Addressing climate change requires bold action, but even incremental changes to existing dwelling patterns can help secure our community’s future. Missing Middle Housing is a common-sense solution that offers an environmentally-friendly path toward more attainable housing options in Arlington. These housing types are smaller by design and generally located in close proximity to local amenities—two factors key to reducing Arlingtonians’ carbon footprints.
Improving the sustainability of our housing choices alone won’t be enough to mitigate the urgent threat climate change poses, but it is a part of a larger puzzle to reduce our carbon footprint and protect our environment for generations to come.
Large homes and low density have an outsized impact on the environment
Large homes come with bigger price tags and bigger carbon footprints. Research has shown that across the country, wealthier Americans’ per capita carbon footprints are roughly 25% higher than those of low-income residents, a disparity due in large part to their large homes. In the most affluent suburbs, emissions can be as much as 15 times higher than in nearby neighborhoods.
This trend holds true in Arlington where carbon footprints per capita vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, primarily in relation to their residential density. While the average Arlington County household creates 5.5 tonnes of greenhouse gasses (GHG) per year, neighborhoods that are in close proximity to Metro lines show significantly lower GHG production than neighborhoods further away from train lines. Often, these higher-emitting Arlington neighborhoods have a higher proportion of single-detached houses than greener parts of the County. People who can’t afford adequate housing in Arlington are often pushed out of the County and further away from the District, which in turn can increase their carbon footprints.
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The characteristics of high-emitting areas in Arlington are consistent with the larger challenges of low-density living. High-density multifamily housing, like that built in Arlington’s Metro corridors, is one way to help reduce per-capita carbon footprints. However, there can be more than these two far ends of the density spectrum. Missing Middle Housing’s intentionally modest scale and emphasis on walkability can serve as an antidote to sprawl, allowing these eco-friendly housing options to easily blend into existing neighborhoods.
Existing housing patterns drive reliance on emissions-heavy forms of transportation
Missing Middle Housing located in neighborhoods close to key destinations like work, shopping, and local businesses is more efficient than its alternative: sprawl. When people can’t afford to live near where they work—including some employees in Arlington’s schools, hospitals, and essential services—their commute grows. Often, these commutes involve cars—a pattern that causes traffic congestion within Arlington and the DC metro area and increases emissions overall.
Promoting transit-oriented development means more opportunities for walkable neighborhoods and car-free transit, which would cut pollution and result in shorter commutes, less driving, less congestion, fewer road fatalities, and improved health outcomes from cleaner air.
Driving contributes the majority of transportation sector emissions in the United States, making transportation the largest source of U.S. carbon emissions and the only sector of the economy where emissions aren’t decreasing.
Despite the well-established links between driving and climate change, data show that people in urban areas are driving more, not less. From 1993 to 2017, vehicle miles traveled increased by 57% in the top 100 urbanized areas while the population grew by only 32%. We are also driving more per person: In 2017, each person in those urbanized areas drove an average of 25 miles per day, a 20% jump from 1993. In most cases, this is happening because of longer driving distances rather than greater congestion.
Missing Middle Housing that is in closer proximity to jobs and neighborhood amenities—especially when designed with an emphasis on walkability—can break the link between housing and car use. Promoting transit-oriented development means more opportunities for walkable neighborhoods and car-free transit, which would cut pollution and result in shorter commutes, less driving, less congestion, fewer road fatalities, and improved health outcomes from cleaner air.
Smaller homes carry a smaller carbon footprint than their larger alternatives
Missing Middle Housing’s intentionally small scale makes it greener by design. Since Missing Middle types are efficiently sized and designed, they require less energy to heat and cool—a boon to both the environment and household budgets. The daily operations of large homes require significant amounts of energy. Heating, cooling, and powering households create roughly 20% of U.S. energy-related GHG emissions—a total comparable to that of the entire nation of Brazil and outpacing that of Germany.
