What GE Thinks the House of the Future Will Look Like
- Posted by: Zach Frechette
- on July 15, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Massive corporate conglomerate General Electric has some bold predictions for 2015; namely, that if consumers invest in the new line of appliances they’re creating—everything from blenders to solar panels to a “cybernetic brain” to control the whole thing (I’m sure that won’t go wrong)—their houses can be energy neutral. Check out the rendering below:
There are some cool ideas in here: For example, I’m a big fan of home energy monitors (as are Google with their Powermeter and Microsoft with Hohm). But there are a lot of ideas that seem to stretch the limits what is practical, like installing solar panels, wind turbines, and geothermal heat pumps (seems expensive and site specific). And presumably, this is only practical if you’re building a house from scratch, though everyone would benefit from more energy-efficient appliances.
Let’s hope this doesn’t suffer the same fate as another big corporation’s vision for the future: GM’s “skateboard” program—a hydrogen drive-by-wire system—bet big on fuel cells, which have since proved to be both impractical and not as environmentally friendly as once thought. Seven years in, and millions of dollars invested, there’s not much to show for it, aside from some good PR around the launch. Does GE’s venture seem like it can go the distance?
DISCUSSION: 9 Comments
“And presumably, this is only practical if you’re building a house from scratch…”
That was my first thought. I think the challenge is really to retrofit the homes of the past.
Um, there’s nothing here that isn’t currently available technology and that can’t be installed in an existing building. And for most of them retrofitting them won’t be any more expensive than installing them in a new building.
The canonical home automation gone sentient movie:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek08KvgqFGM
And what happens when people stop consuming as much energy with this cool new energy neutral GE home that probably costs an additional premium on top of an already too high mortgage, and the energy companies start losing money… Energy cost will go down right? Because we don’t need as much…No, probably not, the cost of energy will go up so that they can show their share holders some gains.So now that I’ve spent more to retrofit my house with ‘GE smart energy technology’ and my energy rates are now higher, I have less money to spend on the next wave of green fads to make the planet cooler, or hotter, or cooler or whatever it is this decade. I hope the planet appreciates all of this.
I’m pretty surprised by the cynicism from both the post and the comments here. Yes this can work, as all of this technology is currently available (which begs the question, why pitch it for 2015?). Solar panels ’stretching the limits of what’s practical’ – seriously? That should be a given for both new or renovated houses. Today.
While I’m all for this kind of innovation, who’s going to be able to afford these houses or more importantly, who won’t? As crucial as it is to design for energy dependency on the small scale, wouldn’t it make more sense to turn our (big corporations) attentions towards developing a better infrastructure (i.e. smarter energy grid) that can meet the needs of the population at large? I’m sure they’ll be able to figure out ways to profit from that kind of change just as easily. And I agree that all of these technologies are fantastic, particularly when they are available at the consumer level, but we need to make sure the applications are effective and worthwhile, weighing out their relative value for good (efficiency, sustainable materials, what have you) versus their own set of impacts. Just because they seem beneficial in theory, at what cost?
How is any of this new? (other than the braina nd hook up to smart grid) and why target 2015? Most of these things are already in use… im very surprised by the cynicism as well
What a boring analysis of a retarded (literally) GE concept house. None of this technology is new, and while it is not within reach for the working class, it certainly is for the upper-middle class, upper-class. A more interesting goal for GE would have been “affordable” net-zero energy home technology. I worked as an intern for 3 months at a energy efficiency consulting firm in the Midwest, so perhaps all this is old hat to me because of that experience, but that was 3 years ago! As well, many people in this field know that the number one thing you can do to control your energy costs in new construction is how you site your home relative to the sun, and other climate-based design decisions. Additional cost to design smart: $0.
With electricity prices where they are, I bet the CFLs and the “energy manager” would be the only “features” that would pay for themselves in the next 10 years. You’d have to look at least 40 or 50 years out for payback on any one of the other “advances.” My home energy audit basically told me to use caulk unless the price of electricity quadrupled. This is all a freaking waste of time unless there’s aggressive cap-and-trade or a carbon tax. Good luck, Planet!