Living Tomorrow: House of the Future

Posted by Jee Yeon Hwang

Living Tomorrow

Architects Frank Belien and Peter Bongers founded Living Tomorrow in 1991 to create a platform on which companies could embody their innovative ideas.
The first Living Tomorrow home was opened on March 16th 1995 in Vilvoorde. Bill Gates had the honor to open Living Tomorrow. This first project lasted until the year 2000 and was a big success. The third version of Living Tomorrow home opens its doors now.

Innovations within Living Tomorrow

There are many innovative products in the Living Tomorrow house. For example, the self-sustainable kitchen keeps records of what is in storage. If products tend to run out, it orders new ones and let it be brought to your home. While standing in front of the intelligent mirror to brush your teeth, you can watch the news or look up the weather forecast.

Hand motion monitoring glove

We already use our hands for many things, but why not using it for even more ?

There are already some prototypes of electronic gloves used for music, or gaming :
Gesture Jam Glove for Musicians, DJs or the next generation Wii games
The Wearable Electronic Wii controller – meet the Fingertip control glove

But why not using this in the house ?
To turn on/off the lights, to open the main door when someone comes to your house and your busy in the kitchen, to control the volume of the music and many other things that could be done remotly.

Egg Shower

The proteins in an egg can do wonders for your skin, but how about taking a shower in one? I’m talking about the egg-shaped shaped Cocoon Shower Stall that literally cocoons you once you shut all the glass slides. The usual spa features seen in such kinda stalls are included, but to spell them out: shower, bathtub, hydro massage (Jacuzzi) & mood lighting are there. The rain-showerhead is plum in the center of the ceiling, but I’d much rather use this for the hydra therapies!

Designer: Arina Komarova

Energy – The Eternal Delight

As David Orr rightly states “When we heal the earth, we heal ourselves”, a major step towards building a happy home is building a happy earth.

There are millions of eco-friendly products available in the market today. Few of them are as follow:  Solar and Wind Chargers, Energy-Saving Window Film, Water-Saving Kits , CFL light bulbs, solar-powered flashlights, biodegradable trash bags, bamboo hangers, organic cotton balls, recycled school supplies and more. Using such products can make a positive impact on the environment and thus saves a little green in the process.

Modern technology Owes ecology An apology. ~Alan M. Eddison

Using the sun’s energy to heat a home naturally and lower energy costs is becoming a goal for many home owners. Solar panels are growing in popularity, but the extensive initial cost can be quite substantial and is a turn off for many home owners trying to build or become more eco-friendly on a budget.

A Trombe wall is another option for collecting the sun’s heat in a new home. A Trombe wall is built from stone, concrete, metal or other material that acts as a thermal mass that collects heat during the day and releases it slowly into the house.

Green Remodeling with Eco Friendly Paint is one of the major step towards healthy homes as the concentration of pollutants inside your home is several times higher than what you’ll find outside. Although the contamination cannot be attributed to any single source, paint and paint-related chemicals play a significant role inside a typical home.

Low-VOC Paints like BioShield Paint, earthBorn Paints, Ecos Organic Paints, Safecoat, St. Astier Lime Paints (especially their Natural Hydraulic Limes, which are non-toxic, recyclable, salt and bacteria resistant, and inhospitable to mildew), YOLO Colorhouse, Natural Interior Paints like Clay Paint, Lime Wash.

Some companies like Friendly “Small House Plans” creates small home plan designs that give families everything they typically look for in a larger home, including all of the modern conveniences, privacy and storage areas, without sacrificing detail. By concentrating on design that fits the family, rather than creating spaces that families have to fit into, there is less wasted space in a home, and less wasted money. Scale and usage are important in a home, and building a small home that works for a family without feeling small.

Moreover  small steps towards saving energy is highly encouraged as the economic stimulus package passed by Congress last February included a federal tax credit—not just a deduction, but a full-on credit—of 30 percent of the cost of all sorts of energy-saving systems, with a cap of $1,500 per house, if installed by the end of 2010. These upgrades pack the double benefit of slashing your utility bills while increasing your house’s long-term value, too. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009 has increased the tax incentive for homeowners installing geothermal heating.

However admist the talks about “Really Green” and “Greenwashing” simply monitoring the energy usage (and continuing to monitor it and publish it) is the best way to move us toward energy independence. Energy efficiency should be on the priority list for all home improvement work these days.Reduce Energy Consumption by buying efficient equipment and turning it OFF when it’s not in use. This can save you money while you’re helping the environment.

Anuja Chockalingam

(GT ID: 902606234)

02.Happy Healthy @ Home

Please (1) find an interesting story (news, video, paper, etc) about some aspects about the home that would make you happy or unhappy, healthy or unhealthy, etc, to share with the class, and explain why this  would make you so.