ENVIRONMENT NEWS
April 8, 2009
A Sneak Peek at the Smart Home
TFK Kid Reporter Sydney Turner visits an eco-friendly house in the backyard of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois
What kind of house will you buy in the future? Would you like your plants to call your cell phone to tell you that they need to be watered? Or a house that helps you lower your energy bill by automatically turning off the lights when you leave a room? It may sound like science fiction, but it already exists! TFK Kid Reporter Sydney Turner visited the Smart Home at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois.
 |  COURTESY SYDNEY TURNER TFK Kid Reporter Sydney Turner talks to Jeff Buonomo, who works at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois. |
The Smart Home uses green technology to keep track of the energy it uses, including electricity, water and gas. The house’s energy dashboard keeps you informed of your energy use through your television and computer. The house greets you with updates when you walk in the door. It keeps track of when you enter and leave rooms, and can turn the lights, television and music off when you exit.
The Smart Home is made entirely of recyclable and renewable materials and painted with paint that has no toxins. The furnishings are made from used light bulbs, plastic bottles and other renewable materials, but you can’t tell from looking at them. The kitchen countertops are made with recycled glass and the chandeliers are made from motorcycle hubcaps.
The entire three-story house is designed to regulate the consumption of energy. The roof of the Smart Home has a sustainable vegetable garden. Even the personal computer is green: it uses less power than a 60-watt light bulb. The house can raise and lower the window shades.
To learn more about the eco-friendly house, go to www.msichicago.org. And read on to hear Sydney’s interview with Museum of Science and Industry coordinator Jeff Buonomo.
TFK:What is the “Smart Home?
Buonomo:The Smart home is a prefabricated, modular green house that was brought to the museum and then assembled. It is the greenest house in the city of Chicago according to the Chicago Green Permits Program.
TFK:Why is it called the Smart Home?
Buonomo:The real reason it is called the Smart Home is because it not only showcases how you can live in an eco-friendly lifestyle but it shows how you can live a green lifestyle by incorporating technology throughout the home that makes your life easier and simpler. It is a healthy home, a wired home and a green home.
TFK:What materials were used to make the Smart Home?
Buonomo:Many materials were used. A committee reviewed all the materials, from the drywall and the paint, down to the furniture and furnishings, to make sure everything was eco-friendly and green. We tried to make sure most of the materials were purchased locally. For example, we used bamboo in the house. Bamboo is a renewable resource, you can re-grow it.
TFK:How does the Smart Home use the power of the sun?
Buonomo:The house uses the sun in several different ways. First we collect it through our solar panels that provide and produce power for the home. We use the sunlight that comes through the windows to warm the house in the winter. We also use a solar sun oven to cook food – we have cooked pizza and chocolate chip cookies.
TFK:How long did it take to build the Smart Home?
Buonomo:The Smart Home took about five months to build. The modules were constructed for several months in the factory. Then it was brought to the museum. Then it took two months to finish the interior.
TFK:If someone wanted to buy this home, when would it be available and how much would it cost?
Buonomo:Everything that you see in the Smart Home is readily available in the consumer market. If you want to build the entire house, the current price would be $400,000 to $450,000. But we want to encourage people to find ways to live greener in any house.
TFK:How much money would this home save the owner?
Buonomo:You may have to spend a little more in the beginning, but in the long run the consumer should see savings. For example, it would cost money to put solar panels in but that should bring down your monthly energy usage. I think we will figure out what the savings will be as the home gets used throughout the year. That will allow us to estimate the amount of savings the consumer would see over time.
TFK:What is your favorite part of the Smart Home?
Buonomo:I think my favorite is the energy dashboard, because it shows how much energy you are using and how much energy you are consuming. That information helps you to find ways to save energy.
