Archive:000/Housing/footprint: Difference between revisions
< Archive:000 | Housing
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==Single-detached home== | ==Single-detached home== | ||
Note: This estimate doesn't consider ''other'' footprints of living in the suburbs (i.e. car driving and its infrastructure). | |||
===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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| | | | ||
}} | }} | ||
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. | ||
<!-- TODO: what about the infrastructure (water, electricity, internet)? Those should probably be counted somewhere (if not on this page, that's fine). --> | |||
Revision as of 22:35, 16 October 2022
How many resources does it take for people to have housing?
This is a page for some estimates.
Single-detached home
Note: This estimate doesn't consider other footprints of living in the suburbs (i.e. car driving and its infrastructure).
Labor
We could estimate labor by looking at some costs:
- labor costs, obviously
- material costs, because these generally reflect the labor that goes into producing the materials
We don't want to count other costs:
- zoning permits and other bureaucracy - maybe these exist in our current society but they don't have to exist fundamentally - there are probably much more efficient & fair ways to make decisions about housing (or at least, the process could do without bullshit jobs) - so we leave this out.
- land value - this depends on the location and it isn't a reflection of labor requirements. Also we will calculate land in another section anyway. So here we leave this out too.
Housing costs have gone up recently, but this is more a function of demand rather than any inherent increase in the amount of labor needed to build a house.
Quick estimate: How many labor hours go into a house:
house.typical_price_before_covid
400000 $
typical_wages_before_covid
18 $/hour
Average wage of workers in construction, materials production, and other relevant trades
what_fraction_of_costs_reflect_labor
70%
The percentage of costs that fit into the categories we care about (mentioned above)
(calculation loading)
How about labor over time:
family.size
4 people
house.lifespan
80 years
(calculation loading)
Shockingly low. Did I get something wrong?
Land
For one, there's the land that the house sits on: Quick estimate:
house.lot_size
7200 square(feet)
house.size
2600 square(feet)
(calculation loading)
But also the land that it takes to grow the wood for the house:
board_foot
(1/12) ft^3
Weird unit but ok.
house.wood_volume
16380 board_foot
Amount of wood in a typical house
wood.density
0.8 g/cm^3
For converting between wood mass and wood volume
tree_farm.productivity
20 tons/hectare/year
Wood yield of a typical "tree farm" forest
Agroforestry Carbon Sequestrationhttps://www.sustainably.run/co2-verification
Assuming that 50% of the mass of wood is carbon atoms, this means 20 tons of wood per hectare per year.
tree plantations of pine and eucalyptus can sequester an average of 10 tons of carbon per hectare per year.
Assuming that 50% of the mass of wood is carbon atoms, this means 20 tons of wood per hectare per year.
(calculation loading)
If you have some idea how to estimate the land footprint of other materials, please start the discussion discussion. For now, let's hopefully assume it's small enough to ignore.