Like most consumer products such as clothing and automobiles, homes too go through generational trends. From bellbottoms to skinny jeans and heavy muscles cars to economical hybrids, some trends end up being fads while others change the face of the respective industry.
The American family has become obsessed with keeping up with the Joneses. Even though homes could be lived in for one’s entire life, families move more often and into different sizes and styles of homes.
The average family size has steadily decreased over generations, yet home size has increased. Now an office and playroom is viewed as essential as a master bedroom.
But looking ahead, what will the mainstream public, or at least the next generation, crave out of their next home. The article, “NextGen House Steals the Show,” written by Lew Sichelman and p
ublished in Realty times, provides insight into what the next home trend may be.
Rather than a simple trend for aesthetic reasons, the home of the future, displayed as the “new American Home” at the International Business Show, will serve essential functions for more than just the family living within its walls.
“Labeled the NextGen House, this show home wasn’t a thing of beauty, at least not on the outside. But inside, and ‘inside’ the inside, the 2,700-square-foot house gave visitors a peak into the future of home construction.”
Home builders have actually taken over the responsibility of telling future home owners what their homes will look like or at least be composed of. In light of the current economy and the growing concern of “global warming,” builders will incorporate the four pivotal principles of “strength, environmental friendliness, efficiency and connectivity” into the next generation home.
The home may not have been too visually stimulating and it did have several large holes throughout the home’s walls and interior.
“How else to witness in action a hybrid heating and air conditioning system by Carrier that switches automatically from natural gas to electricity, depending on the outdoor temperature? Or an insulation system that acts as both a thermal insulator and air barrier?”
Efficiency and environmentally friendly homes have been receiving more press over the past couple years but the majority of home buyers cannot afford the “green” homes especially in the current slumping home market.
But if more new homes in the future incorporate these principles, the price tag will lower and thus more people will own homes that are less hazardous to the environment and electrical generators (just ask Las Vegas about their power bills).
The next generation home will still have its fair share of luxury amenities and technological advancements, though.
“‘We’re trying to balance needs of the consumer with benefits and costs,’ explained Dana Bres of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development and Research. ‘Lifestyle leads, technology only suggests; all the time.’”
A more conscious effort, both environmentally and economically is being put into the home of tomorrow, today.