The future is coming to a home near you
It’s probably hard to envision right now that some day your biggest problem may be whether or not your iPhone is communicating with your oven, but chances are it will. When we finally get through our real estate valley of fatigue, there is plenty of new technology just waiting to be installed within the walls of new homes and added to our existing homes.
Did you know that one day walls will talk? Yep, refrigerators will provide information on energy usage or mechanical problems to their owners and even convey malfunctions to manufacturers and repair company data bases. Your air conditioner will let you know if it’s leaking, and even the lumber in your walls could have sensors to detect moisture, something that Florida residents would welcome.
If you think about how the computer in your car works, it’s not much of a stretch to imagine monitors on your appliances and on the walls of your home, giving you feedback and a heads up on problems. Just like your car’s on board computer tells you everything that’s going on under the hood, your home’s appliances, systems and internal structure can tell you where it hurts.
Working from home is definitely the future of telecommunicating, so you better get your home ready with properly designed and designated office locations. In our world wide economy, it’s not only more efficient to attend meetings via a computer equipped with a television monitor, it’s also the green way to go. Properly ventilated flat screens with wall speakers for telecommunicating need to be considered and designed as part of a master building or renovation plan. Even if you and your family’s needs don’t require high tech office space now, it would be smart to consider the value added in having this space when selling your home down the road.
All future electronic systems will be integrated in new homes for the entire family to use via touch panels programmed for individual family members’ needs. For older citizens or children, home alone systems will be designed to coordinate with off site healthcare or emergency providers.
Think whole house media systems that are centrally located to feed games, movies, music and Internet service to all the rooms of your home. Also, if you’re building a new home, consider which walls you might want to install the roll-out of film that will become an organic LED display replacing conventional monitors and flat screens in the not too distant future.
The upcoming decade is all about green and sustainable building, so continue to purchase Energy Star appliances and products manufactured with renewable resources. Consider energy management thermostats, central vacuums and smart window treatments that will lower energy usage and increase home values.
Be on the look out for on the go technology since being on the go is not going away. Having the ability to adjust the thermostat in your home because of a last minute schedule change or getting your weekend home ready before you arrive will all be managed from your cell phone on a normal basis.
Adding new technology to your home will become just as important to the next generation of home buyers as granite countertops and sub-zero refrigerators were to the last. The more user friendly your home is the more friendly the 30-something buyers will be – an important consideration as we start to climb up the valley we’ve been stuck in.