Houses may be becoming more energy-efficient, but demographic trends, electricity prices, and expanded information technology use are keeping GHG emissions from shrinking. The Paris climate treaty—which the U.S. recently rejoined under President Biden—sets a goal to reduce housing emissions from their 2005 levels by 28% by 2025 and 80% by 2050. A cleaner electric grid alone won’t be enough to meet this target, according to research: A move towards smaller, more tightly spaced homes—along with more efficient energy habits—is necessary to meet the Paris Agreement’s emissions goal.
Paris Agreement and housing
Learn more about the landmark climate deal, its signatories, and its application to housing.
Smaller homes that are designed to meet their inhabitants’ everyday needs can satisfy both climate needs and community preferences. From its small footprint and neighborhood scale, Missing Middle Housing can increase the number of households living in an area without creating a sense of crowding. This lower perceived density is key to maintaining the look and feel of a neighborhood while also addressing GHG goals. Increasing the density of neighborhoods generally carries additional environmental and social benefits, particularly the increased feasibility and efficiency of public transportation routes.
Missing Middle Housing’s low perceived density adds units while maintaining the look and feel of a neighborhood.
Missing Middle Housing can give residents the opportunity to shape eco-friendly housing policies
Many Missing Middle Housing types, such as duplexes and triplexes, were made illegal in the 20th century throughout most of Arlington. Re-introducing these flexible housing options in Arlington’s zoning ordinance would give the community the opportunity to modernize County housing policies to ensure they incorporate the environmental concerns that matter most to us.
Stormwater: Recent flooding in Arlington following intense, short rainfalls has illustrated the County stormwater system’s challenges with capacity and limited overland relief. Arlington’s stormwater system is outdated and needs improvements to handle future growth and climate pattern changes. As the County works toward infrastructure updates, there are steps homeowners and builders can take to improve residential areas’ ability to prevent flooding. Key to stormwater management is the amount of permeable land—grass and other surfaces that allow water to soak into the soil below, filtering and removing pollutants from the water and reducing the threat of flooding. Homes with large footprints or driveways reduce the surface area of permeable land, which makes stormwater management more difficult. However, added density doesn’t necessarily mean more impervious surfaces relative to the current pattern of single-detached development. Missing Middle Housing’s efficient scale can increase the number of units without necessarily adding strain on the County’s ability to manage stormwater.
Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance
All of Arlington County’s water drains into the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance was adopted to protect our local streams from pollution due to land use and development and limit the contamination of the Bay. Learn more
Preserving Arlington’s tree canopy: Arlington’s tree canopy is a valuable asset for the community. While some are concerned that the inclusion of Missing Middle Housing will compromise natural surroundings in Arlington’s residential areas, the truth is that any construction on a lot can negatively impact trees. This is especially true if builders and landscape designers are not taking best practices into account, such as consulting an arborist during the design phase. It is also the case that single-detached houses do not necessarily have more trees surrounding them than Missing Middle types: it depends on the type of landscaping and the placement of the structure on the lot. Landscaping that focuses on native plants and shrubs for pollinators can be implemented in most yards—whether they hold a duplex, townhome, or single-detached home.
New zoning requirements that accommodate Missing Middle Housing could also include new environmental incentives to promote tree preservation such as flexibility to construct away from existing trees, reduced driveway and off-street parking requirements, and increased on-street tree canopy requirements. These types of environmental incentives would be new eco-friendly tools for Arlington because there are few such requirements for by-right housing development.
A greener Arlington for a brighter future
A greener Arlington is a stronger Arlington, and a strong Arlington strives to be a place where anyone can feel at home. Existing housing policies generally favor the large homes that carry too high of a climate and monetary cost, creating a housing system that is neither environmentally nor economically sustainable. Missing Middle Housing is a forward-looking approach that meets the most pressing challenges facing the County without compromising what Arlingtonians already love about their community.
The benefits of Missing Middle Housing extend beyond its climate-friendly nature, allowing for more diverse communities, making it easier for seniors to age in place, and expanding housing choice in Arlington. Together, we can work toward a greener, more inclusive, more resilient Arlington that we can all call home.