How Green Are Smart Homes?

We can describe smart homes as next generation living spaces equipped with technology. The main purpose is to increase energy efficiency, ensure security and raise the level of comfort. The devices in the home are interconnected, and they communicate over the Internet. This system is called as “the Internet of Things”. Smart thermostats, movement sensors, automatic curtains, smart sockets, water leakage detectors, or voice activated assistants are parts of this network. All of them are managed by a single center (generally from an application installed on your phone).

This structure enables the home to produce data in itself. Each movement, each temperature change, each energy usage is measured. These data are analyzed through artificial intelligence algorithms, and the system “learns” about you and your habits over time. It knows when you are at home, at what time you turn on the lights, and at which degree you sleep. The goal is to reduce unnecessary energy usage and to manage resources more efficiently.

For more information about smart homes, you can visit our blog post here.

Behind smart homes, there is a giant production chain, data storage infrastructure, and energy consumption. Each sensor, each microchip, each server creates its own carbon footprint. Therefore, when we talk about “smart homes,” we must look not only at the interior, but also at the impacts on the outside world. So, how green are smart homes?

Smart homes are presented as one of the most visible examples of environmentally sensitive technologies. In fact, a well-designed system can reduce energy consumption, optimize water usage, and make the user more conscious. The key point here is, however, how and at what scale the technology is used.

1.     Energy Efficiency

Heating and cooling are the areas that homes consume the highest energy for. Smart thermostats come into play at this point. It analyzes outer temperatures, user habits, and time periods to optimize systems. It decreases the heat when there is nobody at home and increases it just before people return. Thanks to this, energy consumption can be reduced by 15% to 30%.

Light control also works similarly. Lights in the unused rooms are turned off using movement sensors. Curtains open when sunlight is intense and close when it is cloudy. These simple automations can significantly reduce electricity consumption. When combined with renewable energy systems (for example solar panels), the smart home can generate a significant portion of its own energy.

For more information about energy efficiency, you can visit our blog post here.

2.     Water Conservation

Smart irrigation systems can significantly reduce water waste by adjusting the frequency of garden irrigation depending on the weather. Smart faucets in the bathroom or kitchen analyze amount of usage and prevent unnecessary flows. Some systems detect leakage in milliseconds and automatically shut off water.

You can check our article here titled ‘What is Water Footprint?.’

3.     Waste Management and Awareness

Next generation smart kitchen appliances can track products in the refrigerator to help prevent food waste. It can warn the user about foods with approaching expiration dates to prevent waste. Some pilot projects also include garbage bins with sensors which facilitate segregation of domestic waste. As such, smart homes have a significant potential not only in terms of energy, but also in terms of waste management.

These applications show that smart homes can really be eco-friendly when used correctly. However, it would be misguiding to look at this aspect of the story. Because the other, invisible aspect of the system is based on an infrastructure that consumes energy.

When “smart home” is mentioned, many people think about only energy conservation. In fact, these systems have an invisible carbon cost. The production process of each sensor, each microchip, each device consumes energy, causes extraction of minerals, and uses water. In other words, smart homes increase resource efficiency on the one hand, while starting a new production-consumption cycle on the other.

1.     Production Stage of Devices

There are electronic components at the heart of smart home systems. Production of these parts is based on intense mining activities. Most of the time, raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements come to be associated with environmental and ethical problems. In the regions where these minerals are extracted, soil can become polluted, water resources can be depleted, and local communities can be harmed. In short, each sensor comes with an “ecological cost.”

And of course, there is the energy consumption of the production chain. Global electronics sector create millions of tons of carbon emissions per year. And production, transportation and packaging of smart home devices are included in this cycle.

Click here to read our blog post titled ‘Sustainable Architecture.’

2.     Digital Energy Consumption

Smart homes are constantly ‘connected.’ Their lights, cameras, and sensors send data to the cloud. These data are stored and analyzed on gigantic servers. Data centers are at the heart of this system. 10 kilowatts of energy you conserve at the home is perhaps being spent at another place during data transfer and storage. This invisible energy flow is called as “digital carbon footprint.” This picture needs to be taken into account when assessing green potential of smart homes.

Click here to read our blog post about digital carbon footprint.

3.     The Problem of Electronic Waste

Another big issue is e-waste. Short life span of smart devices creates a rapid renewal culture. The old model becomes obsolete when a new model is released. The amount of global e-waste exceeds 50 million tons every year. Only one fifth of these e-wastes are recycled. The remaining portion goes into the soil, water, and air.

You can check out our blog post titled ‘What is E-waste?.’

This chain needs to be broken if smart homes are to build a sustainable future. Designs with long economic life, modular components and recyclable materials become necessities. Otherwise, the e-waste problem created by “smart” homes can turn into a digital version of plastic crisis.

Think about it: the lights automatically turn off; however, you would not have forgotten about turning them off when you are exiting the room. Thermostat adjusts the temperature, but the home is heated beyond necessary. Sometimes, buying new smart devices turns into just a new consumption form. In the road towards a really green future, technology is not enough by itself. What makes a home “smart” is not the number of devices, but how they are being used. Sustainability should not be a feature to be purchased, but a consciousness to experience.

Even the most efficient system can become inefficient with unnecessary use. Therefore, the real issue is not technology itself, but the awareness of the user. Alongside the systems that enable energy conservation, we must also question how much we really need energy. The real transformation may be found not in smart homes, but in adopting the principle of smart consumption. We shall not forget that the most efficient energy is the energy we do not consume at all. Without this perspective, smart homes can turn into expensive toys in this modern world.

Today, smart homes are still a transitional technology. Although providing energy efficiency, they have not yet reached carbon neutrality directly. But they have a great potential. Home models are being developed which generate their own energy with solar panels, share excess electricity with the neighboring grid, and filter and reuse rainwater. These systems can create a new energy architecture, not only inside the home, but also at a scale of neighborhood and city.

And artificial intelligence is at the center of this transformation. Smart homes of the future will not only estimate energy demand, but they will also adjust their own consumption depending on the status of the electricity grid. Thus, individual conservation will turn into collective efficiency. However, this technological promise will fall short unless it is not supported by the sustainability of the production chain. Recyclable material usage, microchips operating on low energy, easily repairable devices are prerequisites of this future.

Another crucial step is the integration of “circular economy” model into smart home technologies. Reusing parts when devices come to the end of their economic life creates resources instead of waste. Products designed with this perspective can reverse “planned obsolescence” culture. As such, the future of smart homes will be shaped not just with technology, but also with ethical design.

For more information about circular economy, you can visit our blog post here.

Policies are also important for realizing this vision. The EU’s Green Deal targets prioritize buildings with high energy efficiency. A similar trend started in Türkiye as well. If this transformation is supported by the public policies, smart homes can become a valuable tool in building an environmentally sensitive future.