‘ALEXA’, ‘OK Google’, ‘Cortana’. These are words now commonplace around the house as smart technology gets even smarter.
By calling out these names and using these fashionable apps, people can switch the lamp on, find out the latest news or switch to their favourite music station without having to even lift a finger.
And these wonderful, mind-blowing advancements in technology can go a long way in reducing carbon emissions, saving homeowners plenty of money in energy bills in the process.
The use of smart technology will be pivotal in managing the environmentally friendly features of our carbon net zero emitting properties currently under construction in Calthwaite, as part of our pioneering EcoGen project.
All 16 homes will be entirely powered by renewable energy with green features including a small, powerful battery unit charged predominantly from the electricity grid, solar photovoltaic panels to power the home from energy obtained by daylight and a solar assisted heat pump which provides hot water storage.
In addition, each room will have infrared heating panels hung from the ceilings to replace radiators and electric vehicle charging points will be installed at each property.
With the revolutionary smart technology being upgraded continuously, these features can all be managed by apps from tech giants Amazon (Echo/Alexa), Google (Assistant) and Microsoft (Cortana) to give a few examples.
And all these devices will be enabled in our EcoGen homes through one, single integrated solution – the SmartLife app!
This amazing technology acts as a centralised app to integrate all your smart technology apps instead of having to use several individual smartphone or tablet apps.
The EcoGen home is integrated with thermostatic controls from every habitable room – and that means, in our five bedroomed houses, that can be as many as 17 thermostats throughout the house.
While all thermostats can, of course, be set to one single temperature if desired, the SmartLife app allows the home to be a lot more energy efficient and sustainable as heating is able to be switched off or reduced to a much lower temperature in rooms which are not in use.
Similarly, the battery charge level and status and and electric vehicle charging status are all app enabled and can be applied to reduce energy use, and ultimately costs!
All of these changes will significantly contribute to more sustainable living, and the SmartLife app allows you to go even further and control smart lighting, plugs, speakers and much more throughout your home.
Our EcoGen development is a big step for sustainable construction in the UK, and we are excited to be able to reduce carbon emissions in the home even further through such smart technology which exists on the market.
To find out more about our EcoGen homes, visit www.genesis-homes.co.uk/ecogen.
