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The Eco-Conscious Millennial Generation: The Awareness of Smart Homes

By
Laura Criscione
In the prevalent years, many Americans have become more aware of the damages that are happening to the environment. The most environmentally conscious group in American history is now the millennial generation.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, millennials are projected to pass the baby boomer generation at the end of 2015 as the largest living generation in the United States.[1] Of this group, Over 80 million individuals will be eligible to vote in 2016, and 74 percent of those polled said they would be more likely to vote for a political candidate who set a goal for powering America with 50 percent clean energy by 2030.[2] This shows how environmentally aware this generation is compared to previous ones. They want more emphasis on protecting the environment and more choices on various available energy sources to use regularly.

Young adults among this generation are moving out of their parent’s homes and starting to live on their own for the very first time. With this new and exciting change, they are looking to more environmentally conscious options when purchasing their homes and furnishings. Technology has greatly advanced over the last few decades and young adults are taking advantage of this by building smart homes. These houses are designed to be eco-friendly on many levels. Smart technology includes a variety of products such as security and monitoring devices, temperature control, power, smart lighting, and even appliances, e.g. Nest Labs. Nest is a smart home technology producer of programmable, self-learning, sensor-driven, Wi-Fi-enabled thermostats, smoke detectors, and other security systems.[3] Approximately one fourth of millennials have already installed at least one of these products in their homes, compared to only 12% of the total U.S. population.[4]

Out of the many devices that smart technology encompasses, it is an important growing market because of this trend in eco-friendly homes. Smart lighting is a new technology that is designed for energy efficiency. Some aspects include fixtures with automated controls that adjust based on current lighting conditions like the amount of daylight in a room.[5]

Overall, this lighting uses high-tech sensors and other devices to detect the amount of lighting to adjust accordingly in order to save energy. These types of smart technologies are popularly used and desired by young adults since they are a tech-savvy generation. Smart home technology will only continue to grow as future generations become more eco-conscious.


By: Laura Criscione

 ______________________________

 SOURCES:
[1]  Fry, Richard. "This Year, Millennials Will Overtake Baby Boomers." Pew Research Center RSS. 16 Jan. 2015. Web. 30 Dec. 2015.
[2]  Clive, Misha. "New Poll: Millennials Overwhelmingly Support Clean Energy Future." Green Business Network. 25 Sept. 2015. Web. 30 Dec. 2015.
[3]  "Nest Labs" Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Oct. 2015. Web. 30 Dec. 2015.
[4]  Bogaty, Sarah. "One Quarter of Millennials Have Begun Building Smart Homes and Four-in-Ten Want One, According to The NPD Group." NPD Group. The NPD Group Inc, 23 June 2015. Web. 30 Dec. 2015.
[5]  "Smart Lighting." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Oct. 2015. Web. 30 Dec. 2015.



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