One might argue that it takes a lot of nerve to build something called “The Home of the Future,” particularly if you’re building it by committee and you’re going to throw open the doors for thousands of your industry peers to walk through.
This being the case, its creators might also reason that as long as they’ve already stuck their collective necks out to create something that, in philosophy, is meant to be a fortress of family life, they might as well go ahead and make the thing look like a fortress, too. After all, what’s a showcase home for if they can’t put on a little show?
This “Home of the Future” is a collaborative effort by Builder magazine, Home magazine, Centex Corp. (which constructed it) and B3 Architects & Planners of Santa Barbara, Calif. The home went on display here this week for the 65,000 attendees of the International Builders Show, the annual convention of the National Association of Home Builders, which continues through Monday.
It is one of the two showcase houses (among the half-dozen built especially for the event) that probably will get the most attention from attendees. The other is the New American Home, which garners much of its interest by virtue of being the creation of the builders’ group itself. (See accompanying story.)
The Home of the Future stands out in many ways, not the least of which is its appearance: It’s a big (4,573 square feet) brooding medieval-looking affair that is filled to the tops of its turrets with technology and energy-saving materials. Principal architect Barry Berkus also gave it some unusual features that are intended to make it more adaptable to the changing needs of the family that will live there after it has finished its two-year run as a demonstration home; it opens to the public at the end of January.
Among the Berkus touches are a great room with movable walls, sliding pocket doors and modular furniture. The intent is to be able, within minutes, to convert the space from its everyday configuration of game room and adjoining dining area to a wide-open salon that will seat a huge family feast.
In the front of the house are dual casitas (Spanish for “little houses”) that could be used for everything from an art studio (as it was set up for this show) to home gym to a suite for a boomerang child. The two rooms, averaging 172 square feet each, feel distinctly separate from the rest of the house, ideal for work-at-home needs that require privacy.
Indeed, privacy is a major issue in the design, which notably lacks the front porch and front-of-the-house orientation that have become popular–in philosophy, at least–in leading design circles, where there has been considerable criticism of suburban architecture that keeps us in our family rooms and on our backyard decks, isolated from our neighbors. The design collaborative decided that it wasn’t buying it.
“Our research indicated that people were looking for their home to become a refuge and at the end of the day people want to go home and cocoon and be rejuvenated,” according to Randy Luther, director of research and development for Centex. Which is why the media room, great room, kitchen and “summer room” dining area are clustered together in the rear of the house, all overlooking the pool.
This is something that the Home of the Future doesn’t anticipate will change much from the Home of Today, according to Luther, who says that although some aspects of the house’s design should start to make an impact on the mainstream market in a few years, we shouldn’t expect revolution any time soon.
In other words, such features as the casitas, the built-in “sports court,” the two-story kids’ room with sleeping loft and (inoperable) ejection seat from NASA are unlikely to show up in a subdivision near you, at least not soon.
But that’s not to say that the home fails in its stated mission to show “new ways of building houses that could be translated into building production (or tract) homes.”
“Our particular interest (at Centex) was from a technological point of view, very much in the energy efficiency of the homes. I think that’s something that’s becoming increasingly important to customers,” Luther said. “We went through a period a decade or so ago of wanting to be energy-efficient, and I think that attitude is starting to return.
“Except that now we have the potential to make 40 to 50 percent energy savings. We have made significant strides,” he said. In the Home of the Future, these strides show up in such areas as:
– Its geothermal heat pump, which uses the Earth’s temperature to heat and cool the house. “Although it’s not new (technology), it’s coming on quickly in the residential market in climates where the weather is very severe. It can reduce energy costs by 30 to 40 percent,” Luther said.
– Triple-glazed window glass. “They are more expensive, obviously, than (the more widely used used) double-glazed glass, but the cost will become more affordable,” Luther predicted, explaining that the house’s window assemblies have an R-value (a measure of energy efficiency) of 10, where double-glazed windows might typically rate a 3 or 4.
– Insulation. The house uses a blown-in-blanket system (BIBS), which is made of fluffy insulation mixed with a light mastic. Its manufacturer maintains that because it’s blown in as a loose fill, it gets into small spaces better than conventional batting and completely fills cavities, reducing air filtration and noise.
Technologically, the house is no slouch, either. It contains the centralized system for controlling lighting, heating, security, lawn sprinklers, etc., that has become almost obligatory in high-end showcase houses. The sponsors swear that it is simple enough for the VCR-impaired to manage comfortably, even though this system is an integration of products from nine companies.
The wiring will link and distribute audio, video and communications, enabling the occupants to watch movies via VCR or satellite, access the Internet, see who’s at the door or monitor the baby’s room, all through the television. The security system is wireless, operating via radio frequency.
In addition, the roof has photovoltaic shingles that are meant to provide an uninterrupted power supply in case of an outage, which is exactly what happened when a storm killed the neighborhood’s power during a press preview of the house several weeks back. The shingles did their job.
Maintenance, or lack of same, is also a big issue here. Exterior painting, caulking and other fixups are eliminated or minimized by the various materials chosen. Luther says that not only are buyers lacking time and inclination in this area, they are becoming more demanding about getting their money’s worth.
“More customers are beginning to say, `I am going to be in this house a while and I don’t want to replace things. I want you, as a builder, to put things in here that will last.’ “
Which is a definition of “the future” that transcends all design philosophies.
