Clean, Efficient Products Seen at Greenbuild 2017
by Rachel Lyon, Editorial Director for The House Designers®
One of the main advantages of building your own home is that you get to decide which products to use—and that’s just perfect for those who have environmental consciousness on their minds. Living clean and efficiently is a great choice for our air, water, and land, and your own wallet, so plenty of companies have taken note of increased interest among their customers. Here are some eco-friendly products we found at Greenbuild in Boston that we think you’ll love to use in your own home!
An Intelligent Home Solar Power Solution
Have you ever seen a plant move to follow the sun and marveled its natural ingenuity? Plants angle themselves for optimum exposure, and now there’s a home solar system that does the same! The smartflower from
SmartFlower Solar™ looks like a dynamic sculpture with petals of photovoltaic cells, and it moves autonomously to capture the best light and generate 40% more energy than traditional panels. Its unique form is totally functional, too—it folds itself up at night and in bad weather to prevent damage and uses that mechanism to clean itself with brushes on the back of each petal. The smartflower does everything on its own after setup, and you reap the energy for your home or even your electric car!
Model: SmartFlower Solar™ smartflower | Price Varies by Location
A Hidden HVAC System to Finish in Your Own Style
If the thought of a ductless home HVAC system makes you worry for its effect on your interior design, you’ll love this indoor unit! The wall-mounted Art Cool
® Gallery Inverter from
LG also functions as a picture frame that you can fill with your own art, ensuring it fits your stringent style requirements. It is available as a multi-zone system and compatible with Multi F series outdoor units, which are quiet and specifically designed for residential use, can support up to eight indoor units, and feature brand-new
LGRED° technology to deliver outstanding heating performance in cold climates. With plenty of operation modes to discover and remote control, these frames are so much more than meets the eye!
Model: LG Art Cool™ Gallery | Price Varies by Model
Hot Water Warmed by the Heat of the Sun
Your hot water heater is an energy hog, so wouldn’t it be great to bypass natural gas or electricity and use the heat from the sun instead? With a solar water heating system, you can make use of heat from your roof that would otherwise go to waste!
SunEarth, Inc. has been in the business since 1978 and has a variety of collectors, heat exchangers, solar tanks, and other components to build a solution that suits your house and climate. Just imagine how much more efficient your home could be with a few panels on top! And if you’re a little wary of relying on the sun, don’t worry—you can hook up an auxiliary heater for backup.
Model: SunEarth, Inc. Cascade 2 Drainback System | Contact for a Quote
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