The house design and features can adapt with us as we age. Also, this conveyer may facilitate the handling of products purchased over the Internet by delivering the packages from the delivery truck into the closet or kitchen cabinet. The Transgenerational House will care for the inhabitants experiencing the physical or cognitive limitations that creep in with age. Sustainable Design Most buyers of new houses expect that the house will be energy efficient. We think that houses can be a net-zero consumer of energy.
New materials can help in achieving net zero.
For example, a building wall might be designed to absorb exterior energy during the day and release it at night. This wall might incorporate Aerogel, the lightest-weight material known and the best insulation yet discovered. Adaptable, Customized Environments Site-built housing construction techniques have changed little in a century. We are researching panelized construction with built-in infrastructures to support communications, sensing, and user interfaces. Figure 5 shows an early example of panelized construction.