Smart Home, Energy Efficiency, and Sustainability Studies 

For sustainable home improvement projects, the preferred materials combine durability, eco-friendliness, energy efficiency, and often resource conservation. Some examples of sustainable materials that are trending home improvement right now include reclaimed wood, recycled steel, bamboo, hempcrete, cross-laminated timber (CLT), mycelium composites, solar-ready roofing, and other products that prioritize rapidly renewable resources and recycled content to minimize environmental impact.

The Home Improvement Research Institute's Homeowner Trends in Energy Efficiency, Smart Home and Sustainability Study explores homeowner trends when it comes to the use of sustainable building materials and eco-friendly technologies. For example, middle-income and low-moderate income families are, on average, more likely to invest in water-saving technologies and more likely to invest in sustainable building materials than all other homeowner segments.

HIRI's research explores the key moti­va­tors that dri­ve home­own­ers to adopt sus­tain­able home improve­ment prac­tices, as well as identifying the main bar­ri­ers pre­vent­ing wider adoption.

Contractors are seeing a growing awareness of and familiarity with smart home automation trends within the industry. According to the Home Improvement Research Institute's Homeowner Trends in Energy Efficiency, Smart Home and Sustainability Study, more than two-fifths of homeowners claimed they were most likely to adopt smart home systems over the next five years.

Rising costs and a desire to enhance home value are two of the top motivating factors for homeowners to invest in smart home automation trends. Middle income families are 26% more likely on average to adopt smart home systems and 29% more likely on average to adopt home energy management systems than all other homeowner segments.

While all homeowner segments lean towards informal information sources to research smart home improvements (such as friends/family, social media, and home improvement websites), middle-income families are 67% more likely to leverage informal sources over formal sources of information when researching smart home improvements. 

Contractors have noticed that many homeowners are unfamiliar with energy efficiency, smart home technologies, and sustainability practices, but familiarity will grow as younger, more knowledgeable homeowners age. Energy efficiency is prioritized, especially by older homeowners, over sustainability and smart home improvements, according to the Home Improvement Research Institute's Homeowner Trends in Energy Efficiency, Smart Home and Sustainability Study.

Over the next five years, more than one-third of homeowners plan to invest in smart home systems and energy-efficient appliances. Interest is driven by improved product quality, cost savings, and growing social and environmental consciousness. However, rising costs and financial concerns outweigh climate change as primary factors influencing these decisions.

Despite resource availability, however, many homeowners are unaware of or do not plan to use incentives or rebates for smart home and sustainability improvements, indicating a communication gap.