{{dp | |||
|usa.home_water_heating_electricity | |||
|176 billion kilowatt hours / year | |||
|Electricity used for making hot water (in pipes) in homes | |||
|<cite>How is electricity used in U.S. homes?</cite><br /><nowiki>https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=96&t=3 </nowiki><br />Stats from 2021.<br /><br />"water heating" | |||
}} | |||
{{todo | |||
|Also need data on fuel consumption (natural gas) for water heating and air heating. | |||
}} | |||
{{calc | |||
|usa.misc_residential_electricity / usa.population | |||
|watts per capita | |||
}} | |||
The USA is known to be an energy-hungry country with a big carbon footprint. But when looking at ''only'' home electricity use, not including for heating and cooling, the energy demand is actually quite modest. | |||