Smart Features to Make Homes Greener and More Affordable

When designing, building and remodeling homes, customers could benefit from advanced technology that is also cost effective. Smart home features such as smart thermostats, smart lighting and smart appliances increase the comfort of the home, while also reducing energy use. Additionally, indoor air quality (IAQ) monitors enhance the health, wellness and safety inside the home.

Have you considered incorporating this technology to help you improve the sales potential of a house or multifamily unit?

Smart thermostats learn the schedule of the occupant to determine when they're home and calibrate the temperature to improve comfort - and the home owner save on energy costs.

Marla Esser Cloos, principal of Green Home Coach and chair of NAHB's Healthier Homes and Communities Subcommittee, explains that smart thermostats can help overcome issues with user error in programming thermostats:

"For smart thermostats, one of the key training issues in Chapter 10 of the National Green Building Standard owner and resident training and documentation is programming thermostats," she said. "Having a smart thermostat helps overcome this hurdle. Since HVAC and related energy use is controlled by the thermostat, having a thermostat that works with users easily is a first, and key, step in managing occupant comfort and energy use."

IAQ monitors can detect radon, carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and humidity in the home. There are solutions to improve the health, wellness and safety of the home if the levels are too high. The EPA has resources about radon to help understand and mitigate potential risk. The risk of radon is often highest for houses that have a basement.

Including smart features in a home takes advantage of the technology, which is widely available, and is often controlled by the smart phone of the home owner or renter. In this digital age, it's a smart choice for both your customer and their home.