The Dynamic Home FAQ list

1. What are the environmental implications of a plug and play home building concept.

People would change their homes more frequently. You might think this causes a lot of waste material. In the normal building systems it would. In a plug and play building system a lot of elements will just become "available" when people take their home apart. It would not mean all these elements will be building waste. Because the element ends in standardized plug and play connectors, it will be taken apart (disconnected) as a reusable element. A market of second hand elements will emerge.

In the future, I foresee that manufactures will keep the responsibility for their product even after the lifetime has expired. In a plug and play building system, the used up element can be easily disconnected from the building and send back to the manufacturer. He can remanufacture the element of take it apart for material recovery and recycling or dispose of it in a responsible way.

2. What would plug and play building systems mean for the labor involved in building a home?

The cost of labor in a normal home in Holland is approximately 50% of building cost. This labor involves specialised workers like brick layers, carpenters, plumbers, electricians.

In a plug and play house, I estimate the labor cost involved will go back to 10-20%. The elements will be mass produced, using very little labor. The labor involved at the building site will need very little skill. There will be no need for specialisation. The only thing the "pluggers" will do is plugging and clicking the ready made elements together. There will be no need for subcontractors. This will mean that a lot of the jobs now available in building industry would cease to exist.

3. What is the increased cost of the plug-and-play components over the cost of standard materials?

I think that plug and play components will always cost more than the standard materials, but I am not sure if the difference will be so great. On the one hand the material will have to undergo some machining to have the standard interface added. The connection will be more elaborate that for instance a cement joint. But all this machining and handling will be fully automated. When made in big enough quantity (and this is what we aim at with a universal standard), the extra cost could be minimal. On the other hand:

1. You save enormously in the cost of labor to put the building together. The amount of labor involved is much less, you don't need specialists any more, so the cost of labor per hour is lower.
2. Further more your building time is shorter, so you pay less interest during the time the house is build.
3. Next, this building is not a "real estate" it is a commodity, so it should not be taxed accordingly (no tax I mean).
4. You could lease elements.
5. You can build your home piecemeal . You add elements when you have the money, so you do not need to borrow an enormous amount of money, be in debt for 30 years en end up paying 3 times the value of the house.

4. I would think the plug-and-play would be most economically attractive for additions to existing standard housing. Can it be easily combined with current housing?

Yes, I think this could very well be done. You just have to start with adding a special interface to make the connection to the existing structure and go from there. Add rooms on the side or on the top of an existing house.

The next picture shows how you can use a U-shaped profile to connect to an existing wall, floor or ceiling.

The same goes for adding to existing heating, electrical, water, etc.

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