Why do you say building on a slab is more ecological than starting with a basement?

G
Geri P
Updated: July 29, 2020

I watched a presentation by Emmanuel Cosgrove of Ecohome who said that a house built on an insulated slab floor was much more ecological and more affordable than a basement. How does he arrive at this conclusion? Basement or not, you need a mechanical room, storage space, a laundry room, cold storage, etc. The way I see it is to build without basement is to decide to build bigger, meaning more materials, more external walls to heat, and a bigger ecological footprint. Please explain, thanks. 

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