FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
FALL 2015 | PAGE RE-1
RealFallEstate 2015
Local Architects & New Home Builders Talk Future Proofing by Drew Costley
Falls Church News-Press
Mark Coupard, architect and founder of the Falls Church-based Coupard Architects & Builders, said, with a chuckle, that he spent a couple hours in front of the TV watching “The Jetsons” when he was a kid. But he says, despite not being able to predict what’s coming in the future, his clients don’t have Jetson-like expectations for their home when it comes to future proofing. “Rather than the Jetson-like pieces on site, you know where a conveyer belt comes and a chair picks you up and ferries you
around, what clients are aware of and they’re expecting is more of the ability to control things from afar,” Coupard said. “And then putting systems in [homes] that control themselves, you know, [like being able to] program your thermostat to work efficiently while you’re away from the house. “So, it’s not automated physically, but it’s more of a control thing. That’s what’s available now. That’s what I think will become even more available...the ability to run your house and monitor your house and control your house from afar.” Future proofing, when it comes to real estate, is the designing and building of structures while antici-
pating the future and attempting to minimize the shocks and stresses of future events. And the concept has become considered increasingly by homeowners, home builders and architects over the last decade as technology has allowed for homes to become more energy-efficient, convenient and secure. In fact, Coupard Architects & Builders is currently renovating a house on the corner of Park Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue in Falls Church that will serve as a demonstration house for Alarm. com, a security and home automation company based in Vienna.
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THIS LAKE BARCROFT HOME, designed by Falls Church’s Moore Architects, is wired for home automation. Controlled with super thermostats, it also has an automatic shading system, which the owner can control from their iPhone. (Photo: Courtesy of Anice Hoachlander Photography)
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