For whatever reason, residential and commercial growth in Des Moines' suburban areas has eclipsed that in the City. I'm not going to delve into the underlying reasons for this disparity (yes, I have my opinions). Let it suffice to say that on Earth Day in particular, it is important to take a step back and examine a couple of the ways one's choice of where to live impacts the environment.

Transportation

A home in close proximity to entertainment, retail, and employment opportunities will result in lower transportation energy expenditure. Particularly as gasoline is expected to cross the $4.00 threshold this summer, accounting for transportation spending will be a critical component to family economics. The obvious solution is to live closer to the places one works, shops, and plays.

Starting today, weather permitting, I will be biking to work on days when I don't have site visits. My goal is to "bike-commute" three out of five days. This will trim about 40%-50% off my transportation energy consumption. The primary enabling factor is that I live four miles from where I work. It will be a nice way to start and end my work day.

Everything Old is New Again

Building a new home is inherently not as green as renovating an existing home. There is a huge embodied energy cost in providing infrastructure and servicing new construction (much less for so-called "infill" construction in existing neighborhoods). Even the greenest of construction materials is not as green as those that already exist in the form of a house.

A fully renovated house can perform at an extremely high level, and will ultimately be better for the environment in numerous ways.