A lot of times we see or hear about green homes that are built to be energy-efficient, but don’t employ home technologies that can help their occupants conserve energy and resources while living there.
Not so with the Vision House in Los Angeles, where technology is a big part of the sustainable and energy-efficient design. A solar photovoltaic (PV) system combines with electronic lighting control, an electric vehicle (EV) charger, universal dimmers, occupancy sensors, an energy monitor, Energy Star-rated appliances, water-saving fixtures and advanced air conditioning, in-floor heating and energy-harvesting ventilation to create a healthy and efficient home.
The Vision House Los Angeles, which opened June 10 and will be open to the public for 60 days, is the result of a partnership between Green Builder Media and Structure Home, and features products from Leviton, Schlage, Trane, Elan Home Systems, Gaggenau, Whirlpool and others.
Though the house is billed as a vision of the future, it’s really about the near future, or even the present, as many of the green and energy-efficient products are available today.
According to Vision House L.A. documents:
Integrating components that communicate can help create a more comfortable living environment and empower the homeowner to invest more control and forethought on how they will use the home and the systems that support it.
Topology and orientation to the sun was considered in the design of the house to maximize efficiency. The house meets green home criteria for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver, California Energy Star, California Home Energy Efficiency Rating, California Advanced Home and exceeds California’s Title 24 energy efficiency requirements by 30 percent.