How can our home serve us through creativity and automation?

For us, creativity and sustainability in design and architecture are of great importance, so we would like more and more people to be aware of the opportunities that new technologies can provide them. We asked our partners from My Design for their expertise on the topic. They share with us more on the role of innovation in the pursuit of sustainable development, and guess what? Our carbon neutral functional paints make it to the list.

More and more often we hear people talking about a smart home. “Technologies of the future”, “autonomy” and “smart devices” sound a little scary for some. Maybe watching more sci-fi movies makes us afraid of technology instead of making us embrace it, while curious and open to changes in the first place. Ideally, it could make us more adaptable and at the same time more creative.

What does “smart home” actually mean? 

Many people associate home automation directly to the ability to turn their lights on and off when they are not at home, but this is a very small part of the functionality of the smart home system. The possibilities are endless – from remote control of LED ceilings and electronic thermal heads of radiators, through voice adjustment of lighting and blinds, to complete independence of decision-making by the home itself.
The smart home is designed to meet our needs. To focus on our mental and physical health and to help us achieve sustainability in design and architecture.

At the same time, by becoming a more technological society through “smart” devices and innovative solutions, our creative potential can be expanded. And the easiest way is to start with the change at home!

How does the smart home system work?

A smart home is an environment in which all devices are integrated and function as part of an ecosystem. The controlling “brain” is only one and all end devices are controlled by it. Thanks to this, well-planned and built home automation achieves several main goals:

• Easy to use thanks to the centralised control of all household functions
  Light, air conditioning, security systems – everything could be included in the home automation system and controlled from a single place.
  
• Increased comfort through multiple control options and the addition of new features
  Ability for an easy creation of scenes and routines for an automatic control of important to the user functions. Convenient and fast mobile application for home management via the Internet. Voice assistants (Alexa, Google Home, Siri), smart wall switches, wall and table tablets and more.

• Autonomous analysis and improvement of living conditions
  The smart home can control relevant household functions at home – to remove sun shades, blinds and awnings in the event of wind; to stop the sprinklers in the yard when it starts raining; to switch the heating to low energy mode in the absence of the occupants, etc.

All this happens independently, without a direct participation from our side, which gives us more free and valuable time.

The role of innovation in the pursuit of sustainable development

Home automation could also help reduce our carbon footprint. This can be done technologically – by integrating a variety of sensors (for indoor air quality, carbon monoxide and dioxide, proper lighting, temperature, etc.), as well as by integrating more innovative interior solutions – the use of carbon-neutral writable whiteboard paints, such with magnetic properties or interior paints that purify the air.

One of the last such examples are your carbon neutral functional paints, which many of us already know well, and we, in the architectural studio My Design, use them for our creative and office needs. ESCREO whiteboard paint gives us the chance to optimise unusable surfaces – which are otherwise so attractive, especially for the little ones! The walls are the area which we can saturate with our daily ideas, thoughts and drawings. The creation of writable whiteboard surfaces frees us from the need to invest in other tools for organisation, planning and drawing. Accordingly, we reduce our consumption of hard-to-renew resources and those that often cannot even be recycled (such as whiteboards or excessive use of paper).

Soon you will be taking it to a new level by providing us with air purifying paint – ESCREO Clean Air. The name speaks for itself – it is a non-toxic environmentally friendly interior paint that purifies the air in any room. The ingredient in the paint is an enriched natural mineral that attracts and neutralises harmful air pollutants, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), odours, airborne chemicals and carbon dioxide. Once absorbed, harmful contaminants do not return to the air.

This is a great collaboration between modern technology and a clever “problem-solving” approach to optimise the environment in which we live, making it even more creative.

How do innovations make us more creative?

In order to think freely, it is sometimes good to go beyond the familiar. Innovation comes to the rescue! It has the ability to enhance specific areas of the creative process by providing a new platform – whether it’s a graphics tablet or a living room wall.

Creativity is also directly related to comfort. The more optimised and smart a space is, the easier we can create. The easiest example is to set different scenes depending on whether you are in a meeting or not, and with only a voice command to interrupt absolutely all notifications from the devices, and why not even the front doorbell?

As creative professionals and enthusiasts on the topic of “smart home”, at the architectural studio My Design we can talk first hand about the advantages of these combinations. It’s great to be able to ask Alexa to run the vacuum cleaner in the kids’ room before the children come home while we finalise the sketches of the new project on the wall, for example.

Innovative solutions – whether at the technological or interior level – can only contribute to a better future and at the same time increase the creativity of the individual, not reduce it. You already know what a smart home is, how it works, helps us live more sustainably and allows us to be creative. You are aware of the possibilities for home optimisation even with the help of clear whiteboard paint, magnetic whiteboard paint or air purifying paint (we are launching it very soon!!!)! Now is the time to think about which of these features are most useful to you and include them in your plans for a new home or upcoming renovation.