The old saw about necessity being the mother of invention is on vivid display in the home building industry these days, effecting new homes in Houston built by a Texas home builder to resale homes in Ft. Lauderdale sold by a local agent. In an effort to tempt hesitant consumers to buy that new house, builders are offering unprecedented extras, everything from full home automation including smart appliances, solar power, state of the art insulation, and tankless water heaters to the pure bred puppy of your choice upon moving in.
Automated homes are probably the hottest item in the market, with manufacturers fast tracking complete lines of smart refrigerators, smart stoves, smart thermostats, and other energy-efficient technologies that are accessible and controllable remotely via computers, table PCs, or smartphones.
There are also new smart alarm technologies that can be programmed for each member of the household or to allow a worker in at a set time so the homeowner doesn’t have to be there to let them in. Some systems work by granting a one-time-use password. Once it is used, it cannot be used to gain access again. Some systems can be fitted with a camera so that the homeowner can visually check in on their property when away.
Other new home builders are concentrating on energy efficiency, promoting their properties as net-zero energy homes, meaning they produce the amount of renewable energy—most often solar based—that the home uses on a daily basis, obviating the need to tap into outside resources. In addition to solar panels, these homes come equipped with high-efficiency windows, state of the art insulation, low energy-consumption appliances, solar water heaters, and are also constructed from the ground up with energy efficiency in mind, such as sizing central air units specifically for the home’s square footage.
Net-zero homes are particularly popular in the sun belt states—Arizona, Nevada, and California—although they are also starting to become popular in Texas and elsewhere.
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