To celebrate the latest achievements in building a greener future, Honda is planning to construct the Honda Smart Home US, the first «zero net energy» concept home on the campus of the University of California, Davis. Equipped with the latest technologies, the next-generation home will generate and manage renewable energy, including the use of solar power to charge the batteries of a Honda Fit EV electric vehicle. The construction of the building, which has already started, will be documented and the details will be shared via the Honda Smart Home US online destination.
Pic.: The Honda Smart Home US, www.honda.com
The new high-tech home is said to consume just half of the energy that a regular new home of the same size with the same energy needs. This will be possible through the advanced technology and a smart-grid control system that will enable the residents to monitor the key systems of the household energy consumption. The house will feature high-efficiency HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and Lighting System designed by UC Davis for the maximum effect. The Honda Smart Home project is the automaker’s contribution to achieving the state of California’s goal of becoming “zero net energy” by 2020.
Using on-site renewable power sources, the home is said to generate even more energy than it will get from power providers. Probably, the most impressive thing about the new building is the fact that the house will be able to charge an electric vehicle like Honda Fit EV using the accumulated solar energy. The direct PV-to-vehicle DC battery charging technology will also help decrease CO2 emissions within the vehicle’s lifecycle. The home of the next «green» generation will be finished by the end of 2013.
“With Honda Smart Home US we will showcase our vision for a lifestyle that produces zero CO2 and that could even save consumers money,” commented said Steve Center, vice president of the Environmental Business Development Office of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “Home energy use and personal mobility account for most of an individual’s carbon emissions. By addressing both sources together, we are advancing technologies that will reduce carbon and eventually transform home design.”
Honda’s commitment to improving fuel efficiency and embracing energy-saving technologies for the smart living is widely supported by an array of other sustainable brands. In summer 2011, Panasonic announced it was building a smart town that would be ready by early 2014, and in winter 2011 Volvo along with Siemens and other partners collaborated on an eco-focused “One Tonne Life” experiment, which saw a family of four living within the limits of one tonne of carbon dioxide emissions per person per year.