Do Home Buyers Really Want Smart Home Technology?

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As a home designer, for many years I’ve been greatly anticipating a time when we will see useful and affordable electronics as standard items in our homes to make our lives easier–whether they offer convenience or save us money. I am still waiting. Options are all out there; we have the technology, but the costs are not quite attainable yet.  But new cars, at all price points, offer integrated Bluetooth technology, fuel monitoring, navigations systems, WiFi, etc.  The auto industry has responded to consumer demand, so why hasn’t the housing industry done the same?

 

NESTthermostatPicture2“I want that!” Home electronics and automation selections can be overwhelming. If you have ever researched the latest home technologies, or ever heard a presentation, you may feel like a kid in a candy store as there are boundless options. For most, it’s a dream come true to live in a technologically advanced, fully automated home as if you were George Jetson yourself. You may find you “would really like this” or you “gotta have that”…and the list usually grows.

 

But home electronics come at a cost, and frugal consideration must be given to home buyers’ needs and the conveniences they are willing to pay for.

 

What matters to homebuyers? A recent technology survey, “What Home Buyers Really Want,” presented at the 2015 International Builders Show, reveals what ranks at the top of buyer’s tech wish lists:

 

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Since not everyone can afford it all, practicality rules. Level-headedness must prevail. But almost every type of buyer wants at least home security and programmable thermostats.

 

Millennial buyers seem to be the most tech savvy, but most are not in a financial position to be able to afford extras like central vacuums or lighting control systems. They are fine with their iPad controlled Apple TV and a wireless home theater surround sound system from Best Buy. For the most part, the same is true with the Gen-Xers and Boomers. Simple and easy-to-use gadgets that can be controlled with your smartphone seem to be what’s mainstream now.

 

Here are a few new, yet attainable, technology ideas that buyers may find to be “must haves” are slowly creeping their way into new homes, and Home Design and Building Professionals must adapt new plan designs to accommodate these needs:

 

  • Charge Electronics Devices: Most new home designs have a drop zone, a small transitional area where you “Drop” things when you come home, usually located between the garage and the kitchen. This convenient space allows you to drop your keys, purse, phone, mail, etc. on your way in without having to drop it all on the kitchen countertops. Instead of equipping this counter with a normal duplex outlet to recharge your phones, use the new USB Duplex outlets here, which provide two USB plugs for any smartphone charger. Already growing in popularity in hotel rooms, these USB duplexes come in handy behind the nightstands in the bedroom or in the home office as well.
  • Programmable Thermostat: Nest is a Learning Thermostat that learns your schedule, programs itself and can be controlled from your phone. Teach it well and the Nest Thermostat can lower heating and cooling bills up to 20%. ($250, nest.com).
  • Front Door Locks: The bluetooth-controlled Kēvo is a new way to lock and unlock your front door without a key. Using your smartphone or keychain fob, this smart lock will unlock at the touch of a finger. The smartphone app lets you send e-keys, track entries and lock your home remotely. ($220, kwikset.com)
  • Healthy Home:  How much is clean air worth to your buyers? How do you eliminate the unpleasant microscopic, particle-sized pollutants that surround you indoors and how do you remove them from the air you breathe? Innovated in Sweden, Blueair purifiers use HEPASilent® technology to silently and effectively remove triggers like dust mites, allergens, volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), pet dander, mold, cigarette smoke, and more. ($330+, us.blueair.com)
  • Wrinkle Free Clothes: Save yourself time and money from having to go to the drycleaners, and do it yourself, sans the iron and steamer. Available at Best Buy, Whirlpool’s new Swash is a 10-minute clothing care system ($500, Swash.com). In new home or remodel design, consider a space to store it in the laundry room or master closet, and provide an outlet for it as well.

 

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Home design is constantly changing and evolving to meet the needs and lifestyles of today’s homebuyers – much like the invention of the toilet that launched bathroom design in homes, refrigerators replaced ice boxes and furnaces replaced fireplaces, home electronics are now making a significant impact on the way we live and the way we have to design homes today for tomorrow.

