Transmat World: Houses Will Be Different in the Future Because of Climate Change

It’s pretty obvious climate change will affect where future housing will be built. In general, housing will creep away from shorelines and toward the poles as the Earth warms up. Oddly enough, it will force some into the ocean where there is a tremendous supply of cold water just a few hundred feet below the surface. It will also force housing to be tougher and stronger to withstand high winds, more fire and water resistant, and smarter. Homes will be better insulated and sealed, not just for energy efficiency but to keep out bugs carrying tropical diseases.

As climate change progresses, more houses will be built underground. These will have to be located carefully to avoid flooding, but they take advantage of the constant 50 to 60 degrees F. about 20 feet down from the surface. While an f5 tornado could suck it out of the ground, normally winds cannot damage such a home easily.

While not all homes will be underground, many will take advantage of this very same temperature sink that exists year round. Geothermal heat pumps will heat and cool many more homes. Not only is geothermal more efficient and costs less to operate than compressor driven ACs, it does not use refrigerant gasses that are very efficient greenhouse gasses should they escape the system.

As weather becomes more severe, houses in flood prone areas will increasingly be raised on columns, surrounded by berms, or have automatic flood control dykes that inflate or fill with water. Sheetrock will be made waterproof and detach from studs easily to vacuum out and dry inside walls. Studs will be water resistant recycled plastic.

The volume of food storage area will increase as food shortages become an issue. We will see the return of the root cellar to store food and the cistern to collect and use water. Built-in terraces for home gardening and walk-in freezers may be common. By necessity houses will become more and more off-grid to eliminate the interruption of services once supplied by municipalities. Coastal areas sometimes see electrical outages lasting a month, typically at the hottest time of the year. As that happens more and more often, people will install solar panels and big lithium ion batteries. Automatic generators running on natural gas are already common in such areas.

As homes become more complicated, combining these heating and cooling systems with things like fire sprinkler systems hooked to cisterns and flood warning sensors along with security and energy availability, they will be run by sophisticated AI systems.

Housing will evolve in many different directions exploring the various ways modern technology can provide us shelter, but one thing will remain the same. It will cost a lot of money. America, in particular, will be affected by the worsening inequality of wealth regarding the economics of housing in the era of climate change. Many will have no option but to abandon their smashed, burned, or flooded homes and sell the land, rent an apartment, or buy a recreational vehicle and hit the road seeking areas less affected by climate change.

It will be a time of tumult and movement. For that reason, homes will become fortresses against not only the elements but invasions of fellow human beings. Security systems will become intricate and sophisticated and may be linked to quick response military type teams that can handle any situation. Climate change is bringing a world that is very different. We should begin planning and preparing ourselves for it now.