Do You Live In A Slow Home? (Take the Test!)

“Simplicity means the achievement of maximum effect with minimum means.” ~ Albert Einstein

What is a Slow Home?
Think of a Slow Home as you would think about Slow Food. Or, think about the opposite of Slow Food – processed food. That would equate a fast home as a standardized, homogeneous, wasteful home that is not advantageous for the environment, making it like nasty fast food for our bodies. The interiors and exteriors of Slow Homes tread lightly. They are simple to live in, benefit the environment and help to keep inhabitants of the home healthy.

Slow Home Studio claims: “The difference between a fast house and a Slow Home is not defined by style, size, age, type or cost but by the quality of the underlying design. It’s about the fundamental organizational decisions that define how well the house responds to its context, how efficiently the rooms are organized together, and how effectively each individual space functions. In a fast house, this underlying design is flawed. In a Slow Home the underlying design is logical, effective and helps to make our lives easier while reducing our environmental impact.”

Is your home Slow or Fast?
The research indicates that only 10 percent of North American houses are Slow – 20 percent have significant design problems that make them fast. The remaining 70 percent of houses fall somewhere in between these two extremes and depending on the specifics of their design, they may or may not be Slow.

Take the test:
Most people don’t know how to tell the difference between a fast house and a Slow Home (I didn’t). Take the Slow Home Test to find out.

My home scored a not-very-promising 11, making it a marginally fast home. It’s not at all what I expected. Might be time to slow up. How did your home score?

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Jennifer C.

10:34PM PDT on May 9, 2012

Thanks.

send a green star

Anastasia J.

7:46PM PDT on May 2, 2012

Sorry, but I didn't care for the test. I get what it was trying to promote, but the "Slow Home" described in the link didn't really address environmental issues and was pretty vague. Meh.

KS G.

5:10AM PST on Dec 13, 2011

Thanks for the article.

Eternal G.

5:18PM PDT on Sep 14, 2011

I do!

Courtenay M.

8:45PM PDT on Sep 13, 2011

Loo S.

6:13PM PDT on Aug 6, 2011

noted, thanks

dawn w.

12:10PM PDT on Aug 6, 2011

My apt. scored a 4. I always knew the place sucked.

Shirley E.

9:52AM PDT on Aug 4, 2011

I like the concept but don't feel thrilled about applying the 'slow' label to me or my lifestyle. I'd prefer 'eco' or 'friendly' home but definitely think we need a different name.

Roxana C.

6:25AM PDT on Aug 4, 2011

15 - only scored down on Location and Stewardship (mainly, I think, because this last one wasn't clear to me).

Ann F.

1:20PM PDT on Aug 3, 2011

thanks