Sexy House
People ignore design that ignores people.
~ Frank Chimero
Guest Post by Louis Tenenbaum
Sexy House* is changing homebuilding.
Japan’s Sekisui House is the world’s largest builder, as well as a top US
builder and developer. By introducing their new “Platform House
Concept” at CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, Sekisui shows how
dramatic their new direction is. Their press release makes it
very clear it is in response to increasing longevity and promotes aging in
place:
“In line with our vision to
“make home the happiest place in the world” the
Platform House will assist the happiness of the 100-year
generation.”
The big picture and
intentions are familiar to technology and aging advocates and entrepreneurs in
the US. The first step in selling houses as happiness is integrated technology
for health- broken into 3 groups; emergency response, health monitoring over
time, and preventive care. The goals are familiar too: social cost can be reduced,
and quality of life can be improved. But the market approach is much larger and
more advanced than any US effort.
What separates the Platform House concept from typical (US) building?
1. Platform Houses
are not age targeted but have in mind what Japan calls “the 100-year
generation” corresponding to what HomesRenewed™ calls the modern
lifespan. “Design for All” in Europe and “Universal Design” in the United
States are terms used for similar concepts.
2. The house is not
merely a product. It is the starting place for an ongoing customer service
relationship. This approach is more familiar to us in technology where ‘cloud
services’ are replacing ‘software sales.
Sekisui’s net impact is parallel to Aging in Place 2.0, the integration of better home design with a seamless, systematic delivery of services. HomesRenewed was founded to drive the next steps to Aging in Place 2.0.
HomesRenewed’s take-away? If we don’t pay attention, our homebuilding industry and economy could be overtaken by Japan’s integrated approach much as the auto industry was surpassed by Japan’s attention to fuel efficiency a few decades ago. Can the American business community learn? I don’t know. The closest experiment we have is Best Buy’s Assured Living and their purchase of senior tech provider Great Call. Is that strategy enough to get out of the hole the auto industry jumped into? I don’t know.
What can you do?
Be a Leader •
Invest in your Future • Join HomesRenewed™ Coalition
It is fundamentally unjust to continue medical miracles that add years to lives
without enabling older Americans to live those lives joyfully and with dignity.
Updating homes is the missing link.
HomesRenewed Coalition, a member organization, unique in
uniting many business sectors, has a multi-stage strategy to fill the missing
link:
1. Develop and support federal, state and local incentives; and
2. Develop private sector incentives analogous to reduced insurance premiums
for non-smokers and safe drivers.
HomesRenewed’s voice in Washington, on Main Street and Wall Street has
unprecedented power to move ideas into action and make aging affordable.
Sincerely, Louis
See
HomesRenewed in the News