Homes, the little abodes we live in, our little sanctuaries from the world, where we feel safe and secure. Unfortunately that is usually not the case, with crime, pollutants, and in older homes with lead paint and asbestos in the insulation. However, worse than this is bad wiring, as it poses an immediate threat, and can kill quickly. Additionally energy inefficiency, heat loss, and many other issues plague the current homeowner today, and these add up to quite a chunk of change at the end of each year for homeowners. One of the changes would be in home design requirements, from the smallest buildings to the most gigantic of man's constructions. Most will be required to see a retrofitting of materials that can improve efficiency, like new insulation, better wiring, solar heating panels to improve the hot water supplies and the use of better fire resistant coatings that are non-toxic.
        New constructions will be required to be built with these as a standard, and all new homes should be able to survive a multitude of failures, events, and otherwise without catastrophic results, and homeowners should be able to save hundreds if not thousands in energy costs each year - and the strain on the grid and power supplies will also be lessened. It's one of those great win-win situations where everything and everyone can benefit. The overall effect of having these improvements will be enormous, and will keep the world's supply of power at a near-surplus level which is important to do, otherwise you can have brownouts and blackouts. Additional things that could be stressed to builders are the advantages of photoelectric paneling on the roofs to decrease yet more energy consumption, along with small wind generators. The current battery technologies are nice, but there is another kind that could be in any house, and it is non-toxic. Iron batteries, NiFe, is a technology that is over 100 years old, and many of those batteries built in the 1920's are still functional today. They are a very long-lasting battery, and they use Iron and Nickel, rather than deadly chemicals like cadmium or mercury or even lithium.
        These forgotten batteries of the past are so rugged you can deep cycle them and discharge them completely without damaging them, and they are nearly impervious to over-charging. They are the ideal batteries for long term backup supplies or energy storage from solar and wind power generators. NiFe batteries will make a strong return in this new age of home construction, and other uses could be found easily - such as backup supplies for entire towns since iron is abundant. They could also be used in shipping and many other applications.
        Another issue plaguing the housing of humans is space, resources in building the homes, and land. This can be solved by building using energy saving tools, time saving tools, cities with better infrastructure and larger buildings, and of course the development of land that will not harm the ecology around it. A better solution would be building homes that work in concert with the environment and not against it, housing that doesn't destroy the land. How? There's miles of dirt under our feet - and all you have to do is dig. Houses under the terrain, built to easily compliment the surroundings like in deserts and elsewhere. Who doesn't want a bat-cave garage to open up before they leave the house? You can build bigger, larger, and better homes right under the feet of animals above, and still maintain a decent sized yard as well - additionally using fiber optic cabling you can even have sunlight lighting every part of the house you wish. This of course would not be for everyone, I understand that. Many do not like the idea of living below ground, and that is only natural, however it should be an option.
        Other housing could be built on water, where you have a small yard, a house, and everything you need right there floating. Power would come by solar, batteries, and a connection to the land. Entire floating cities could be built, connected, and used. Such construction would of course be on lakes or other locations that are not prone to storms and choppy water, however eventually some cities could be built on the ocean, and they could be large enough to survive a typhoon. Artificial continents, farmland, and parklands - floating out on the water; and the entire possibility is there by using non-degrading non-toxic plastics, or specialized foam-like cements that are stronger and better than current concrete. You can even float concrete if you wanted to by having large open ballast spaces with bilge pumps! The possibilities are vast, however it is expensive and would need some streamlining first. What if, if you want to move, you could have your house towed by a tugboat to a new city and modularly attached? No need to unpack your belongings and no need to go through the hassle of hauling it across the entire continents. Instead you just float along with it, and reach your new destination.
        There are possibilities I have not even covered for ecologically friendly housing, energy savings, and more. All it takes is some time, research, and willpower to create. Once the process begins, however, it gets better, faster, and more efficient.

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