 

 

Three Architectural Periods in Peru

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Peru as a country boasts a mix of cultures, climates, and architecture. What makes it an incredible place to visit is that modern Peru seamlessly blends together its diverse history. Nonetheless, each culture and each historical period is still visible and alive throughout the country. Traveling through Peru last year, I noticed that a recurring theme was not only the country’s architecture, but the way it was adapted to changing circumstances. In general, buildings in Peru can be assigned to one of three categories: pre-Columbian, colonial, and vernacular.

Peru - Cusco - Architecture

Pre-Columbian Architecture in Peru

When we think of Peruvian architecture, we immediately picture large works of perfectly connected stone from the pre-Columbian period. And for good reason: These massive creations appear throughout the country and surrounding areas, from the desert coasts to the mountainous highlands to the Amazon jungle. They’ve withstood earthquakes, wars, conquest, colonial rebuilding, and the elements.

What sets Incan architecture apart is not just the size of the stones and the precision with which stonemasons cut them, but the fact that in many structures the blocks are not held together with mortar. Instead, craftsmen created a perfect fit and sometimes built in interlocking features on the tops, bottoms, or sides of the stones. At some of the most important sites, evidence suggests that these interlocking features were “cemented” together with traces of silver. To give flexibility to their structures during earthquakes, Incans sometimes built walls on top of gravel or small-stone foundations many meters deep.

However, when walking around historic places like Machu Picchu, you’ll quickly notice that not all buildings feature smooth stones that fit together perfectly. That’s because this time-intensive building style was reserved only for the most important buildings: temples and civic structures. Regular homes and agricultural sites were built with rustic stones, mortar, and thatched roofs.

Colonial Architecture in Peru

Once the Spanish conquered the last Inca stronghold in 1572, they rebuilt cities in what we now call a Spanish Colonial or Andean Baroque style. But on closer inspection, you’ll quickly notice that the new Spanish cities preserved many of the original elements. For example, the Spanish expanded on the existing grid system in Cusco, the former empire’s capital, and kept many of the same plazas. Religious structures were replaced with religious structures and elite residences were replaced with elite residences.

On the surface, these new buildings appear European, including their lavishly decorated baroque façades. However, along the foundations of many buildings, their Incan heritage is clearly visible. Hallmarks of Spanish colonial architecture in Peru are a base of perfectly fitted Incan stones, European-style white stucco walls, baroque stonework around doors and windows, and intricately carved wooden balconies.

Vernacular and Contemporary Architecture in Peru

While architectural grandeur reached stunning heights in Peru’s most important cities during the colonial period, vernacular architecture at cities’ outskirts and in rural areas has remained widely unchanged for many centuries. Dwellings are usually constructed with whitewashed adobe bricks; roofs are constructed with wood, straw, and hand-made clay tiles. Of course, being one of the world’s fastest growing economies in recent years has left its mark on the country’s largest cities. In Lima and Arequipa, growing modern skylines are ringing in yet another chapter of Peruvian architecture.

 

Eliza Harris Juliano Appointed to Orange County Development Advisory Board

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Canin Associates’ Director of Urbanism, Eliza Harris Juliano, will be filling one of the nine positions on the Orange County Development Advisory Board. The board is responsible for reviewing proposed regulations impacting land use. Other professionals on the committee include licensed architects and landscape architects, builders and developers, a civil engineer, environmental specialist, financial specialist, attorney, general contractor, and homeowner’s association representative.

 

DowntownOrlando

 

Canin Associates‘ team is dedicated creating great people places, not only by planning and designing places, but by our team members’ personal involvement in our local community.

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAEliza has a strong record of service in the public sector, having served on several local government boards and committees. These include Green Works Orlando, Mayor Buddy Dyer’s GreenWorks Task Force; the Orange County Sustainability Committee, which focuses on economic, environmental and social sustainability; and the Project DTO Task Force, where she was involved in the transportation sub-committee, a group of over 70 stakeholders appointed by the mayor to research, explore, and expand upon the dynamics of downtown Orlando.

 

Project DTO is of special interest to our team because downtown Orlando is our office’s own back yard, where projects like the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center, SunRail, and the Orlando Bike Share Program are only the beginning of great new endeavors to make downtown Orlando even better. Canin Associates’ vice president of business development, Greg Witherspoon, also helps to keep the City Beautiful beautiful by serving on the City of Orlando Appearance Review Board.