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Subject
Designing homes for the 2030s and beyond
Building for conditions that have not arrived yet
In short
Designing a home for the 2030s means planning for conditions that are already visible: higher electrical loads, more days of extreme heat and wildfire smoke, more people working from home, and resale buyers who will expect electrification and air quality as standard.
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A home built today will be sold into a market that does not exist yet. Some of what that market will want is already visible.
What is reasonably predictable
Higher electrical loads. Vehicle charging, heat pumps, induction cooking, and heat pump water heaters all draw from the panel. A home with panel capacity and conduit in place can adopt each of those as a swap. A home without needs a service upgrade, which is expensive and disruptive.
More extreme heat and more smoke. Colorado summers now routinely include days where outdoor air is unhealthy. Homes that can seal and filter effectively will be valued differently from homes that cannot.
More time at home. The share of people working from home settled well above where it was, and it has not gone back. Homes with a real second workspace, with a door and acoustic separation, are meeting a durable requirement rather than a passing one.
Water constraint. Colorado’s water situation does not resolve. Landscape that assumes abundant irrigation is a liability in a way it was not a generation ago.
What is not predictable
Specific technologies. Betting a home on a particular product category is how homes end up with obsolete built-in equipment. The durable strategy is capacity and flexibility rather than commitment.
Conduit, panel space, structural capacity, and generous mechanical chases are all cheap during construction and all preserve options. Specific equipment is a decision that can be deferred.
What this means for a builder
The buyer three years from now will ask questions today’s buyer does not. Being able to answer them, with a home that is electric-ready and filters well, is a positioning asset. Most competitors will be selling homes that need a retrofit to get there.
References
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Written and reviewed by Jason August, President and Employing Broker, Colorado license ER.040029060.·