When greener suburbs are less green: detached housing and energy demand

The development of extended areas of detached houses is increasing in cities in Europe, especially after COVID-19. While these are perceived as ‘greener’, they pose challenges, such as traffic congestion or public expenditure. In this context, housing choice – apartments or detached houses – is central to this issue. We propose to quantify their influence on energy consumption using Spanish microdata. Following a modified version of Alonso’s location model, we apply propensity score matching to estimate the effect of housing choice on direct energy consumption and embodied energy. The significant effect on both measures highlights the importance of compact urban planning.