`Future HAUS' brings tomorrow's home into today's world
Innovation in digital technologies has transformed the way we live, with advances in smartphones, robotics and computers revolutionizing every aspect of our lives, yet these technologies remain object focused vs. concept focused.
At Virginia Tech, an interdisciplinary team of 25 students and faculty is taking existing technologies that work independently of one other and asking the question, why can't these components work together? Their Future HAUS project is about creating an interface that is completely connected within one smart-home system.
Virginia Tech placed first in Dubai's Solar Decathlon Middle East competition that challenged 15 universities f rom around the world to design, build and operate energy-positive solar homes. While the baseline for the competition revolved around energy efficiency within a 900-square-foot space, what differentiated Future HAUS from its competitors was the smart technologies.
“We didn't enter the competition for the competition's sake. We used the competition to test out an idea of how to build a future house,” said Joe Wheeler, an architecture professor and leading member of the FutureHAUS team. “The competition didn't control what the end product was. Our vision of what a house should be is what controlled this end product.”
There search team submitt ed their request for participation in the competition in 2016, giving them two years to come up with their plan.
“We did a lot of user group studies. The university is a perfect test fit for that, not only because you have t he student body but also you have the researchers doing their own research ,” said Bobby Vance, a professor and program manager at Virginia Tech' sC enter for Design Research.
The FutureHAUS employs several cutting-edge concepts. The prefabrication concept proposes that homes be built like cars or planes, utilizing an efficient and sustainable factory. The system is different from modular or double-wide concepts that ship an entire build in one piece. Instead, the FutureHAUS comprises 18 prebuilt “Lego style” modules that allowed the team to put the house together in two days.
Not only are the modu les easily trans portable, but they are loaded with
state-of-the-art technologies that revolve around the idea of aging in place.
Technologies that support aging in place include rooms designed to accommodate users of any height, age or disability. For example, the bathroom includes a touch control smart mirror that
controls bathroom functi on sand features, making the vanity and toilet height adjustable. The toilet will raise and lower based on who is about to use it. The kitchen counters detect height and automatically adjust to each user, too.
“Say you buy this home when you' re 25 years old, and you want to live in it until you' re 85 years old. There's a lot that happens in that time,” Vance said. “You could have small kids, you've got in-laws who come over, or maybe Mom's in a wheelchair now. The home should be able to accommodate every change and every person.”
Another central concept has to do with flex space. The walls of the home can be repositioned based on different configurations that are stored in a central touch-screen interface. Users can adjust the size of the office/living/bedroom space with the touch of a button, allowing for maximum usage of a house with a smaller footprint. In fact, every aspect of the home can be changed and controlled through this interface.
“I think that's why we won the competition. Anyone can make an energy-positive home, but is it relevant? Is it a place that someone actually wants to live? This is about integrating technology in a seamless way,” Vance said.
Skeptics maybe he sitant to live in a home with as much innovative technology as Future HA US has, but Vance is confident that smart homes are close to being mainstream.
“You don't have to go all-in in the beginning ,” he said. “One thing we say is does anyone miss crank windows in their car? But does your Murphy bed need to have a smart mirror on t he back? No. Does your shower need to be automated? No. Is the infrastructure all there for when you're ready to do that? Absolutely.”
Sponsors included large companies such as Kohler, DuPont and Dominion Energy.