In the May 26, 2012 edition of the Globe and Mail (one of Canada’s few remaining national print
newspapers), there is a full-page colour advertisement for a new condominium in
Toronto. Described as “over 20,000
square feet of pure fantasy”, the 2-storey penthouse suites are selling for up
to $28 million. Yes, $28 million. That works out to nearly $1,300 per square
foot, 6.5 times the current average construction cost of $200 per square foot
for a new house in Canada. Now, maybe if
we truly did live in a world of unlimited resources, we could somehow justify
using 6.5 times as many resources to build a house of pure fantasy for the
wealthy amongst us. Maybe! But really, how do we justify it when we know
resources are scarce and affordable housing is in such short supply?
Housing is a major consumer of land, energy and raw
materials. Natural resources from the
commons are used to produce materials and products to build, maintain and
operate our homes. The size and location
of our houses, the building materials, practices and technologies used in
construction, our choice of household appliances and fixtures and our lifestyle
patterns all influence the amount of resources required to construct and
operate our homes and our consequent impact on the environment. Our housing is depleting the resources of the
commons and damaging the air and water we all rely upon. Greenhouse gases emitted in the production
and transportation of building materials and the pollutants emitted from the
energy used in our home heating and lighting systems end up damaging our air,
water and natural commons.
How can we build, maintain and operate our housing in a more
sustainable way? Many believe one place
to start is to shift our view of property from something that is owned to
something that is held in trusteeship. Trusteeship
is the one form of tenure that can actually guarantee resources and assets are
protected and preserved for future generations in perpetuity. Trusteeship can accomplish the mutually
compatible goals of social justice and environmental protection. Check out the work done by the Vermont Housing and
Conservation Board to create coalitions of environmentalists and housing
advocates to protect land in perpetuity and develop perpetually affordable
housing (see http://www.vhcb.org/)
