*** New homes in 2015 will be smaller, greener and more casual. A recent survey of 3,019 builders, designers, architects, manufacturers, and marketing specialists by the National Association of Home Builders shows that while consumers are buying homes again, the recent housing downturn has changed what Americans will be looking for in their next home.

 

Survey respondents said they expect homes to average 2,152 square feet by 2015, which is 10 percent smaller than the average size of single-family homes being built in the first three quarters of 2010.

 

To save on square footage, the living room is likely the first room to go: 52 percent of respondents expect it will merge with other spaces in the home by 2015, and 30 percent said it will vanish.

 

The relative size of both the entry foyer and dining room is likely to decrease by 2015, too. The family room, however, is likely to increase, according to 54 percent of those surveyed.

 

The survey results showed the average new home in 2015 is likely to feature: a great room comprised of the kitchen, foyer and family room; a walk-in closet in the master bedroom; a laundry room; ceiling fans; a master bedroom on the first floor in homes with two stories; and a two-car garage.

 

In addition to floor plan changes, 68 percent of respondents said that homes in 2015 will also include more green features and technology, including low-emissivity windows; engineered wood beams, joists or tresses; water-efficient features such as dual-flush toilets or low-flow faucets; and an Energy Star rating for the whole house.

 

*** Going green from the ground up: Planning a home remodel or building a new home, and you want to integrate green building materials? You’ve taken the first step toward reducing maintenance and replacement costs; conserving energy and dwindling nonrenewable resources; and improving occupants’ health and productivity.

 

California's Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery offers a guide to some of the attributes you’ll want to confirm when searching for sustainable building materials, specifically recycled materials. Why heed the agency’s advice? California leads the nation with a 59 percent recycling rate for all materials.

 

Recycled Content: Products with identifiable recycled content, including postindustrial content with a preference for postconsumer content.

 

Natural, plentiful or renewable: Materials harvested from sustainably managed sources and preferably have an independent certification from a third party.

 

Resource efficient manufacturing process: Products manufactured with resource-efficient processes including reducing energy consumption, minimizing waste (recycled, recyclable and or source reduced product packaging), and reducing greenhouse gases.

 

Locally available: Building materials, components, and systems found locally or regionally saving energy and resources in transportation to the project site.

 

Salvaged, refurbished, or remanufactured: Includes saving a material from disposal and renovating, repairing, restoring, or generally improving the appearance, performance, quality, functionality, or value of a product.

 

Reusable or recyclable: Select materials that can be easily dismantled and reused or recycled at the end of their useful life.

 

*** Eighty-one percent of adults agree that buying a home is the best long-term investment a person can make, according a nationwide Pew Research Center phone survey of 2,142 adults conducted March 15-29, 2011.

 

Even among homeowners whose house has lost value in the current recession, 82 percent of homeowners who say their home is worth less now than before the recession began either strongly agree (37 percent) or somewhat agree (45 percent) that homeownership is the best long-term investment a person can make. Among homeowners whose home increased in value during the recession, this confidence is even more pronounced. Half (49 percent) strongly agree and 41 percent somewhat agree with this view.

 

Homeownership and "being able to live comfortably in retirement" are rated the highest; each is seen as being extremely or very important by 80 percent of respondents. Nearly as many (73 percent) say the same about being able to pay for their children's college education, and about half (53 percent) say the same about being able to leave an inheritance for their children.