Clean, green and connected
Imagine an environmentally sound home, low on energy consumption but fully wired for sound and vision and packed with state-of-the-art gadgets.
Impossible? The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago set out to prove that a green household doesn’t have to be a boring one. It did this by building a fully functioning, full-scale, three-storey modular green home.
The home, designed by Michelle Kaufmann Designs and built by All-American Homes, was the foundation of an exhibition to celebrate ‘spectacular, environmentally friendly technologies’ and showcase the many ways in which people can adapt to green living.
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There are five principles behind the design, construction and day-to-day operation of the home: smart design, material efficiency, energy efficiency, water efficiency and a healthy (non-toxic) environment.
On top of this, the design adheres to the principle that home automation can save the home-owner time, reduce energy consumption and make life more entertaining.
Solar photovoltaic panels on the roof of the house supply about 60% of the total power requirements of the house on most days, including the home automation system. The rest comes directly from the museum’s utility provider.
However, on some very sunny, cool days the home is powered 100% by the solar panels and excess power is relayed back to the grid.
“Under typical circumstances, the excess would be credited by the utility provider,” says Museum of Science and Industry public relations manager Beth Boston.
“But since we are hooked into the museum’s power supply this excess energy is used to offset the power demands of the museum.”
The house is fully wired by home automation company Lifeware and features a digital nerve centre that controls every aspect of the daily routine, from waking up in the morning and planning the day to home entertainment and energy use.
There are two control panels in the house – one downstairs and one in the master bedroom – allowing precise control and monitoring of heating and cooling, lighting, window shades, AV equipment and security.
First thing in the morning, the automation system clicks on lights, raises the shades and cues wake-up music from the NuVo digital music server. The bathroom scale measures body composition and transfers readings to a computer to assist with personal fitness goals.
A motorised skylight in the ceiling opens when detectors sense a cool breeze. When the doorbell rings, a touch screen displays a wireless video feed from the front entrance, allowing you to see who is at the door.
The Motorola Whole Home DVR, powered by AT&T U-verse, allows you to press pause on your television show or CD in one room and pick up where you left off later, in another room.
The PC-based automation system makes it easy for users to add new features and adjust settings. The home contains a ‘mechanical room’ with an energy dashboard displaying important information to guide the householder’s decisions, particularly those that relate to water and energy efficiency.
A flat-panel LCD screen shows the use of electricity, gas and water in the home and compares totals with yesterday and last month, allowing users to curb consumption.
Alerts are sent via email or text message from the utility provider, advising the home-owner when electricity prices are high. This helps to save money and reduce peak demand, which can cut greenhouse gas emissions.
If the householder plans to be away for a time, the whole house can be placed in ‘shut down’ mode, automatically securing doors, turning off lights and lowering the heat or air-conditioning.
“This particular automation system is the least power-consumptive available on the open market in the US,” Beth says.
In addition to the automated aspects of the home, there are several features that make it easier to be green and entertained.
Botanicalls digital sensors placed in the plants are able to sense when a plant needs water. They send a wireless signal that triggers a phone call from the plant, announcing that it is time for it to be watered.
A streamlined, foldable Strida bike has a collapsible aluminum frame to allow the home-owner to commute from train to doorstep, saving time and energy.
A Breville toaster offers an LCD countdown to advise when breakfast is ready. An ultra-compact hand-held PC from Samsung provides easy access to email, energy information and home control screens.
The home even comes with a rechargeable household pet, a dinosaur robot named Pleo, which exhibits lifelike behaviour and allows users to upgrade its software.
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