Welcome to the Kleber & Associates blog! Here’s the latest on Homes of the Future Tour
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is home to SmartHome Cleveland, our third concept house for the future.
SmartHome Cleveland was built using the Passive House methodology that emphasizes energy efficiency. The home has three key features that make it a Passive House.
- Eighteen inch thick walls provide high levels of insulation. The house is so insulated that it is meant to operate without a furnace.
- The home was constructed to minimize air leakage and maximize air quality – the ventilator system transfers heat from outgoing air to incoming air.
- The windows are highly energy efficient with three panes of glass.
The Passive House concept is popular in German construction. Thousands of homes in Germany are furnace-free, but only 15 such buildings exist in the United States. The home in Cleveland uses 90% less energy than a regular Cleveland home. And while the cost for construction is higher than a regular home, builders of SmartHome believe the monthly cost savings are worth it. As the technologies available in European countries (who have far stricter energy efficiency standards than we do) become more readily available in the U.S., the cost for these extremely efficient homes will decrease dramatically.
Will Passive Home methodology someday be the norm of home building?
Check back soon for the next stop on our Homes of the Future tour! In the meantime, if you missed our previous futuristic concept homes, read up on the Smart Home in Chicago and Earthships.
