It's pretty clear: Covid-19 was the last drop in an quite full glass, accentuating the need to re-direct our everyday routine and re-think our home design. Things are getting interesting and complicating enough while climate change is hammering cities and rural areas and the pandemic redefines our ordinary life cycle: our habits, work, recreation, mental and physical health - plus wealth and assets.
Smart design and technology are meant to be the key players to tackle climate change in multi-populated urban centers with a multitude of systems, devices and apps but the adoption of a new set of values in terms of aesthetics inside the home space is rising, as new social standards are making their way after Covid-19 forced the implementation of new patterns. A innovative philosophy in home interiors is evolving right as we speak, breaking the news and the "different rules" in creating a living space.
Urban areas are home to more than half the people on earth - a proportion that will rise in the years ahead - and they are responsible for more than three-quarters of the world’s economy. As they expand, many of the world’s fast-growing cities end up building over floodplains, forests, and wetlands that could absorb rising waters during a storm or hold reservoirs of water during a drought.
“All cities will be affected by Climate Change, but coastal cities will have the worst problems. Hundreds of millions of people could be forced from their homes as sea levels rise and storm surges get worse. By the middle of this century, the cost of Climate Change to all coastal cities could exceed $1 trillion…each year.”announced recently Bill Gates, far from being the first or the only one pinpointing the emergency of the situation. Decarbonization experts around the world, believe that the evolution in digital technologies and common standards are vital to protect urban areas from rising sea levels and rapidly changing weather conditions. Smart building design being one of these solutions, it holds the key putting its considerable weight behind a global zero emission economy.
(*Cities and their buildings are expected to be the primary target here as the biggest polluters on the planet, collectively responsible for more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gases*, which puts pressure on companies and building asset owners to go carbon neutral.)
Hundreds of design companies, architectural studios and home decor manufacturers have already pledged to zero carbon emissions strategy behind their planning solutions for their private or corporate clients- including whole nations- now legally bound to meet the 2050 net-zero carbon emission target through the 2015 Paris Agreement, (such as the United Kingdom, France, New Zealand, and China).
Where does all this leave us, common people leading (un)common lives in our apartment blocks, country houses or residential resorts? The decision to change our everyday space comes somewhat second in pace to our reactivity adopting a Survival Kit, imposed by the need to control and realize our consumption, use, expense, choice and eventually trace the path of fulfillment. The next step towards happiness might start from our very living room. Literally and essentialy this time.
*UN-Habitat: https://unhabitat.org/topic/climate-change
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