In today's tough economic climate — especially in the world of education — it might be difficult to economically justify building a $1.2 million dormitory for 10 residents. However, students at Duke University made this happen: It's called the Home Depot Smart Home.
Conceptualized in 2003 as a senior project by a Duke engineering student, the house is an area for students to live and work on projects involving new technologies and sustainability.
"It's giving the students a chance to have a big-picture view of the challenges that we face," said Duke Smart Home Program Director Jim Gaston. "It's not just doing the projects, like working with solar energy, but it's a chance to experience some of these new technologies. In the classroom, they deal with situations where oftentimes there's only one right answer. But in real life, we all realize it's not so simple."
Unlike other smart homes, Duke's version is designed to be modified and enhanced by students, which teaches them to "live with the benefits and consequences of their technology design and deployment decisions," according to the Web site.
Features incorporated into the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum house include:
Platinum is the highest rating given by LEED.
Although many of the home's features require technical expertise, the residents come from diverse academic backgrounds.
"If you put 10 engineers in a room and give them a problem, they'll come up with a good technical solution," Gaston said. "But if you put some engineers with some public policy, biology and math people, they're able to come up with a more innovative, better solution."
The smart home provides learning and working opportunities to more than its 10 residents. Since its inception, hundreds of students have been involved by working on various projects for the home or planning designs that will be incorporated in the future.
"Student participation," Gaston said, "is really the key and the genius behind the smart home program."
