Smart homes not smart enough

In the era when smart homes and IoT have become buzzwords, something that is cool, something that everyone wants to do, we need to take a break and ask ourselves how smart our homes really are and how do we define smart?
This article is not only about IoT, its application and usability. It is about looking at “smart” from another perspective, an architectural one, and the disconnection between architecture and technology.
As technology is becoming a vital part of our lives, we as architects need to think how to incorporate technology into our design and construction processes. The sole purpose of our profession is to design and build environment that improves the quality of our lives. That does not include only enclosed spaces, such as homes, hotels or offices, it includes landscapes and infrastructure as well. Everything needs to work in collaboration. The question is, where are we now?
For the past several decades, energy efficiency and sustainability have become architectural buzzwords, in a good way of course. Many countries, including the United States and EU in general, have passed laws and regulations that deal with sustainability of spaces that are being built. They suggest and regulate the usage of natural materials for the future buildings, and thermal protection of existing ones, in order to reduce carbon emissions and waste of energy. The laws also promote usage of specific design principles that take benefit and conserve the nature at the same time. What we are missing is the involvement of technology in these processes. Architects are usually reluctant to any change, especially when it comes to technology even if it brings many benefits. It was so with adoption of digital drawing tools, implementation of BIM and it’s tools, and it is now with IoT and smart devices. We need to change in order to improve our lives and preserve the environment.
What if our building envelopes are smart enough to give us information about energy consumption and waste, or that our windows or lights control illumination based on number of people and their preferences, or that we harvest rainwater and use it for daily activities, or that our house communicates with the environment and notifies us when there is danger or natural disaster?
There are countless ways and opportunities how we could make living more comfortable in realms of technology. We need to work in collaboration with the tech community in order to make the living habitat truly smart. We need to integrate technology in design and construction processes, and then collect and analyze the data from the built environment in order to create more effective and efficient designs.
Surely, there are impediments on this way. The first impediment is definitely the cost. The second is that the communities we are building for are not informed enough about the benefits of technology in the living space.
We are designing spaces based on the Vitruvian virtues- firmitas, utilitas, venustas, or stability, functionality and beauty, but it is not enough to satisfy these and only these values. We need to think of deadlines, economy, psychology and our well-being. The economy factor is usually the most critical one, it affects everything else including design, comfort and even stability in some cases. Therefore, we need to work towards making technology in living spaces more affordable. Even though the final outcome is enormously beneficial for everyone, the cost prevails everything. Secondly, we need to make our communities more informed about these benefits. Tesla’s Powerwall or Solar Roof, Nest thermostat, or Philips hue are all great products that many people know of and use today for various purposes in already built environments. The marketing is there but it needs to improve.
These devices are paving a way for more integrated smart home solutions. We, as architects and designers of the living space, need to think how to implement these smart solutions that would work seamlessly as one unit for the greater benefit.
