Cleantech
Honda Smart Home To Showcase Zero-Carbon Living and Mobility At UC Davis

Honda this week announced plans to create the Honda Smart Home US, a showcase for environmental innovation and renewable energy-enabling technologies that demonstrates the potential for zero-carbon living and personal mobility.

The company broke ground on Tuesday at the construction site on the campus of the University of California, Davis, marking the start of the building process, which will be documented and shared through the Honda Smart Home US website.

Honda says the smart home will feature new and emerging technologies to reduce the amount of energy consumed by individual households and will provide a pathway for the full integration of electric vehicles into the home.

The home will demonstrate an approach to meeting the state of California’s goal of requiring all new residential construction to be “zero net energy” by 2020. It is expected to produce more energy than it consumes, using less than half of the energy of a similarly sized new home in the Davis area for heating, cooling and lighting.

“With Honda Smart Home US we will showcase our vision for a lifestyle that produces zero CO2 and that could even save consumers money,” 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.”

The Honda Smart Home also will also give its occupants comprehensive control over all home systems, allowing residents to remotely and continually monitor and adjust all aspects of energy use in real time. Some of the technologies that will be applied to the smart home include solar power systems, a smart-grid energy management system, high-efficiency heating, ventilation and air condition and direct solar-PV-to-vehicle charging.

UC Davis energy research centers will design high-efficiency, cost-effective solutions to major home energy loads. The researchers will explore new methods for geothermal heating and cooling, and a new circadian color control logic LED lighting system to improve quality of life while reducing energy consumption.

The home will be designed to achieve top-level green building certifications from the major U.S. rating systems. With a holistic approach to sustainability, the home will feature passive design elements as well as novel materials to further reduce CO2 emissions from the production of building materials and the construction and operation of the home.

Honda anticipates construction of the Honda Smart Home to be completed by the end of 2013.

In February, Honda partnered with SolarCity to establish a $65 million investment fund to make solar power more affordable and available to Honda and Acura customers in the U.S.