Power House of Energy Efficiency
By Grant Clauser
Control system and 14-kW solar array help achieve record energy efficiencies.

It’s one of the most energy-efficient and green homes in the United States, but some of its high-tech energy-saving features would not be possible without a full-blasted home control system from Elan Home Systems.

The “Power Haus” in Sarasota, Fla., claims the lowest HERS (Home Energy Rating System) score in the United States, a negative 22, which means the house produces more energy than it uses. (A score of zero means it produces all its own energy.) The house also scored 118 LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) points, making it one of the highest-scoring LEED homes in the country.



A large part of making the home so energy-efficient was the green building techniques of custom homebuilder Josh Wynne, president of Josh Wynne Construction. Wynne filled the walls with super-efficient foam insulation, coated the topside of the interior’s elegant tongue-and-groove ceiling with spray foam insulation and installed a Uni-Solar Flex-Lite solar array that covers more than half of the roof and produces 14.2 kilowatts of electricity.

Efficiency Through Simplicity
Managing many of the home’s energy-saving systems, such as the LED (light emitting diode) lamps and the state-of-the-art heating and cooling systems is the IP-based ELAN g! Home Control System.

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