OCR Text |
Show Open House ( ; ; Cy' : The home of the future By James m. WOODARD Copley News Service New homes in the future will be smaller, more standardized and energy-efficient, energy-efficient, and will include a climatized computer room. That's the opinion of a college student who entered en-tered the winning entry in a housing essay contest, sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders. Build-ers. The computer room, as a standard feature in future homes, was described by the first-prize winner, Lois Fisher, a senior at California Califor-nia Polytechnic Institute in San Luis Obispo, Calif. "One feature of new homes that few households will be able to do without is an air-conditioned dust-free dust-free computer room with anti-static carpet or hard-surface hard-surface floor," she wrote in her winning essay. "Home computers will become an important family resource and will be used for bill paying, education, work and shopping." Lois also sees home computers playing a role in determining the location of future homes. "Computers will play a role in the location of housing hous-ing because they will free workers from commuting obligations, so housing placement may not reflect a pattern of a 20- to 60-minute 60-minute commute distance from work center, but be anywhere, tied in by telecommunications." She also expressed the opinion that densities of new homes will increase. Homes will be smaller, and standardized housing systems sys-tems will gain popularity during this decade. "Housing design will respond re-spond to demands created by technology," she wrote, "it will also respond to limited resources and changing demographics. "Various segments of the housing market will be looking for different features fea-tures in a new home. For example, single parents will be looking for small and economical living spaces with child-care facilities fa-cilities nearby." Lois feels the effectiveness effective-ness of a home's energy system will be increasingly important as a selling feature fea-ture in the future. "Alternative energy systems sys-tems and water-conserving devices will be a big selling point in the housing market mar-ket 'Town house and condominium con-dominium dwellers will do most of their gardening on balconies, rooftops or in atriums. Community gardens gar-dens will increase in popularity popu-larity as a source of food production and recreation." recre-ation." Don Farmer, second-place second-place winner in the NAHB essay contest, elaborated on the shrinking size of new homes in the future. "New homes will become be-come smaller not only because be-cause they are more affordable, af-fordable, but because working adults will be less willing to sacrifice their free time to perform housework or yardwork on a large house." he wrote. Farmer, a student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute Insti-tute in Blacksburg, Va., does not feel that quality will diminish along with size in future new homes. Although the square footage foot-age may be reduced, the demand for quality will be high." Farmer made another interesting observation: "The current transitional period in housing has given the industry a chance to experiment, to explore, and to feel the market out as we head toward the 21st century. More natural light and more natural materials materi-als will be found in new homes." |