House of the future
Our new homes will be timber or timber-framed, 50% more energy efficient and will use 40% less water. They will also be smaller.
The house-as-status-symbol, with its emphasis on size, will be replaced by smaller, more simple abodes, akin to the Formula One driver Michael Schumacher's Alpenhaus.
Rambling, concrete houses, with multiple en-suites, will become dinosaurs in the face of a trend towards snug little chalets that will blend with their environment and shimmer with eco-goodness.
As far-fetched as this may seem, it will happen sooner than you might expect. The new building regulations, published this month, provide for up to 300mm of insulation in new houses.
Old houses will have to replace windows and doors to meet the new standards, preventing the energy leaks that occur on older properties.
Ventilation controls will also be introduced; because our cocooned housing does not provide enough fresh air, incidences of asthma and allergies have increased.
Dampness is a problem where there is a lack of air circulation, so the new regulations will insist on the presence of vents in 'wet' areas of the house.
This makes sense, as anyone with steamy kitchens and bathrooms can testify. Heat exchangers, which draw in fresh air, but retain heat, are the answer.
Buildings are responsible for 50% of emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but we can reduce that damage by building eco-friendly houses.
The philosophy of the future is a New Age respect for the environment, say the experts. We will become 'grey water' users, recycling our sudsy effluent and giving our gardens and plants a whoosh of phosphate-filtered water.
Houses will be timber-framed. Some will even have sod-covered roofs, will be built from recycled material, and will resemble shanty towns. For the rest of us, we will have the pleasure of perusing council-approved design books (Cork and Clare planners have set down appropriate designs) to pick out the designs of our new homes, which will sit in artificial, village enclaves rather than the usual back-to-the-hill, door-to-the road format with which we are familiar.
There may be a village green, a smoke-free pub, and a creche, which will be open from 8am to 8pm, and schools designed to match the happy-valley layout.
En-suites will be a thing of the past. These cut-off corners of our rooms will have been replaced by more conservative, salubriously appointed bathrooms.
To service these new 'wet rooms', we will have solar water heaters mounted on the roof, which will provide free hot water at up to 95C. This will be pumped to an insulated hot water tank, maintained at 77C, which will disperse the water at mains pressure around the house, as required.
A heat-pump could be used to push cold water into the earth, to a depth of 50m, from where it will be returned as hot water. This method, according to the experts, will use only one unit of electricity for every three units of heat.
Whichever way the water is heated, a combination of under-floor heating and trenches will replace the radiator. The heat trenches will deliver water throughout, and bring room temperatures up individually - this system is common on the Continent, but has yet to make an impact here.
The heating will be part of a sophisticated, simple building management system which will operate when required. While our 'grey water' system gives us the flush in the pan, the smart system will monitor soil humidity to ensure the automatic irrigation system delivers the water to those plants that need it.
Rainwater, of which we have no shortage, is not discarded, while the old water butt is replaced by underground storage tanks fed from the gutters.
Inside the house, the computerised management system will take over. While it won't take off your hat and coat when you come home, it will run the house.
The security system will control lighting, doors and sensors, and will ensure no energy is wasted. All of the systems in the house can be programmed to 'wake-up' when the owner gets home. The curtains will close with darkness, and the lights will come on to a pre-programmed setting.
Going on holidays will be easy, as the house will take care of itself while you are away: curtains will swish, and lights will turn on automatically, to deter burglars.
Video will allow you to monitor the house and the children's movements. Keys will be coded for individual rooms, so the study and drinks cabinet become inviolable.
Each room will have its own individual line feeding ISDN, digital and terrestrial television, which will facilitate multiple telephone numbers. Each resident will have his own phone number, as well as a choice of viewing and internet use.
Footage from CCTV cameras monitoring the exterior will be broadcast on a spare analogue television channel, and transmitted to every TV in the house. This will enhance security.
The management system will include disability safeguards, like alarms and monitoring equipment for the sick, pregnant and disabled.
Security and safety? Intruder alarms, fire alarms, smoke and CO2 detectors will be integrated with lighting and locking systems.
How much will this cost? Prototypes are being developed, but no figure has been estimated. The experts say it will not exceed current costs by 15%.
With increased demand, expensive, state-of-the-art technologies will become commonplace, so a home with this system will be economically feasible. Rigorous environmental legislation will ensure it happens sooner rather than later.
Ten years ago, most people did not own a computer, and, now, everyone does. In a blink of an eye, we'll be rolling back our wasteful ways and living in a green and pleasant land - whether we like it or not.
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