What might U.S. homes and workplaces be like in the year 2020--and what are the implications for energy use?

Can lifestyle-based scenarios provide insight into the nature of energy use in our future buildings? Participants in a design charrette brainstormed ideas about the future of US homes and workplaces. The teams started from several descriptions of daily lifestyles, and developed specific building characteristics as the place settings for these narratives. In addition to the characterization of the physical environment, we also speculate as to the forces that would be influential in making these changes. Further reflection was made on the possible unintended consequences of these changes. The rationale for this exercise was to broaden the discussion on future energy use by looking at future scenarios in the context of everyday life.