Single family homes vs. big houses






Houses built around 1960 in Germany had been a horror in nonexistent insulation. A typical 16-apartment block had been, at this time, between 160 and 220 kWh/a/m² heat demand and 60 to 80 m² per apartment. On the other side had been a single-family house with 250 to 300 kWh/a/m² heat demand and between 100 and 120 m² living space. So a family living in an apartment block had between 9,600 and 17,600 kWh heat demand, while the family in the single-family house had 25,000 kWh to 36,000 kWh heat demand. In addition to the heat demand problem, owners of single-family houses had been more likely to have a car and to drive more km a year than people living in apartments. All energy had come in 1960 from distant power sources: hydropower plants and coal power plants. Coal power plants supplied by coal mines, and the cars supplied by refineries supplied by distant oil wells. There was only one thing a house could do about energy: consume less energy. Based on these numbers evolved the idea that apartment blocks are good and single-family houses are bad. The first thermal insulation regulation was introduced in 1977 in Germany. All concentrated only on the heat energy demand: the passive house and the low-energy house. All the efforts had been towards nearly zero heat demand, with nearly no thought beyond. Single family homes vs. big houses Based on energy demand for heating and mobility, the idea evolved that apartment blocks are good and single-family houses are bad. Both apartments and single-family homes are now bigger but have improved much at lowering the heat demand.

  Cost optimization — the key to energy transition and climate protection
Paper written for the CORP.at conference March 22 to 25, 2026, in Vienna. My 2025 participation was a last-minute action, but now I have much time to prepare the paper.

Abstract
To meet the necessary cost optimization targets, we cannot hold the energy problem separate from all other problems: another major problem is housing.
Introduction
Many imaginations about our future had been created in the past with completely different parameters. Unchecked conclusions from the past endanger our future with unbearable costs.
My personal experience with a profitability transition My personal experience with a profitability transition
Birds can fly without knowing all the terms of aerodynamics. I reacted with my design change to an ongoing “profitability transition” without knowing the term at this time.
Energy transition
The long way from random electricity from sun and wind towards 24×365 electricity. Overseen profitability transitions have to be considered as major accidents.
The GEMINI principle: double usage of land
No better solar power plant, no better housing possible on the same ground is the ultimate target of the GEMINI principle.
Off-grid fast charging settlements Off-grid fast charging settlements
It can start small, somewhere in a village, with a single GEMINI house with a big PV carport and 100 kW DC charging.
Energy-intensive industry
I once developed a scale for off-grid solar possibilities depending on photovoltaic size. But now is to make a big jump upwards on this scale: running, energy-intensive industry.
Agriculture: How many square meters does a human need for his food? Agriculture: How many square meters does a human need for his food?
Mankind started as hunters and gatherers. 12,000 years ago, 500,000 m² to 2,500,000 m² per human. With the agricultural revolution, the land use was reduced by 2 magnitudes.
Conclusion
All parameters are in a constant state of change. We have to check all the parameters and predict the development for the predictable future.
References
Roland Mösl: Energy Optimised Settlements – Enabler for Necessary Civilization Targets, Graz 2025


          Single family homes vs. big houses: Based on energy demand for heating and mobility, the idea evolved that apartment blocks are good and single-family houses are bad. https://climate.pege.org/2026/small-vs-big-houses.htm