Going Green with Outdoor Living

While scaling back on home spending, households continue to make substantial investments in their properties, according to Kermit Baker, AIA chief economist. Upscale landscaping has dimmed in popularity, but low-maintenance, low-irrigation landscaping (like xeriscaping) is seen as increasing in popularity by almost two-thirds of respondents.

Another sustainability trend is rainwater catchment or gray water reuse, which approximately half of the respondents reported as growing in popularity.

Outdoor living continues to be a popular lifestyle preference, and therefore a popular design option. Sixty percent of respondents reported outdoor living spaces (like covered outdoor space, outdoor rooms, and outdoor cooking areas) to be growing in popularity, one of the few items where popularity was reported as accelerating from the survey of a year ago. A related trend, blended indoor/outdoor space, was also reported as growing in popularity.

Home designs have not included much in the way of extras. The few options included typically focused on green features (often to improve energy efficiency in an environment of rising energy costs) or accessibility, as our aging population looks for adaptations that allow them to stay in their current homes.

While these basic themes persist, they are becoming less dominant as the housing market indicates the beginning of a thaw. There are indications that the falling home sizes that began during this downturn may be finally hitting bottom. Likewise, lot sizes-which began getting smaller even before the last downturn-may also have seen their bottom, as falling land prices in many markets make larger lot sizes more affordable.

- Courtesy of AIA