What Has An IQ Of 170 And Is Made Of Wood?

While we were in Chicago, a couple of weeks ago, we had the chance to tour the Smart Home at the Museum of Science and Industry.
It was a pretty cool exhibit. Basically it was a 2500 sq. ft. house that you got to walk through with a tour guide.



So what makes this home so smart? (It only lets you use one square of toilet paper when you poop. I hate Sheryl Crow.)

1) Smart Design
It's designed to feel bigger than it really is with the use of high ceilings, abundant light and by "borrowing" space from outdoors.



2) Material Efficiency
Since the home is prefabricated and modular designed it takes less time to construct the home using fewer resources. Most of the material, including the furniture is made of recycled materials.

3) Energy Efficient
The green roof (plants on the roof) help keep the home cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Solar rooftop panels help generate much of the home's electricity. Electricity costs are about half of what a normal home costs.

4) Water Efficiency (this is my favorite one and something we could use in the Arizona desert)
The home is built to collect rain water to later use to water the plants and garden outside. The home also filter and recycles "grey water", (rinse water from the washer, showers, sinks, etc) and uses this water to flush the toilets. Speaking of toilets, the home is equipped with dual-flush toilets, that use half the water when you go number one and more water when you had the big burrito the night before (that was the tour guide's joke).

5) Healthy Environment
Home is built with non-toxic materials. It also has a air and water filtration system.

This home was loaded with technology and made Lisa and I look down upon our dumb home back in Arizona. But at a cost of $500,000 (not including land) maybe we'll have to wait a little longer before was start saving the earth with our smart home.

It was pretty cool though.