Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Climate change to 'revolutionise' home building

In the News.co.uk: Climate change and new technology are set to revolutionise the way homes are designed and usher in "a new era for home building", according to Alliance & Leicester Mortgages' Home of the Future report.

The report, prepared in conjunction with the Centre of Future Studies (CFS), predicts the development of "futuristic four-up-two-down, three-generation family homes within the next 20 years" as homes will be adapted to meet demographic and environmental changes.

CFS director Dr Frank Shaw said: “Over the next 20 years the impacts of technology and climate change will bring about a renaissance in how we live at home.

"Our homes will always be our castles - but they will be significantly more energy efficient, cheaper to run, intelligent, adaptable and more environmentally conscious than the houses we live in today."

…It also sees climate change playing a big part in the design of homes with houses being built on stilts in areas at risk from flooding and solar panels being widely used to generate electricity. Roofs may also be inverted to maximise the use of rainwater as water may become increasingly rare, according to the report.

Other environmentally-friendly features in future homes include the use of biofuels and wind power as a source of electricity and the full recycling and reuse of water by each household.

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