Future proofing a modern home

In its broader sense, future proofing is all about providing for today’s requirements along with the predicted needs and developments that may arise over time. Future proofing houses and buildings specifically, is best looked at as an ongoing process aimed at maximising the value of the building (both monetary and real-world) when facing the certainty of unpredictable yet continuous change.Future proofing your home is a concept based around building something that stands the test of time and has the ability to provide value-based flexibility around the changing lifestyle needs of its inhabitants. Ultimately the gains from future proofing come down to delivering better living environments and greater financial returns from both future sale prices and day-to-day running and maintenance costs. Therefore future proofing your home can be considered an investment in both the present and the future.

Future proofing practices are not only for buildings and infrastructure, they are important in all industries across all communities, and countries. The shift towards building future proof homes has primarily been driven by the constant need to balance resource security, climate and demographic changes with current housing trends and preferred building practices. A future-proofed home is built to survive many many years of use, adapting and changing with its inhabitants’, their life stages, desires and needs while also responding to a greater focus on protection, preservation, and minimization for the greater good. A future proofed home offers a sense of security for its owners representing an investment in durability, sustainability and flexibility.

While incorporating elements of today’s tech is definitely worth the effort for the present occupants, in order to fully future proof a building, the focus should be on provisions to accommodate likely future advances in technology. We all know technologies become obsolete sometimes over very short periods of time! Tech-heavy smart homes of today include smart versions of pretty much every home device you can think of. In general, these products connect over the internet and are controllable from your phone via an app. Common smart home tech examples are smart lighting, temperature control, security features and appliances.