Current preferences around eating, cooking and lifestyle anticipate a shift toward faster, urban lifestyles, designed more for socializing than cooking. Forget what you see on television or on cooking shows—future householders will cook less, order prepackaged food online and treat the kitchen more as a sanctuary than a meal factory.

Look at the trends behind the trends. That was the theme of a presentation I did a few months ago on the future of “green” kitchens. After many hours of research and number crunching,