In comparison to other first world countries the housing square footage is very high but peanuts compared to residential energy consumption. For example USA has

In comparison to other first world countries the housing square footage is very high but peanuts compared to residential energy consumption. For example USA has 77 residential m2/capita and Germany has 55 m2/capita (50% more), but USA electricty consumption is 4.5 MWh/a/capita vs Germany's 1.7 MWh/a/capita (165% more). http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/average-household-electricity-consumption http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/average-household-electricity... vs http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/how-big-is-a-house http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/how-big-is-a-house