Basic logic tells us that smaller homes use less energy and fewer building materials. How much less? What’s the environmental benefit of small homes? We at the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s Green Building Program wanted to know how home size reduction compared to other green building practices.

We commissioned a lifecycle analysis that evaluated the environmental benefits of 25 different green building practices over the life of a home. It turns out that reducing the size of your home is really effective at reducing impacts. In fact, it was our best ranking practice.

This 5 minute slideshow highlights our research findings (note: There’s audio, so click the play button and make sure that you can listen the presentation using headphones or speakers).