Smart home tech design is responding to the growing appetite for ‘biophilia’, where homeowners want to feel more in tune with the great outdoors, despite being indoors!

With Earth Day taking place this week, what better time to explain some of the cool technologies supporting our planet, generating clean energy and making us feel more at one with nature?

Here’s what our CEO, Bill Simpkins, had to say about this concept, as featured in the latest edition of The Woodlands Lifestyle.

Historically home automation was focused on delivering efficient control of home technology, from lighting to the way you listen to music, to home network reliability and temperature management. Homeowners wanted to be able to manage their homes using a simple App on their phone and smart home experts responded with state-of-the-art solutions to move everyone towards a more productive living environment.

Recently smart home technology design has shifted focus to address ‘biophilia’, where people want to feel more in tune with outdoors and nature while they are indoors. Whilst this trend has been emerging for some time, the appetite for health and wellness within home design has been further driven by the recent pandemic, as people have spent more time working, studying and socializing at home.

So, what do we mean by health and wellbeing when it comes to smart homes? In layman’s terms it means creating more of an Eco home, which in turn makes the occupants feel better. This includes improving the air quality, the water quality, the sound quality and the light quality being absorbed daily by families. It means harnessing the sun’s energy and storing it in a rechargeable battery which produces clean, smooth energy to the home. The shades will intuitively lower when the sun is at its strongest and rise later in the day, to allow more natural light in. Another technology-led solution is to create lighting scenes which change throughout the day, tapping into the natural circadian rhythms of the occupants.

It doesn’t end with energy and lighting. Smart plants can be weaved into home design to monitor air quality and reduce pollutants in the home by increasing airflow over the roots and digital displays have evolved to replicate windows and skylights. The eco home technology opportunities are endless, so watch this space!