Posted by Damien Cabral on Wed, Jan 06, 2010
The Green Life Smart Life home is receiving national attention. Recently, the home was featured in a news story on CNET.
The Narraganset, Rhode Island home is the first home to get the LEED for Homes certificate in Rhode Island. One of the most novel features of the home is the Geothermal HVAC system. Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source that harnesses the temperature from the earth’s crust (constant temperature around 50 degrees) for heating and cooling.
The home integrates numerous recycled materials including reclaimed wood plank floors that were sourced from an abandoned barn. Additionally, a rainwater harvesting system collects rainwater that falls on the roof. The system is projected to collect more than 113,000 gallons of water a year, which can be used for irrigating the landscape.
Control4 provided the “brains” of the home. The Control 4 system provides an energy management system as well as an entertainment system. The system provides real-time energy monitoring as well as graphed historic trends. The increased visibility into energy use should create the “Prius Effect” (people drive better when they can instantly see how their behavior effects their mpg). The system even shuts the energy to refrigerator off for 3 hours every night to conserve energy. Be sure to watch the video below to learn more about the system (truly the gem of the home).
Be sure to check out the Green Life Smart Life Blog