Every wall in the home is filled with super-efficient foam insulation, and the ceiling’s exterior is coated with spray foam insulation.The “Power Haus,” in Sarasota, FL, has received the lowest HERS score ever in the U.S., a negative 22, meaning the house produces more energy than it uses. The home also scored 118 LEED points (an internationally recognized green building certification system), making it the highest-scoring new construction home in the U.S.
The home’s systems are managed through the IP-based ELAN g! Home Control System, which allows for consolidated control of lighting, heating, cooling, security, surveillance, whole-house audio/video, through the owner’s iPad, iPhones, and ELAN in-wall touch screens.
Josh Wynne, president of Josh Wynne Construction, utilized every tool at his disposal to set the green-building benchmarks. Every wall in the home is filled with super-efficient foam insulation, and the ceiling’s exterior is coated with spray foam insulation to allow for a unique “tongue and groove” ceiling inside. A Uni-Solar Flex-Lite solar array covers more than half of the roof, producing 14.2 kW of electricity and helping the house achieve its negative 22 HERS rating.
The house was carefully designed and situated to take advantage of shade provided by the property’s large trees, and it features an open floor plan with ceiling fans throughout, including an eight-foot fan in the great room. An independent dehumidification system helps to control the Florida humidity and full walls of operable impact-resistant Jeld Wen insulating windows serve to maximize natural ventilation.
The home is fully outfitted with Energy Star appliances and super-efficient core systems – such as an Infinity HVAC system and Eternal tankless water heater – and features 100 percent LED lighting, even outdoors. “Not all of my clients are super tech-savvy, and neither am I, so I like things that are simple and reliable,” said Wynne. He knew all the technology in the home needed to be tied together for the homeowner to control and manage, so he contracted Mark van den Broek, president of Sarasota-based SmartHouse Integration, to install the ELAN g! Home Control System.
“The ELAN system is the best control solution for me and my clients based on its relatively low cost, superior reliability, scalability, extensive third-party component integration, and most of all its ease of use,” said van den Broek. “My clients love that the control interface is the same on an iPad, iPhone, in-wall touch screen or on the TV. And I have never come across a third-party component that couldn’t integrate with the ELAN system.”
The homeowners control the system through two ELAN TS7 7-inch in-wall touch screens, three ELAN TS2 in-wall touch pads, an iPad and their two iPhones. With six flat screen HDTVs indoors plus one on the deck, the Power Haus is no slouch in the media department. To complement the video system, 14 speakers are distributed through eight audio zones, including two outdoor rock speakers. The media systems can play content from three DirecTV feeds, two Blu-ray players, XM satellite radio, Pandora Internet radio, am/fm radio and an ELAN VIA!migo iPod dock.
The ELAN g! Home Control System is integrated with the home’s five DVR surveillance cameras, DSC security system, LiteTouch lighting system, Bryant HVAC and Pentair Pool/Spa controls. SmartHouse Integration even custom-programmed a button in the ELAN g! software to instantly access the GUI for the solar array so the owners can monitor its performance in real time. ELAN g! allows the homeowner to program events for every subsystem.
