Home Builders Prepare
For Tech-Savvy Buyers
Today's youths are years, or even decades, away from buying their first homes. But already home builders are pulling out their blueprints. What do they see?
Foremost, they're betting typical Generation Y homes will be stuffed with high-tech gadgets, including computer screens in every room, high-speed Internet equipment and lighting and heating/air conditioning systems that can be monitored from the road or the office. Pulte Corp. with IBM Corp. recently began development on two communities featuring houses with central computers and a screen in every room. Meanwhile, Centex Homes of Dallas plans to build a technology-rich home via a research project funded by Procter & Gamble Co., Compaq Computer Corp. and others. All the gadgetry will need wiring closets or "energy rooms" and back-up power generators to make sure data are never lost.
Smart Kitchens
General Electric Co., Whirlpool Corp. and others are developing appliances including refrigerators that know when milk cartons and other containers are empty (and order replacements via the Internet), as well as suggest recipes based on what ingredients are inside. Other gadgets include ovens that double as refrigerators to keep items chilled until cooking begins and dishwashers that run their own diagnostics and contact repair staff via the Internet when something's wrong. Beyond Interactive, an on-line ad firm, is exploring how to deliver marketing messages via a computer screen on a refrigerator. Think juice-making tips from Fresh Samantha.
Flexible Living Space
The Evans Group of Orlando, Fla., is tinkering with an "imagination room" that can be redesigned as families change, serving as a play space for children, a computer room for high-school kids, or a lounge with TV and refrigerator for guests. Some builders have considered designing bedrooms with retractable walls and roll-away beds so they can double as part-time offices, while others are adding easy-to-use levers on doors and rails along walls and stairways for Baby Boomer parents who move in for extended stays.
Extras for Outdoors
Look for environmentally friendly extras, including rainwater-harvesting tanks as well as solar roofing panels that can help power these homes' various electronics.
Owens Corning is developing sensors in shingles and siding that can detect leaks, water buildups and pests. Others foresee sprinkler and alarm systems controlled by remote computer or Palm Pilot. Of course, "'smart homes" have been around since the 1980s, and few people have gone to the expense of fully outfitting their houses with networked appliances. But Generation Y is growing up in a different world where they are constantly wired. Even dorm rooms have high-speed Internet connections, and high-tech tools are "totally, totally the norm," says George Bowne, director of growth ventures of Owens Corning.
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