In the wake of the midterms, focus on Americans’ dynamic of pain points and solutions resumes. Healthcare, and who will pay for it looms large as a pain point. Housing, and who’s working on innovative design, engineering, and construction that plays a role in people’s health outcomes, will be at least a big part of the solution.
Let’s look at this in perspective, and then support bold but informed speculation that homes that actively and passively serve their inhabitants’ health and well-being will be a norm by 2030.
Green building started as a fringe movement in residential design and construction more than 30 years ago. Now, sustainability–with standards of net zero energy use and low, low HERS scores–is what most new home buyers consider to be an included feature.
Houses whose security, lighting, room air comfort, doorbells, shades, garage doors, and other normal routines and systems tie to a smart phone app were once a luxury only the wealthy or the technically-gifted could enjoy, a fringe “nice-to-have.” Now, more and more builders don’t dare bring new homes to the market that don’t include a smart home package of these offerings as standard issue.
Within the past five years or so, expectations among consumers who buy a new home have risen, a lot. Between code and the spiral of consumer activism, the bar of expectations keeps going up. Architects, builders, and building materials and products makers have each and together risen to meet those elevated expectations. Sustainable, smart homes are no longer a rarity. They’re becoming a norm, and the cost to have one and to design one and to build one is no longer in the realm of luxury–it’s mainstream.
Read more at Builder Magazine
